The Story

Although the following story is a work of fiction, the major events are drawn from the pages of history, with the principal characters interacting with both the unknown, the forgotten, and the enshrined figures who shaped the world we live in today.

Details: Category: The Story

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Here are the children who survived; the branches of the Tree of Life that were not cut off. Here are the eyes through which we will see the triumph and tragedy of a century that saw empires turn to dust, idealism turn to despair and hope reborn; a century which began on horse-drawn wagons and ended on the moon. And, though our characters will be fictionalized, the history through which they move will be real.

Here's the scene:

“I hate you fucking Jews,” says Dmitri Kolisnychenko, the quintessential red-faced, brown-toothed thug gendarme in the nightmare of every Jewish child in the Russian Pale of Settlement in 1906. “I hate the way you bow and scrape and say ‘Your Honor.” You’re like sewer rats, all of you, creeping out of the shit and the darkness, thinking we honest folk won’t be able to see you for who you are… “

He is addressing a prosperous Jew, named Meyer Levy, on what is to be a joyous occasion; his daughter’s wedding day. Meyer Levy has ten children, and this day has been marred because his eighteen-year-old brawler of a son, Moshe Levy, beat up a Russian who spit on him and called his mother a whore. And now, Reb Meyer is trying to buy his son’s freedom from the gendarme who would just as soon kill him and his whole family.

“I hate you,” says the gendarme, “because nothing about you is like us. And I hate you even more for trying to be like us. No matter what we do, you’re like a cockroach that won’t be killed. I hate you because you’re capitalists, and I hate you because you’re communists. I hate you, because you’re one masquerading as the other, and both at the same time. You’re Satan’s child, the Devil’s own brother. So, you filthy Yid. I have your son. Now, what do you have to say about that?”

To which Reb Meyer replies the only thing a Jew in his position can possibly reply.

“How much? What’s the price for my son’s freedom?”

A number will be agreed upon, as it always is, and Moshe Levy will be ransomed by his father. He will berate the youth and say, “Have you forgotten what it takes for a Jew to survive in this world?”

And the defiant boy will reply, “I intend to do more than survive.”

Anti-Semitism was endemic in both Western and Eastern Europe throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The Jews due to their otherness had been marginalized and only the protection of the State allowed them to survive. Beholden to rulers, they ended up being the tax collectors, real estate agents, cattle sale middlemen and other hated roles and always standing between. None of our four protagonists wanted to stand there alone. All four fought for a chance at love and meaning and this is their story.

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Details: Category: The Story

Cast of Characters in Order of Appearance

The Pilot

	Reb Meyer Ben Harav Yosef Moishe Dov Levy	A fifty-year-old man, pious and prosperous, Jewish factoryin The Jewish Pale of Settlement. Husband of Rochele Bas Tamara Poliakov – He will die of wounds suffered in the Pogrom which begins our story.
	Dmitry Kolisnychenko -	Local Chief of Police in the district in which Reb Meyer lives.
	Rochele Bas Tamara Poliakov -	48-year old wife of Meyer Levy, niece of both Samuel and Lazar Poliakov, two of the wealthiest Jews in Russia. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
	Yosef Levy	20 years old. Eldest of Reb Meyer’s children - He will die trying to defend his family in the Pogrom.
	Boris Oliynik	Meyer Levy’s Ukrainian business partner.
	Hannah Levy	Youngest of Reb Meyer’s children – 11 months old. She will be killed in the Pogrom.
	Moishe (Morris) Levy	Reb Meyer’s headstrong built like a bull, 18-year-old son. He’s a brawler and has already been in trouble with the law. Reb Meyer threatens to send him to the wilds of Western Canada. He will survive the Pogrom and be sent to his Uncle Hyman’s Ranch in Alberta, Canada.
	Leah Levy	Nine-year-old, brilliant daughter of Reb Meyer. She is a firebrand, already intoxicated by the 1905 Revolution, notions of a worker’s paradise and the overthrow of the imperialists who have enslaved not only the Jews of Russia, but all the poor. She will survive and be sent to St. Petersburg to live with her aunt Rasa Poliakov.
	Pinchas Levy	Twelve years old and already an ardent Zionist who dreams of being a pioneer in the Land of Israel. He will survive and be sent with his brother-in-law to Jerusalem
	Dovid Levy	Eleven years old, enchanted with the idea of America from looking at his Uncle Abrash’s postcard with a picture of Coney Island. He will survive and be sent to his Uncle Abrash in New York.
	Danil Levy	Fourteen years old, a dreamy boy with the soul of a poet. He will be killed in the Pogrom.
	Dvorah Levy	The beautiful fifteen-year-old daughter already dreaming of the matchmaker bringing her a handsome young bridegroom. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
	Tamara (Levy) Rabinovitch	Reb Meyer’s 19- year-old married, daughter. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
	Basya Rabinovich	Tamara’s two-month-old daughter. She will be killed in the Pogrom.
	Menachem Rabinovitch	24-year-old Rabbi, and husband of Tamara. He will survive his wounds and take Pinchas to Jerusalem.
	Sarah (Levy) Litvak	17-year-old daughter of Reb Meyer. It is her wedding which opens our show. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom .
	Baruch Litvak	23 year old groom of Sara Levy. He will be murdered trying to protect his bride.
	Chaim Leibovitch	Wedding photographer. He will narrowly escape being murdered in the Pogrom.
	Reb Yisrael Ben Shmuel Dov Kahan	“Der Blinder Rebbe” – 85-year-old Rabbi, Chief Justice of the Rabbinical court of Kabalyeke. Baruch is his secretary and has been sent to accompany the old man to Jerusalem so the Rabbi can die in the Holy Land.
	Itamar Ben Yehuda (Ben Avi)	The “first native Hebrew speaking child” in 2000 years, son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda. He is a dashing and handsome, 26-year-old Don Juan in Jerusalem, where he is editor of his father’s newspaper
	Eytan Ben David	Pinchas’ friend and fellow soldier. They meet while being deported from Jerusalem.
	Leah Abushedid	the beautiful fifteen year old, wealthy Sephardic girl with whom Itamar Ben Yehuda falls in love. Their love story will divide and inspire and unite all of pre WWI Jerusalem.
	Reina Abushedid	Leah’s wealthy mother who refuses to give permission to her daughter to marry Itamar.
	Dr. Avraham Abushedid	Leah’s older brother who, since their father’s death is the man of the house.
	Hyam Levy	sixty year old brother of Meyer Levy, wealthy rancher in Alberta, Canada.
	Mah Sam	Chinese Restaurant owner who will befriend Morris (Moishe) Levy.
	Dr. Sun-Yat Sen	First President of China, the George Washington of China.
	Rasa Poliakov	Leah Levy’s aunt on her mother’s side. Wealthy niece of Lazar and Samuel Poliakov, two of the wealthiest Jews in Russia.
	Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov	Grand Duchesses of Russia and daughters of the Tsar.
	Abrash Levy	54-year-old brother of Meyer Levy - Uncle of Dovid Levy.
	Dora Levy	wife of Abrash Levy
	Kid Twist	24 year old Jewish American gangster whose actual name was Max Zwerbach, part of the Eastman Gang on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
	Kid Slyfox	Daniel Zwerbach, Kid Twist’s younger brother, also part of Eastman gang.
	Big Jack Zelig	Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang.
	Cyclone Louie	real name Sammy Pristrich - also part of Eastman gang.
	Charlie Greenwich	Gangster in the Five Points Gang.
	Carol Terry	Kid Twist’s girlfriend.
	Louie The Lump	Real name Louis Piaggi - Italian gangster in Five Points Gang.
	Harry “Gyp The Blood” Horowitz	Jewish Gangster in Eastman Gang – will die in the electric chair.
	Jacob “Whitey Lewis” Seidenscher	Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang – will die in the electric chair
	“Lefty“ Rosenberg	Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang - will die in the electric chair.
	“Dago Frank” Cirofese	Italian gangster in Eastman gang- will die in the electric chair.
	Charlie Becker	Corrupt NYPD Lieutenant who engineers the murder of Jewish book maker Herman Rosenthal.

Hour 1: "Into the Breach"

	Yosef Trumpledor	Highest decorated officer and only Jewish soldier in Tsarist Russian army – 34- year-old veteran of Russo-Japanese War and second-in-command of Zion Mule Corps.
	Ze’ev Jabotinsky	34-year-old Zionist, poet, writer – championed the idea of a Jewish Legion.
	General Sir John Maxwell	General Officer commanding British Troops in Egypt.
	Lt. Col John Henry Patterson	Commanding Officer Zion Mule Corps, fervent Irish Protestant who believed in rebirth of a Jewish Army as a stepping stone to the rebirth of a Jewish nation in its ancestral homeland.
	Tony Malatesta	Eighteen Year Old Italian Gangster in Five Points Gang.
	Maggie Dowd	Eighteen year old , drop-dead gorgeous, red-headed prostitute.
	Colm O’Shaughnessy	Italian Gangster whose original name was Carlos Sangiovese, changed his name to seem Irish, head of Five Points Gang

Hour 2

	Major Martin “Muggsy” Hyde-Percival	40-year-old British Major who will be drowned in the mud of France by Lieutenant Morris Levy
	Lt. Colonel Avery Cooke	45-year-old British Lieutenant Colonel, Battalion Commander of Lieutenant Morris Levy.
	Tsar Nicholai II	Emperor of all Russia King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, last of the Romanov Emperors.
	Captain Yevgenei Grinkov	28-year-old Russian Captain, soon to marry Leah Levy.
	Michael Rodzianko	Chairman of the Duma
	Grand Duke Paul Aleksandrovich	One of the two signers of the March 1 Manifesto, on behalf of the Romanoffs, recommending the Tsar institute a constitutional government in Russia.
	Grand Duke Kiril Vladimirovich	Second signer of March 1 Manifesto.
	Nikolai Ruzky	Chief of Staff of Russian Army under Nicholas II. He, together with Vassily Shulgin and Aleksandr Guchkov, advise the Tsar to abdicate.
	Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich	Brother to Nicholas II. Refuses to succeed Nicholas II, thus ending the Romanoff Dynasty.
	Tsarina Aleksandra Feodorovna	Wife of Nicholas II

Hour 3

	Field Marshal Lord Kitchener	British Secretary of War.
	David Lloyd George	Prime Minister of England during WW I.
	Edward Stanley, 17th Lord Derby	Successor to Lord Kitchener as British Secretary of War.
	General Woodward	Director of Organization at the British War Department.
	Arthur Lord Balfour	Foreign Secretary of British Government during WW I, author of the Balfour Declaration.
	General Edward Chaytor	OC of the ANZAC Mounted Division
	Dr. Chaim Weizmann	President of the World Zionist Organization, and noted chemist.

Hour 4

	Vladimir Ilyich Lenin	Leader of Russian Communist Party and first leader of the USSR.
	Aleksandr Kerensky	Head of Russian Provisional Government. He will be overthrown by the October Revolution.
	Rachel Hannah Dvorah Tamara Grinkov	Daughter of Leah Levy Grinkov and Yevgeniy Grinkov.
	Tsarevich Alexei Romanoff	Youngest child of Tsar Nicholas II and heir apparent of Russian Empire.
	Yakov Yurovsky	Commandant of the House of Special Purpose, who commanded the execution of the Romanov family.
	Pyotr Ermakov	Military Commissar for Verkh-Isetsk. Participated in the execution of the Romanovs.
	Rachel Bat Zion (nee Eisenberg)	21-year-old Jewish pioneer. One of the founders of Kibbutz Giladi, and soon-to-be wife of Pinchas Levy.
	Kamal Effendi	Muktar of the Bedouin village of Harras

Hour 5

	Yin-Ching Huang	Arms purchaser for Sun-Yat Sen.
	Filipo Ugati	Shady partner of Morris Levy.
	Li Annchi “Annie Li”	Beautiful, 22-year-old daughter of an upper-middle-class Chinese family, soon to be married to Morris Levy.
	Huang "Pockmarked" Jingrong	Lead detective of French Concession police force, and leader of the notorious Green Gang of Shanghai.
	Soong Ching-lin	Wife of Dr. Sun-Yat Sen.
	Li Zhimou	Father of Li Annchi.
	Sergeant Jean-Pierre Duguay	Head of flying squad, French Concession Police.
	Zhang “Dogmeat General” Zangchong	Commander of a large army under Zhang Zuolin, Military Commander of Fengtian Clique
	Chiang Kai-Shek	Military leader under Sun-Yat Sen, who will succeed Sun-Yat Sen and marry Sun’s sister-in-law, Soong Aie-lin, who will become Madame Chiang.
	Ching Jeongming	General under Sun-Yat Sen, who will lead a rebellion against him.
	Joey Chao	Manager, Chinese Opera House in New York.

Hour 6

	Zhou Shanpei	Emissary of Duan Qiri, an ally of Zhang Zuolin and Fengtian Clique.
	Li Xiaolin	Emissary of Zhang Zuolin
	Vittorio “Vic” Bonetta	Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
	Tip O’Reilly	Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
	Paulie Manzarella	Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
	Frankie Napolitano	Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
	Sean O’Halloran	Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
	Joey Palermo	Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
	Pepino Ananas	Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
	Carlo Minetti	Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
	Vito Caligari	Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
	Enrico Ciccarelli	Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
	“Lefty” Berkowitz	Associate of Davey Boy Levy, who will become a head of the Jewish Mafia, together with Davey.
	Benny Berman	Associate of Davey Boy Levy, who will become a head of the Jewish Mafia, together with Davey.
	Haya Berko	The midwife at Kibbutz Deganya.
	Hong Pei	Emissary of General Cheng Jiongming, who gives ultimatum for Sun-Yat Sen to surrender.
	Leon Trotsky	People’s Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs under Vladimir Lenin.
	Lieutenant Philip Cochrane	Captain, HMS Moorhen.
	Wallace McCreary	Justice of the Peace who performs the wedding ceremony of Davey Levy and Maggie Dowd.
	Mayer Yisrael Levy	son of Pinchas and Rachel Levy, born 1920, Deganya, British Mandatory Palestine.

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The Story

Setting the Scene