"I composed ... a song — which I had never sung till then, with an idea, and words, and rhymes — because my heart was with me and in my mouth.” ( S Y Agnon, 'With My Heart')
Ada Aharoni, the respected Israeli writer and peace activist, has won an international prize for her biography of a heroic Egyptian Jewish nurse.
The French translation ofNot in Vain – an Extraordinary Life(Thea Woolf – La Femme en Blanc de l’Hopital d’Alexandrie), which charts the life and work of the head nurse of the Jewish Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt during World War II, won first place from 3,000 entries for the Prix du Temoignage (Testimony Prize) 2015.
Egyptian-born Aharoni explains that her French publisher, Manuscrit and theHuffington Postsponsored her trip to Paris for the prize-giving. The video clip shows her receiving her prize from actor-director, Guillaume Gallienne.
”It was an awesome and most enjoyable event”, she said.
Her entry was chosen by all 15 judges who admired the harmonious Jewish - Moslem relations evoked in the story, showing how through the hospital and aided by Egyptian officials, hundreds of European Jews found refuge from the Nazis.
Ada Aharoni (born Andrée Yadid in 1933) is founder-president of IFLAC - the International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace – and a recipient of the President Shimon Peres Award for Peace.
She has published more than 20 books, including peace poetry, historical novels and biographies since her first collection, Poems from Israel, appeared in 1972.
The poem below, one of her best known works, is from her collection, Not In Your War Anymore (1997).
“A Bridge of Peace
"They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid." (Micah, 4.4)
“My Arab sister, Let us build a sturdy bridge From your olive world to mine, From my orange world to yours, Above the boiling pain Of acid rain prejudice— And hold human hands high Full of free stars Of twinkling peace
“I do not want to be your oppressor You do not want to be my oppressor, Or your jailer Or my jailer, We do not want to make each other afraid Under our vines And under our fig trees Blossoming on a silvered horizon Above the bruising and the bleeding Of poison gases and scuds.
“So, my Arab sister, Let us build a bridge of Jasmine understanding Where each shall sit with her baby Under her vine and under her fig tree— And none shall make them afraid AND NONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID”.
Elizabeth Rose Murray blogs as the ‘Green-Fingered Writer, living for adventure and word’.
A poet and short fiction writer, she is currently away from her base in Ireland and in Tanop, Cambodia where, as a volunteer English teacher at the Singing Kites School, she has persuaded several girls to write their first verses in English.
Here is the simply terrific:
“Our Worries
“I worry…
about my exams and if I will fail,
if I’m absent from school then my study isn’t good enough,
about my eyes because I always use the computer on the weekend,
that my brain gets tired when I study so much,
when I go home at night, my bicycle will get broken,
about riding my motorbike on the road in case there is an accident
I will hear ghosts in the dark,
that when I go home there is no rice and I’ll be hungry,
for my brother in Korea because he is working with machines – it is very dangerous,
about not having money because I cannot study or buy things like *leashal,
that I make mistakes every day,
about not having enough water and the world getting hotter,
my face and skin is not white enough”.
* Murray explains that leishal are tiny clams, covered in salt and chilli and cooked in the sun.
Israel never ceases to surprise. I was once in Nahariya, a quiet and refined northern coastal resort near Karmiel, and was intrigued to see a group of young women sharing a nargila (hooka pipe) at a seaside bar. And why not?!
I recalled the incident when I came across the video clip below featuring the Revivo Project, whose members gather to sing Middle Eastern and North African Jewish tunes and Sephardic interpretations of Ashkenazi traditional melodies, while enjoying food, drink and yes - smoking the nargila!
The Revivo Project - הפרויקט של רביבו - is part of a growing ‘spiritualisation’ of secular Israeli culture where pop musicians rework ancient material so creating a Jewish experience that is fixed neither to religious law nor to any religious group.
It is something that American-born Israeli author and journalist, Yossi Klein Halevi views as a response to the “disillusionment with the collapse of the "messianism" of both the left (via the Oslo Accords) and the right (via withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank)”.
Among the traditional melodies that the Revivo gang has explored is the Sabbath eve favourite,Lecha Dodi - לכה דודי), a prayerful poem that is traditionally recited at Friday evening synagogue services. In it, the concept of the Sabbath is anthropomorphised as a ‘queen’ or a ‘bride’ and much of the phrasing is taken from the prophet Isaiah’s vision of Israel’s restoration.
The composer was Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, a 16th century mystic based in Tzfat, a northern Galilee town regarded as one of the four holy cities of Israel. Alkabetz wrote the piece as an acrostic with the first letter of each of the first eight verses spelling his name.
The text of the prayer is reproduced below with an English translation and transliteration along with the Hebrew original.
“Lecha Dodi
1 Let’s go, my beloved, to meet the bride, Lekhah dodi liqrat kallah לכה דודי לקראת כלה
2 and let us welcome the presence of Shabbat. p'nei Shabbat neqabelah פני שבת נקבלה
Verse 1:
3 "Observe" and "recall" in a single utterance, Shamor v'zakhor b'dibur eḥad שמור וזכור בדבור אחד
4 We were made to hear by the unified God, hishmiʿanu El hameyuḥad השמיענו אל המיחד
5 God is one and God’s Name is one, Adonai eḥad ushemo eḥad יי אחד ושמו אחד
6 In fame and splendor and praiseful song. L'Sheim ulitiferet v'lit'hilah לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה
Verse 2:
7 To greet Shabbat let’s go, let’s travel, Liqrat Shabbat lekhu v'nelekhah לקראת שבת לכו ונלכה
8 For she is the wellspring of blessing, ki hi maqor haberakhah כי היא מקור הברכה
9 From the start, from ancient times she was chosen, merosh miqedem nesukhah מראש מקדם נסוכה
10 Last made, but first planned. sof maʿaseh b'maḥashavah teḥilah סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה
Verse 3:
11 Sanctuary of the king, royal city, Miqdash melekh ʿir melukhah מקדש מלך עיר מלוכה
12 Arise! Leave from the midst of the turmoil; Qumi tze'i mitokh ha-hafeikhah קומי צאי מתוך ההפכה
13 Long enough have you sat in the valley of tears Rav lakh shevet b'ʿeimeq habakha רב לך שבת בעמק הבכא
14 And He will take great pity upon you compassionately. v'hu yaḥamol ʿalayikh ḥemlah והוא יחמול עליך חמלה
Verse 4:
15 Shake yourself free, rise from the dust, Hitnaʿari me'afar qumi התנערי מעפר קומי
16 Dress in your garments of splendor, my people, Livshi bigdei tifartekh ʿami לבשי בגדי תפארתך עמי
17 By the hand of Jesse’s son of Bethlehem, ʿAl yad ben Yishai beit ha-laḥmi על יד בן ישי בית הלחמי
18 Redemption draws near to my soul. Qorvah el nafshi g'alah קרבה אל נפשי גאלה
20 Your light is coming, rise up and shine. Ki va oreikh qumi ori כי בא אורך קומי אורי
21 Awaken! Awaken! utter a song, ʿUri ʿuri shir dabeiri עורי עורי שיר דברי
22 The glory of the Lord is revealed upon you. K'vod Adonai ʿalayikh niglah כבוד יי עליך נגלה
Verse 6:
23 Do not be embarrassed! Do not be ashamed! Lo tivoshi v'lo tikalmi לא תבושי ולא תכלמי
24 Why be downcast? Why groan? Mah tishtoḥai umah tehemi מה תשתוחחי ומה תהמי
25 All my afflicted people will find refuge within you bakh yeḥesu ʿaniyei ʿami בך יחסו עניי עמי
26 And the city shall be rebuilt on her hill. v'nivnetah ʿir ʿal tilah ונבנתה עיר על תלה
Verse 7:
27 Your despoilers will become your spoil, V'hayu limshisah shosayikh והיו למשסה שאסיך
28 Far away shall be any who would devour you, V'raḥaqu kol mevalʿayikh ורחקו כל מבלעיך
29 Your God will rejoice concerning you, Yasis ʿalayikh Elohayikh ישיש עליך אלהיך
30 As a groom rejoices over a bride. Kimsos ḥatan ʿal kalah כמשוש חתן על כלה
Verse 8:
31 To your right and your left you will burst forth, Yamin usmol tifrotzi ימין ושמאל תפרוצי
32 And the Lord will you revere V'et Adonai taʿaritzi ואת יי תעריצי
33 By the hand of a child of Perez, ʿAl yad ish ben Partzi על יד איש בן פרצי
34 We will rejoice and sing happily. V'nismeḥah v'nagilah ונשמחה ונגילה
Verse 9:
35 Come in peace, crown of her husband, Boi v'shalom ateret baʿalah בואי בשלום עטרת בעלה
36 Both in happiness and in jubilation Gam b'simḥah uvetzahalah גם בשמחה ובצהלה
37 Amidst the faithful of the treasured nation
38 Come O Bride! Come O Bride! Boi khalah boi khalah ”בואי כלה בואי כלה
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As this is my first post here for some months, I’d like to wish Jewish readers ‘Shabbat shalom’ and everyone very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2015.
