Under This Blazing Light (17 page)

(Based on a radio talk, parts of which were first published in 1978)

The following brief notes are intended to elucidate some Hebrew terms that are untranslated in the text and to provide basic information about the writers and politicians whose names may be unfamiliar to English-readers, together with some suggestions for further reading. [N. de L.]

Agnon, Shmuel Yosef (1887-1970). One of the outstanding Hebrew prose writers of the twentieth century; he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1966. His novel Tmol Shilshom (Only Yesterday) (1945) is set partly among the pioneering Zionists of Jaffa and partly in the pious traditionalist Jewish community of Jerusalem. See Arnold J. Band, Nostalgia and Nightmare; a Study in the Fiction of S.Y. Agnon (Berkeley,
ca:
University of California Press, 1968); Baruch Hochman, The Fiction of S.Y. Agnon (Ithaca,
ny:
Cornell University Press, 1970).

Ahad Ha‘am (‘One of the People’; pseudonym of Asher Ginsberg, 1858-1927). Hebrew thinker and essayist. He is remembered primarily for his advocacy of ‘cultural Zionism’, which envisaged Zion as a cultural and intellectual powerhouse serving the diaspora, in opposition to Herzl’s vision of Zion as a political solution to the problems of world Jewry.

Alterman, Natan (1910-1970). Hebrew poet, dramatist and essayist.

Amir, Aharon (b. 1923). Hebrew writer, and editor of the ‘Canaanite’ periodical Alef.

Aranne, Zalman (1899-1970). Labour leader in Israel; Minister of Education 1955-60 and 1963-9.

Beilin, Asher (1881-1948). Hebrew and Yiddish journalist. He collaborated with J.H. Brenner, and published his memoirs of the writer (1943).

Ben-Gurion, David (1886-1973). Israeli Labour leader and politician; first Prime Minister of Israel.

Berdyczewski, Micha Yosef (1865-1921). Hebrew writer, whose stories are often seen as marking the transition from the nineteenth century to the twentieth.

Bezalel Art School (founded 1906). Art institute that dominated Israeli arts and handicrafts with its blend of biblical, Middle Eastern and Zionist themes.

Bialik, Hayyim Nahman (1873-1934). Generally regarded as the greatest Hebrew poet of the modem period. His early poem ‘To a Bird’ embodies the romantic longing for Zion. ‘In the City of Slaughter’ was written in response to the Kishinev pogrom of 1903. After he emigrated from Russia (via Berlin) to Palestine in 1924 his poetic output became sparse. See H.N. Bialik, Selected Poems, edited with an introduction by Israel Efros (New York: Bloch Pub. Co. for Histadruth Ivrith of America, 1948/1965); Selected Poems, with English translation by Maurice Samuel (New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1972). See also Sefer Ha-Aggadah.

Brenner, Joseph Hayyim (1881-1921). Hebrew prose writer and essayist. Born in Ukraine, Brenner lived in London from 1904 until 1908, and settled in Palestine in 1909. Brenner was a prolific and original author, and a prominent figure in the Jewish Labour movement. His novel Breakdown and Bereavement was translated into English by Hillel Halkin

(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1971).

Buber, Martin (1878-1965). Better known in the West as a religious philosopher, Buber was also in his day an influential Zionist thinker, the spokesman for what he called ‘Hebrew Humanism’. He emphasised the human face of Zionist socialism, and the need for brotherhood and cooperation with the Arabs. See Martin Buber, Israel and the World (New York: Schocken Books, 1948). Israel and Palestine, trans. Stanley Godman (London: East and West Library, 1952), reissued as On Zion. The History of an Idea (London: East and West Library, 1973). G. Schaeder, The Hebrew Humanism of Martin Buber (Detroit: Wayne University Press, 1973). A Land of Two Peoples: Martin Buber on Jews and Arabs, edited with commentary by Paul Mendes-Flohr (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983).

‘Canaanites’. A group of writers and artists, founded in 1942 and led by Y. Ratosh, whose aim was to evolve a ‘Hebrew’ as opposed to a ‘Jewish’ national identity.

Gnessin, Uri Nissan (1879-1913). Innovative and influential Hebrew writer. His work has so far defied translation.

Gordon, Aharon David (1856-1922). Hebrew writer and influential Zionist Labour leader (profoundly influenced by the ideas of Tolstoy), who promoted the idea of self-fulfilment through settlement on the land. The Zionist youth movement Gordonia, dedicated to his ideals, has its centre and archive in Kibbutz Hulda.

Greenberg, Uri Zvi (1891-1981). Hebrew poet and Revisionist Zionist activist.

Herzl, Theodor (1869-1904). Founder of the World Zionist Organisation, and regarded as the father of political Zionism. See Amos Elon, Herzl (New York, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson; Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1975); Shlomo Avineri, The Making of Modern Zionism (New York: Basic Books, 1981); Steven Beller, Herzl (London: Peter Halban, 1991).

Hibbat Zion (Love of Zion). Popular Jewish nationalist movement, originating in nineteenth-century Russia, that promoted emigration to Israel and paved the way for Zionism.

Histadrut. Israel’s General Federation of Labour. Established in 1919, it embraces about half the population of Israel through direct membership. It controls the largest health-care system of the country, and a vast number of industries, factories and agricultural cooperatives, as well as educational projects.

Irgun ([National Military] Organisation). Zionist para-military organisation originally founded in 1931, and closely associated with the Revisionist movement. It was responsible for violent attacks against Arabs and the British administration in Palestine.

Jabotinsky, Vladimir (1880-1940). Revisionist Zionist leader and ideologist.

Klausner, Joseph (1874-1958). Prominent historian and literary critic, and Revisionist Zionist activist. Amos Oz is his great-nephew.

Lavon, Pinchas (1904-1976). Israeli politician and labour leader; a founder and leading member of the Gordonia movement, and one of the founders of Kibbutz Hulda. His political career was blighted by the ‘Lavon Affair’, which originated in a security blunder in 1954 when he was Minister of Defence.

Mandel, Munia (1907-1973). Prominent thinker and activist in the kibbutz movement.

Mapu, Abraham (1808-1867). Hebrew novelist. His romantic biblical novel ‘The Love of Zion’ (1853) was translated by Benjamin A. M. Schapiro under the title The Shepherd-Prince (New York: Brookside Publishing Company, 1937). See also David Patterson, Abraham Mapu, the Creator of the Modern Hebrew Novel (London: East and West Library, 1964).

Mendele (Mendele Mokher Sefarim, ‘Mendele the Bookseller’, pseudonym of S.Y. Abramovitsh, 1836-1917). Pioneering Hebrew and Yiddish prose writer. See David Aberbach, Realism, Caricature, and Bias. The Fiction of Mendele Mocher Sefarim (London and Washington: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation, 1993).

Moked. An Israeli political group, established in 1973, advocating an Israeli-Palestinian compromise, based on a two-state solution. It obtained one seat in the 1974 elections to the Knesset (Israeli parliament). In the mid-1970s Moked merged with other doveish left-wing groups.

Palmach (‘assault companies’). Zionist underground army formed in 1941. Based in the agricultural settlements, it played a leading role in the armed struggle for the creation of the State of Israel.

Peretz, I
(saac) L(eyb)
(1852-1915). Yiddish and Hebrew writer and ideologue. See Selected Stories of I. L. Peretz, ed. Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg (New York: Schocken Books 1974; London: Paul Elek, 1975).

Revisionist Zionism. Right-wing Zionist movement, formally founded at a conference in Paris in 1925, and inspired and led by Jabotinsky. Its maximalist policies often led to conflict with the left-wing Zionist establishment.

Sefer Ha-Aggadah. A collection ofjewish legends edited by Hayyim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky. See Sefer
Ha-Aggadah: Legends
from the Talmud and Midrash, translated by William G. Braude (New York: Schocken Books, 1992).

Shemer, Naomi (b. 1933). Israeli songwriter. Her song ‘Jerusalem of Gold’ appeared shortly before the Six Day War, and quickly became a sort of unofficial anthem of the war.

Shertok (Sharett), Moshe (1894-1965). Israeli politician and Zionist leader. Prime Minister of Israel 1954-5.

Shtetl. A Yiddish term designating a Jewish community, also by extension (as ‘the shtetl’) referring to the whole lost world of Eastern European Jewry. For a beautiful portrait of the shtetl, see A.J. Heschel, The Earth is the Lord’s. The Inner World of the Jew in Eastern Europe (New York: Henry Schuman, 1950).

Shulhan Arukh. Code ofjewish law, compiled in the sixteenth century and still considered authoritative by many religious Jews.

Trumpeldor, Jospeh (1880-1920). Legendary Zionist fighter. He was killed defending Tel Hai, 1 March (11 Adar) 1920, with the words ‘It is good to die for our land’ on his lips.

Tschernichowsky, Saul (1875-1943). Hebrew poet. See Eisig Silberschlag, Saul Tschernichowsky; Poet of Revolt, with translations by Sholom J. Kahn and others (London: East and West Library/Ithaca,
NY:
Cornell University Press, 1968).

Tu Bishvat (‘15th ofShevat’). Minor Jewish festival marked in Israel by the ceremonial planting of trees.

Yehudi Hallevi. Twelfth-century Hebrew poet particularly remembered in Zionist circles for his poems of longing for Zion. According to legend he actually emigrated from Spain to Jerusalem. See Songs of Zion by Hebrew Singers of Mediaeval Times, translated by Mrs Henry Lucas (London: J.M. Dent, 1894); The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse, ed. and tr. T. Carmi (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981).

Yizhar, S. (Yizhar Smilansky) (b. 1916). Hebrew novelist and short-story writer. See S. Yizhar, Midnight Convoy and Other Stories (Tel-Aviv: Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, and Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, 1969).

Zach, Nathan (b. 1930). Hebrew poet.

Zeitlin, Aaron, (1898-1973). Yiddish and Hebrew writer. His play Brenner (1939) is about the writer J. H. Brenner.

Zeitlin, Hillel (1871-1942). Journalist and religious thinker.

For further reading on Hebrew literature see:

Simon Halkin, Modern Hebrew Literature, from the Enlightenment to the Birth of the State of Israel; Trends and Values, new edition (New York: Schocken Books, 1970).

Eisig Silberschlag, From Renaissance to Renaissance, 2 vols. (New York: Ktav, 1973-7).

The Great Transition: the Recovery of the Lost Centers of Modern Hebrew Literature, edited by Glenda Abramson and Tudor Parfitt (Totowa,
nj:
Rowman & Allanheld, 1985).

Events and books: adapted from remarks made on the award of the Holon Prize for Literature, 4 February 1966. First published in the literary supplement of ‘Al Hamishmar, 4 March 1966.

Under this blazing light: based on a discussion with members of the Zebulon valley literary groups. Another Hebrew version was published in Iggeret Lahaverim, 27 June 1972.

Man is the sum total of all the sin and fire pent up in his bones: based on a discussion on the stories of Berdyczewski with members of the Kibbutz Metsova literary groups.

A ridiculous miracle hanging over our heads: first part of an address delivered on receiving the Brenner Prize for The Hill of Evil Counsel, trans. Nicholas de Lange (London: Chatto & Windus, and New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1978). Published in the literary supplement of Ma'ariv, 5 May 1978.

The State as reprisal: adapted from an article in Min Hayesod no. 3, 21 June 1962.

A modest attempt to set out a theory: first published in Siman Kriah no. 8, April 1978.

The meaning of homeland: published in three instalments in Davar, 10,

IS, 17 October 1967. An earlier English translation appeared in New Outlook, October 1967; it was reprinted in Jewish Heritage, vol. 14 no. 4.

The discreet charm of Zionism: adapted from a radio talk broadcast on the eve of Israel Independence Day, 1977. English translation by Nicholas de Lange in Jewish Frontier, April 1980.

A.D. Gordon today: address given at a symposium in memory of A.D. Gordon, Hulda, January 1973.

Thoughts on the kibbutz: adapted from the introduction to The Kibbutz Album by Peter Marom, published by Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1968.

The kibbutz at the present time: adapted from ‘excerpts from an overview’, published in Iggeret Lahaverim, November 1974.

How to be a socialist: based on an essay published in Praxis, 1968.

Munia Mandel’s secret language: Davar, 3 October 1974.

Pinchas Lavon: based on an address delivered at a memorial gathering in Hulda in 1976, thirty days after Lavon’s death.

The lost garden: based on an essay published in Keshet no. 41, 1968.

An autobiographical note: first published in an English translation by Zephyra Porat in H.W. Wilson’s World Authors Lexicon (New York, 197S).

An alien city: written in September 1967, three months after the Six Day War, and first published in Siach Lochamim (1968). English translation by Dvorah A. Sussman and Edna Berlyne (under the title ‘Strange City’) in The Seventh Day. Soldiers Talk About the Six-Day
War,
general editor Henry Near (London, 1970).

Like a gangster on the night of the long knives, but somewhat in a dream: based on a radio talk, parts of which appeared in the literary supplement of Ma'ariv, 18 August 1978.