At first blush, the three-hour runtime of “Prayer for the French Republic,” playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, seems appropriate. Though it obviously does not exist specifically in response to the events of Oct. 7, 2023 and the violent aftermath in the months since (for one thing, the play was first staged Off Broadway in 2022), it exists within the context of the entire history of Jews in Europe, and it seeks to draw that history out. Playwright Joshua Harmon seems to be aiming for the reach of Tony Kushner, using maximalist technique to deliver ideas that...