The Biblical Way (Act I, Scene 2), Stadium

The play The Biblical Way is one of Schönberg’s most extensive literary works; moreover, as an exclusively spoken drama without musical background, it is unique among his œuvre. This three-act drama with Schönberg’s own stage designs took form between 1926 and July 1927, but was conceived as early as 1922/23. Aside from Schönberg’s early writings on Jewish issues, the text of the drama is his first comprehensive exposition on the politics and faith of Judaism and on the emergence of the Jewish folk as a nationhood. The Biblical Way – whether directly or indirectly – reveals a constant indebtedness to the Old Testament, drawing upon the history of Israel, the exodus from Egypt, and the covenant between God and his chosen people, although the drama itself is not set in Biblical times. The primary objective of the play – the founding of the Jewish nation – takes as its point of departure God’s solemn pledge of the Promised Land. The aim of the Neo-Palestinian movement is to lay the foundation for the annexation of lands in Palestine and to fulfill the commitment to the “belief in a single, everlasting, invisible and unfathomable God” (Acts I and III). Schönberg compares the establishment of a Jewish nation in Amongäa to the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert. The play draws upon elements of the Old Testament not only in its fundamental concept but also in the details of its action: Aruns is just able to succeed in organizing the exodus of his people from the Diaspora – just as Moses once led his people from the land of Egypt –, but dies (end of Act III), as did Moses, before his people can enter the Promised Land. Instead of Aruns, Joseph Guido carries forward the Neo-Palestinian project, just as Joshua succeeds Moses to lead Israel to Canaan.