Lazarus grows up in the midst of hopelessness and prejudice where anti-Jew laws prevent him from marrying, owning land, having an occupation, or leaving without permission from the prince, permission that never comes. He is told by God that if he passes certain tests, he will be richly rewarded. Lazarus grows in strength as he deals with flashbacks to Borodino and meets God's increasingly difficult challenges.

SYNOPSIS:

The events in this screenplay are based on a true story and the places named are all real. The characters within are fictional with the exception of Hyman Lazarus and his immediate family and some of the characters he meets on the ship John Watson and in Malta.

HYMAN LAZARUS is born and grows up in a poor Jewish family in the Rheinland, an area in Germany that is rabidly anti-semitic and under a prince who has no use for Jews. Often the victim of local bullies, he believes that the answer to his salvation is in the faith of his parents and he goes to the God of his fathers to find the way to a better life.

We follow Lazarus through various stages in his life, from a persecuted teenager who has little hope for a better life to an old man who is richly rewarded by God for keeping his faith through challenges large and small.

Lazarus joins NAPOLEON BONAPARTE’S Grande Armée and is introduced to a life in which anti-Semitism is less than he has ever known, only to discover that in order to survive in Napoleon’s empire, he must assimilate, something he is unwilling to do.

He is dragged into the Battle of Borodino, the battle that even Napoleon admitted was the worst of his fifty battles. Ninety thousand casualties in one day. An incredible slaughter with bodies of soldiers and horses six to eight deep. Lazarus’ faith helps him to survive even as his Jewish friends are slaughtered one by one in the battle and on the Great Retreat from Moscow.

Upon returning to his home in the Rheinland, Lazarus finds nothing but the same hopelessness that filled his life at the beginning of the war. Napoleon had done nothing for him and he realizes that only he and God can overcome the prejudices still facing so many Jews in the region. God will give him many challenges, but promises that if Lazarus keeps his faith strong, he will receive the benefits of God’s grace.

Lazarus accepts God’s challenge and, with only his bedding, a few ragged clothes, and what charity he finds along the way, he begins a trek to North America, a place where even as a young boy he had heard was a paradise for Jews. There he would find no prejudice and could have the things that God promises: a home, an occupation, a wife and children, and many descendants.

Challenges from God begin immediately as he begins walking to his destiny and literally wears the shoes off his feet. Stopping at synagogues along the way, he is given the bare essentials to keep him going until he hops on a small ship that takes him to Hull. There he immediately finds a noticeable lack of prejudice against him and he begins to realize that maybe he made the right decision. He walks to Liverpool were he meets his next challenge, finding a ship that will take him across the Atlantic.

He is warned to stay away from the slave ships, but there seem to be no others available. He meets an English family that is also trying to escape poverty and hardship and they share what little money they have to get passage on a small ship, the John Watson, whose captain is open-minded and tells Lazarus that his only interest is in crossing the ocean without sinking or having to throw any rebellious sailors or passengers overboard. The religions of his passengers are of no concern to the captain.

Lazarus and the ship are caught in an incredibly ferocious North Atlantic gale as he is almost swept overboard and nearly drowns, but he is rescued by the other passengers. He has survived another challenge by God and his strength and faith increase a hundredfold.

Upon arrival in Philadelphia at the beginning of winter, he is given a pack of notions, pots and pans and other household utensils and sent into the wilderness to peddle the goods until he can re-stock at a Jewish-owned warehouse in Wheeling, Virginia.

Lazarus cried when he left his world behind, then again when he left the Rheinland, and now he cries again as he leaves Philadelphia and realizes that God is indeed answering his prayers. He trudges off into the virgin forests with a heavy pack on his back and a growing strength in his heart and mind. He knows he will pass God’s tests.

Along the way he meets highwaymen who try to rob him, is shot at by angry farmers and chased by their dogs, walks hundreds of miles in the dead of winter to free himself from persecution as he peddles notions across the new United States.

God further challenges him with forest fires, run-away stagecoaches, being accused of murder, meeting runaway slaves, nearly drowning in a raging river when he jumps off the boat to save the life of another passenger, and rip-roaring mayhem by hard-living and hard-drinking riverboat men and their women in the saloon that he opens soon after his arrival in Ohio.

All this while battling flashbacks to the Battle of Borodino. His agreement with God is that he would keep his faith strong, not an easy challenge for a lone Jew in the wilderness.

He hitches a ride on a river barge, operated by some rough talking riverboat men, but who have empathy for his struggle to pass God’s tests and they recommend a place called Malta upriver from the Ohio River on a tributary called the Muskingum. As he rounds a bend in the river and sees Malta up ahead, he realizes that he has passed God’s challenges and his goal is only a short distance ahead. He cries again as he takes a ferry across the river and walks the dirt streets of Malta.

Not long after his arrival in Malta he is in business with a small saloon patronized by the riverboat men and their women. It’s a rough place and is the scene of many brawls, but Lazarus is strong and his new wife is strong, so they keep everything under control. One by one, God keeps his promises to Lazarus. He marries FRANCES SECORD, a refugee from the recent Second War With Great Britain, and they have four little rewards: CAROLINE, MARY AURILLA, DAVID WILLIAM, and PETER HYMAN.

God also promised Lazarus many descendants and at the end of our story, Lazarus is on his deathbed as he looks out the window at his grandchildren playing in the snow. Shadowy figures of the Jewish friends he lost in the Battle of Borodino and the Great Retreat pass by and salute. He cries as he dies at the age of 75 fully in the knowledge that he passed God’s challenges and God kept his promises made so many years before.

The story ends with about 25 of Lazarus’ descendants gathering around the cameras and other equipment in the film studio as the credits roll and Linda John-Pierre Bradley sings You Showed Me The Way.

Copyright © 2012 Richard Welch

Richard Welch

131 E. La Espina

Green Valley, Arizona 85614

(520) 977-3071

Richard-welch@msn.com

LAZARUS' JOURNEY

NOTE: Bill Hutchens, Run Away With Me (Ingram), A Summer in Avignon (Bernard), Through The Lens (Lamoax), The Human Centipede II (Dr Sebring) and III (Inmate 488) and Saint Dracula 3D (Father Nicholson) and also played the lead in an award winning production on the London stage of 'The Old Man and the Sea' , has expressed an interest in portraying Lazarus. Now we need to find a producer who is up the the challenge of this epic story of a Jewish hero who rose up from incredible anti-Semitic persecution to meet God's challenges.