93: Not to do prohibited labor on Yom Kippur
The Book of Seasons
Laws of Yom Kippur Rest
Not to do prohibited labor on Yom Kippur (Lev. 23:32)
CW: violent imagery
1
a cornfield at night
a FARMER walks the rows
checking his crops
the ground underneath him shifts
something begins crawling out of the dirt
a BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN emerges from the ground fully nude
he and the FARMER stare at one another for a long time
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
hungry
the FARMER is lost in his gaze
and then snaps to attention
he picks an ear of corn for the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
he pulls out a pocket knife
quickly shucks the corn
hands the cob over to the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN devours the corn eagerly
the FARMER can’t stop staring at him
the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN finishes the corn
FARMER
it’s Shabbat
i have to go inside
but i can come back-
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i need more
beat
the FARMER begins cutting down and shucking more corn
the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN pulls the FARMER in for a kiss
2
nighttime in the cornfield
the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN sits on the ground
now with clothing
the FARMER enters
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
it’s been days
FARMER
i know
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i’ve been waiting
FARMER
i brought you this
pulls out a pocket knife
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
don’t you want to play anymore?
FARMER
you’ll be able to cut down your own corn
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i don’t know how
FARMER
i’ll teach you
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i came from your earth
your soils your nutrients your worms your seed
FARMER
in awe
your skin in the moonlight
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
this ground is damp with you
FARMER
your skin-
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
you’re responsible for me
FARMER
cream you want to lap up
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
you made my skin
FARMER
your skin in the moonlight
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
won’t you touch it?
FARMER
i can’t stop looking at your skin i can’t i can’t
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
stay all night with me
FARMER
my wife’s a light sleeper
i can’t stay long
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i’m still hungry won’t you help?
3
nighttime in the cornfield
except all of the corn is gone
FARMER holds a pomegranate
FARMER
in a daze
i brought you a pomegranate
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
what’s that?
FARMER
i thought we could share
…
it’s all gone
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
you taught me how to cut down the corn
FARMER
but all of it?
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i’m growing up daddy
FARMER
i hate when you call me that
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
you won’t bring me inside
FARMER
i brought you this pomegranate
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
and after the pomegranate?
FARMER
my wife-
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
what will i eat after?
FARMER
we’re having a baby
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i won’t hurt the baby
silence
FARMER
there’s other farms nearby
they also grow corn
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i want the pomegranate
FARMER hands it to the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
he rips into it with his teeth
FARMER
we’d have to go at night
but if we just steal a few ears…
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN looks up from his pomegranate
his face covered in ruby juices
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
you can touch me again
4
nighttime in the cornfield
FARMER
the soil’s all wrong for it
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
but i want-
FARMER
i know what you want but-
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
can’t eat corn all my life
FARMER
she’ll need to go to the hospital today
the baby is coming
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
all right the baby is coming
FARMER
she needs me there
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
to do what?
FARMER
she needs me
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
not much more you can do at this point
FARMER
i can’t grow pomegranates for you
i have to make a living for us
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
make it on pomegranates
FARMER
the baby is coming
i can’t pay for a baby with pomegranates
5
years later
the cornfield has become a grove of pomegranate trees
the FARMER cuts down pomegranates with shears
the FARMER drops the shears
it almost hits the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN on the head
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
careful up there
FARMER
these pomegranates are rotting
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
then what shall we try next?
FARMER
what?
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
what will we grow instead?
6
the FARMER’S WIFE talks to her SISTER
FARMER’S WIFE
and it’s been going on for years like this now, we make no money, he’s out on the farm all hours, even at night, he comes to bed at 5am smelling of dirt and piss, and then up at 6am, back it, constantly changing our crops, last year it was olive trees, now he’s trying for papaya
SISTER
never liked him i never never liked him
FARMER’S WIFE
you did too
SISTER
i lied
FARMER’S WIFE
and he’s never around for anything anymore, holidays, birthdays, first days of school, it’s Yom Kippur today, soon we’ll be breaking fast, and Naomi is old enough to understand, old enough to understand penance and fasting, old enough to appreciate the break fast, old enough to know that her dad should be around when he isn’t, and it drives me crazy because it’s so ordinary, isn’t it, such an ordinary set of complaints, i’m horrifically bored with my own anguish, furious at him for saddling me with such pedestrian problems
SISTER
you can go on about it
FARMER’S WIFE
he makes a fetish of himself, of his back aches and exhaustion, makes of fetish of his hard work and expects me to be impressed, i beg him to stop, sit down, rest awhile, he says he works out of love, i know he’s not talking about love for me, it’s love for his strained muscles, his sense of righteousness
SISTER
next year let’s break fast at my house
7
nighttime in what is now a grove of papaya trees
FARMER uses shears to cut down papayas
FARMER
i have to go inside
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
i’m bored with papayas
FARMER
i need to rest actually
spiritually i must-
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
want something else
FARMER
you can cut down what’s already here
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN pulls out his pocket knife
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN
yes i can
8
later
in one hand the FARMER holds the shears
they are covered in blood
in his other hand he holds the BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN’s severed head
the decapitated body is at the FARMER’S feet
FARMER
it was Yom Kippur today
the FARMER begins digging a hole to bury the body
i’ll repent next year
END OF PLAY