Moartea ca Nuntă și Revelație în dramaturgia idiș: Dansul Macabru al Poruncii sau Mițvah Tanț Makaber, examinat ca ipostază auxiliară a Dansului Hasidico-Macabru în capodopera dramatică peretziană O noapte în târgul vechi
Death as Nuptials and Revelation in Yiddish Dramaturgy: The Danse Macabre of the Commandment or Mitzvah Tantz Makaber, Examined as the Auxiliary Hypostasis of the Hasidic Danse Macabre in the Peretzian Dramatic Masterpiece A Night in the Old Marketp

Summary/Abstract: Artistic testament and opus magnum of the visionary genius Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915), the Yiddish dramatic masterpiece A Night in the Old Marketplace (“Bay nakht afn altn mark”, 1907, Warsaw) subtly inserts a praiseworthy innovation in the polychrome fabric of European culture: Mitzvah Tantz Makaber or the Danse Macabre of the Commandment. Reinvented as the secondary hypostasis of the Hasidic Danse Macabre, it symbolises a joyfully animated interval of symbiotic sequences (Life–Death–Wisdom). Despite its lugubrious atmosphere, this ephemeral interstice of reviviscency opportunely enlivens the story cleverly constructed by the author. Lauded as the ‘Polish Pan’ of Yiddish literature, Peretz ingeniously interweaves hilarious dialogue, grotesque details, and traditional Jewish spirituality to convey a nuanced message, the final composition ostensibly outlining an elaborate interplay of ludic allegory and profound wisdom.Opting for a holistic approach, my analysis will cover the following essential coordinates: the emergence of the sinister Danse Macabre in the European cultural climate (a medieval allegory preceded by the poematic monologue Vado Mori and The Tale of the Three Living and the Three Dead), superseded by its gradual enrooting into a Jewish context (via the composite cultural medium of ecstatic dance, the archetypal ensemble of the Trickster, and the medieval Speculum tradition), being ultimately reinvented as the Mitzvah Tantz Makaber by the visionary Peretz (his eminently Jewish choreography employs traditional Ashkenazi motifs and extolls Hasidic values). The actual examination of the Danse Macabre of the Commandment, reimagined as the main subcategory of the Hasidic Danse Macabre, will focus on a set of three fundamental phases: the unique way in which Peretz textually illustrates this innovation, the symbolism behind its literary form, and the powerful message conveyed by the parable.In current international academia, the Mitzvah Tantz Makaber allegory needs proper identification and examination. Further lacking an autochthonous translation, the Peretzian dramaturgy remains virtually unknown to the public in Romania. Performed exclusively in Yiddish, the superlative play A Night in the Old Marketplace underwent only two productions on the Bucharest theatre stage (in 1930 and 1970). Consequently, the present paper endeavours to remedy a noteworthy hiatus by examining the outstanding literary innovation of the Danse Macabre of the Commandment as an auxiliary hypostasis of the Hasidic Danse Macabre.

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