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Act I

The people rejoice. Not only have Emperor Sigismund's troops succeeded in defeating the Hussites, but the Council of Constance is about to overcome the schism within the Roman Church. As a result, the opening of the Council has been declared a national holiday on which any kind of work is strictly forbidden. The Jewish blacksmith, 脡l茅azar, is the only one who ignores the prohibition. As a result, the Sheriff Ruggiero sentences him to death. Not even the pleas of 脡l茅azar's daughter, Rachel, can sway him. In the end, Cardinal Brogni, the President of the Council, steps in between the parties. He recognizes 脡l茅azar, whom he has already met once in Rome, his former home.In his role as magistrate, Brogni had exiled 脡l茅azar and condemned his sons to death. Yet Brogni himself had had to leave Rome after an attack by Neopolitans in which his wife and daughter were said to have been killed. After this fateful event, he entered the religious order. Now the two meet again by coincidence in Constance. On the basis of their common history, he begs for 脡l茅azar's forgiveness and pardons him. However 脡l茅azar rejects the apology and continues to rile against the Cardinal. Meanwhile, Rachel invites her secret lover to the evening Passover feast at her father's house. Yet she does not know that beneath the so-called Jew Samuel there hides the Christian Prince L茅opold, In the meantime, the people crowd together to witness the Emperor's ceremonial procession. Rachel and 脡l茅azar are dragged in the stream of people to the steps of the cathedral, which, they are forbidden to enter as Jews. When Ruggiero spots this blasphemy, he wants to execute them again. This time it is L茅opold who saves the day. He orders the seargent Albert to recall the guards and, at the same time, he makes sure he isn't recognized. Rachel and 脡l茅azar are left behind, confused and failing to understand how an apparently simple Jew could have saved them.

Act II

In the evening, 脡l茅azar and his relatives gather together to celebrate Passover. As the host and prayer leader, 脡l茅azar performs the blessing of the seder and hands the unleavened bread around the group. L茅opold, however, does not want to eat it, since he is really a Christian. Only Rachel notices. A knock on the door interrupts the meal. The Emperor's niece, Princess Eudoxie, would like to purchase a particularly ornamental and precious necklace from 脡l茅azar, which she plans to give to her husband L茅opold as a token of her love. When L茅opold recognizes his wife, he hides in the furthest corner of the room. Meanwhile, Eudoxie asks 脡l茅azar to engrave the necklaceand to personally deliver it to the palace the next day. Meanwhile, 脡l茅azar has noticed the intimacy between L茅opold and Rachel and asks him to leave. On her own, Rachel asks herself whether L茅opold is being honest with her. L茅opold cannot leave her alone. Wracked by guilt, L茅opold finally confesses to her that he is a Christian. Rachel is shocked, since she knows that relations between Jews and Christians are forbidden on pain of death. L茅opold persuades her to elope with him. Rachel hesitates. She is torn between her attachment to her Jewish father and her love for L茅opold. Yet the moment she decides to flee with her lover, her father bursts in. Mad with rage, he wants to kill the Christian who has seduced his daughter, but she stops him. Instead, Rachel begs her father to allow her to marry L茅opold. Moved by his daughter's love, 脡l茅azar agrees. L茅opold, however, rejects the marriage and flees. She's left with a broken heart, and so she decides to follow him in order to finally uncover his secret.

Act III

Eudoxie is looking forward to being reunited with her husband. Suddenly Rachel appears and asks to be accepted into her service as part of the celebrations for L茅opold's return from the battlefield. Rachel hopes to confront L茅opold there. Completely unaware, Eudoxie hires her.The celebrations honour L茅opold's bravery and strength. The moment Eudoxie goes to hang the necklace on her husband, Rachel steps between them. Only now does she realise that L茅opold has been married all this time. In front of everyone, Rachel accuses the Prince of committing adultery with a Jewess, namely herself. L茅opold's silence reinforces her accusation, whereupon Cardinal Brogni, one of the guests, sentences him, Rachel and 脡l茅azar to death. All three are arrested and taken to be executed.

Act IV

Eudoxie goes to see Rachel in prison. She implores the Jewess to save L茅opold's life by retracting her charge. Rachel refuses. She wishes to be at one with L茅opold, even in death, whom she loves despite his betrayal. Yet faced with Eudoxie's true love, she softens and promises to retract her accusation in front of the court. L茅opold's rescue will be Eudoxie's final act. After her husband's betrayal, she can see no future in life and wishes only to die. Brogni prepares Rachel for the trial. She is determined to die and wants to face the court alone. The fate of the Jewish woman, who will die so young, awakens unexplained fatherly feelings in Brogni. He wants to save her, so he summons her father to him. He confesses to 脡l茅azar that he could save Rachel's life if she were to recant her faith and be baptized. Horrified, the Jew refuses. He wants nothing more for himself and his daughter than redemption in death. In order to injure the Cardinal, he tells him he knows a secret about his apparently dead daughter. The child didn't die during the attack in Rome, but is in fact still alive. Since 脡l茅azar claims to know the whereabouts of Brogni's daughter, Brogni begs the condemned Jew to reveal it. 脡l茅azar refuses to answer. His revenge on Brogni will be to take this secret to the grave. Left alone, 脡l茅azar struggles to send his daughter to a sacrificial death. He wants to rescue her and decides contra his religion. But, when he hears the angry mob baying for the murder of the Jews, the gruesome, Jew-hating words of the Christians annul all his doubts and he opts for death for himself and Rachel - and his revenge on Brogni.

Act V

Just before the execution, 脡l茅azar discovers that his daughter claimed her accusation was a lie in front of the court and that L茅opold has been spared. He asks her if she wants to recant the Jewish faith and continue to live as a Christian. Rachel can't imagine an existence without her father and her faith. She willingly chooses martyrdom. Brogni tries once more to persuade 脡l茅azar to reveal the whereabouts of his daughter. In the moment of Rachel's execution, 脡l茅azar points at her. It was he who pulled the child out of the flames and raised her as his own daughter. Rachel is Brogni's biological daughter. The cardinal breaks down while 脡l茅azar, triumphing over his enemy.

- With thanks to the Bavarian State Opera.