A Knock at the Door/The Promised Land

24 Dec 2021 · 6 min

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6:05

The piece is a lyrical monologue performed by a single speaker that weaves together a personal childhood story of wartime displacement with a sweeping retelling of Jewish history. It begins with a boy born in the early 1940s whose life is shattered when soldiers raid his home, forcing him onto a train to an unknown destination, evoking Holocaust trauma. The narrative then expands to biblical episodes—Adam, Cain and Abel, Noah’s flood, Abraham’s journey—followed by the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt, desert wanderings, and arrival in the Promised Land. It continues through later epochs: the building and destruction of temples, Roman persecution, the Crusades, expulsions from France, England, and Spain, migration from Russia to new lands, and the ongoing labor of building anew. Throughout, the refrain “Everything can change with a knock at the door” and the repeated yearning “Aching for my home… To The Promised Land” underscore a persistent longing for return and spiritual homecoming.

Chapters

Through those years. He was born in the early '40s. A childhood not easy to enjoy. Spent his days without security. And his worries, a lot for a little boy. How could he have known what would be in store? How everything would change with a knock at the door? Soldiers took all his belongings. He was thrown onto a train without a clue about his destination. The sound of wheels on tracks echoes in his brain. Once there was a town, now it is no more. Everything can change. With a knock at the door. Used to have a family, then there came a war. Everything can change with a knock at the door. In the morn they'd count the living, make 'em wait till they were fed. Soup and coffee full of sand and water, seeing bodies hanging, wishing he were dead. Everything can change with a knock at the door. Everything can change with a knock at the door. My soul was there with Adam when the first rain fed the ground. Cain slaughtered Abel, I'll forever hear the sound. Built the ark with Noah, I'm a witness to the flood. Traveled with Abraham, leaving footprints in the mud. My spirit dwelled in Egypt, the body of A slave stood by the mountain, then my soul was saved. Wandered in the desert, my life in heaven's hands. Stood among my brothers inside the promised land. In the promised land. The promised land. In the promised land. I helped to build the temples, I saw them both come down. Cherished my religion when the Romans took the cross. Crown. Said my prayer in silence, got through the First Crusade. Cast out of France and England to be put to death in Spain. My soul returned to settle, but the riots soon began. Sailed away from Russia to a beach of golden sand. Everyone was building, I was kicking every stone. Been to every nation, now I'm aching for my home. Aching for my home. Aching for my home. In the prime of my life, To The Promised Land! To The Promised Land! Te He Ho! To The Promised Land! Taeho! Promise land—