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The Malik and Ben Yehudah Sagas

In Tribute to Two Giants of the Hebrew Renaissance

ELIEZER BEN YEHUDAH

CHAIM NACHMAN BIALIK

upon his 50th Yahrzeit

upon the Centennial
of his Birthday

26 Kislev 5683
16 December 1922

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The great re-awakener of Hebrew, the man who brought the
"Tongue of the Prophets" to life again in the streets, newspapers,
and books of the Yishuv in then Palestine, and who made the
old-new language its living link with the' far-flung Dispe - rsion,
was a dreamer who saw his dream come true. Lithuania-born
Eliezer Perelman- took on the name of "Ben Ychudah" after
he had settled in Jerusalem in 1881, and dedicated himself to
an all-consuming task: to redeem Hebrew from the spell of the
centuries, that had relegated the "Holy Language" to usage in
the ritual of the synagogue, or to the study of the books, which
contain the great treasures of the Jewish heritage. Fanatically
convinced that the restoration of the Hebrew word to pulsating
function in everyday existence was the premise for the 'Return
to Zion,' Ben Yehudah set out single-handedly to recreate living
Hebrew through personal example in and outside of his home,
and through a lifetime effort in developing a vocabulary that was
meeting the requirements of modernity. A profound scholarship
and truly imaginative power served him splendidly in coining
from Biblical and Aramaic sources a multitude of words that are
of common currency in present-day Hebrew. It was in line with
this effort that Ben Yehudah initiated and guided the VAAD
HA-LASHON HA-IVRITH, the Hebrew Language Council, the
forerunner of the "Hebrew Language Academy," which is now
continuing to provide new terms and terminologies for an ever-
expanding language. If spoken Hebrew is Ben Yehudah's living
legacy, his "Thesaurus," the complete dictionary of ancient and
modern Hebrew, is his lasting monument. Up to the day of his
death, Ben Ychudah worked on this truly monumental undertaking,
for which he assembled word definitions in Hebrew, German,
French and English. The "Thesaurus" was fully published after his
death and comprises now, after revisions and additions, a total of
17 volumes.
Below are reproductions of the title pages of the "Thesaurus,"

and of its first article.

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9 January 1873

"The Poet Laureate of the Jewish People"—such an accolade
is but a "natural" for the greatest Hebrew poet since Yehuda
Halevy. Bialik's poems, of which HAMATMID (The Perpetual
Student), METE HAMIDBAR (The Desert Dead), BE-IR-
HAHAREGAH (In the City of Slaughter) and MEGILLAT
HA-ESH (The Scroll of Fire) have become the great milestones
of his creativity, are expressive of both a superb mastery of the
material and of a poignant socio-cultural criticism. Such qualities
combined in making Bialik the celebrated national poet and the

enthusiastically acclaimed leader of the young, who rallied around
him in an upsurge of national activism. Yet, it is not only the
poet who occupies such an illustrious place in the history of
Hebrew letters—he excelled also as essayist, short story writer,
author of children's stories, re-teller of ancient legend, editor,
publisher and last but not least, as translator into Hebrew of
masterworks of world literature.
Coming to Tel Aviv in 1924 and settling there, Bialik became
the Yishuv's most luminous figure and a driving force for cultural
activity—he is the originator of the "Oneg Shabat" Movement
that was to span the Jewish world.
Following is a reproduction of the initial part of Bialik's first
poem EL-HATZIPOR (To A Bird) in his own handwriting, and
the rendition of these passages in English from the translation
by Jessie Sampter, famous American Jewish poetess.

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TO A BIRD

Lovely bird, unto my window
From a warmer clime!

G REETINGS! Peace to you, returning

Do you bring me friendly greetings
From my brothers there in Zion,
Brothers far yet near?

How my soul for songs was yearning

0 the happy! 0 the blessed!

When my dwelling you deserted

Do they guess what heavy sorrows

In the winter-time!

I must suffer here?

Chirping, singing, dearest birdling,

Do they know and could they picture

Tell the wonders of that distant
Land from which you came.

How the many rise against me,
How their hatred swells?

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Singing, singing, 0 my birdling,

In that fairer, warmer climate
Are the troubles and the trials

Sing the wonders of the land where

Multiplied the same?

Spring forever dwells.

Special Feature Supplement Prepared by Tarbuth
Foundation for the Advancement of Hebrew Culture

Notable Work by Eminent Libertarian

Another Schwarz-Bart Outcry Against Injustice ; Novel Exposes Slave Trade

That's how the story starts
Andre Schwarz-Bart left an casionally confusing identifi- their salt meadows, and most
indelible mark on contempo- cations of characters, t h e of all to their rice paddies, about the girl called Bayan-
rary literature with his novel Schwarz-Bart novel comes which were known and prized gumay.
The story is based on the
"The Last of the Just" which, very close to his sensational throughout West Africa."
life of the mullato woman —
in 1959, stirred his readers a n d soul-searching story
"Solitude," — who, The oral
with his anguished expres- about the Holocaust.
tradition in the Caribbean
.— sions and interpretations of
In "A Woman Named Sol-
relates — was born on the
the effect of the Holocaust.
itude" we are introduced to
island
of Guadeloupe around
Now he is emerging anew a happy lot of people who
1772, took part in the uprising
as a passionate defender of are immersed in spiritualism
of freed slaves in 1802 and
just rights and human values and in beliefs of redemption
was sentenced to death for
with his novel "A Woman and a return of the soul into
the murder of a French
, Named Solitude," published bodies of newborn — so that
soldier. She was pregnant at
there was never permanent
by Atheneum.
the time and was executed
The newest is the story of death. It all starts in West
immediately after giving
slaves and slavery in the Africa:
birth.
"But the inhabitants of this
early years of the last cen-
It was a happy life, orig-
tury. It is the story of Guade- region had no Olympus, no
inally among the ancestors
loupe and the French role, as Valhalla or heavenly Jeru-
of "Solitude." It was dedi-
•• ■ — well as the slave traffic that salem. They were not in-
cated to the belief in the
clined to lose themselves in
created so many tragedies.
undying and revivalist spir-
With all its involvements, the clouds, for they were too
its. Then came the gr eat
complicated narrations, oc- much attached to their cows,
tragedy, the destruction of
ANDRE
SCHWARZ-BART
the peaceful community, the
THE
DETROIT
JEWISH
NEWS
48—Friday, Fob. 23, 1973

transporting of the innocent to those who travel in the
inhabitants like cattle to be areas of Guadaloupe, Mar-
tinique, Desiderade and
sold as slaves.
Schwarz-Bart, in this pow- Montserrat to know what had
erful story, offers one of the preceded the glories of the
moat Impressive indictments plantations which had been
of the slave trade. He also built with enslaved hands.
exposes the inadequacies of That is why there is the
the Black Revolt, its hseffec- added challenge in the emi-
tiveness in Gnacialoupe, the nent author's warning that if
the visitor, the tourist, "is in
internal divisiveness.
the mood to salute a mem-
There is something mag-
ory, his imagination will
netic in this tale of woe, and
people the environing space,
the heartache depicted
and human figures will rise
emerges as a challenge to
up around him, just as the
mankind and as an outcry
phantoms that wander about
against the tyranny and the
the humiliated ruins of the
inhumanity of a bygone age.
Warsaw ghetto are said to
In a sense it is a combina-
rise up before the eyes of
tion of history with fiction,
the other travelers."

while it keeps emitting re-
alities about a time of such
cruelty that it defies the
human imaginations.
There is also an admonition

"A Woman Named Soli-
tude" was translated from
the French by Ralph Man-

beim.

