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Yehuda Halevi - My heart is in the East
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Yehuda Halevi - My heart is in the East
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Judah Ha-Levi, Yehudah Halevi, (Judah Ha-Levi) was a Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Toledo in Spain, about 1085 and died about 1141. Much of his poetry reflected his love for Israel, and kept alive the love of Zion as a part of Jewish culture, rather than just a ritual to be expressed in prayer. At the end of his life he actually traveled to the Holy Land to settle there and fulfill his dream. However, according to tradition, he was murdered by an Arab as he knelt at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, soon after he arrived. Ha Levi's poetry used a relatively simple, direct style that is very close to the modern idiom.
Modern Hebrew poetry and language owe a great debt to him. Two poems in particular became a part of the tradition of Hebrew learning and preserved and enriched Hebrew poetic idiom. "My Heart is in the East" and "Zion, thou art anxious for thy captives" ("Zion Hallo tishali lishlom asirayich"). From the latter poem, we have the modern Hebrew expression "Asir Tsyion" - a prisoner (on account of) Zion, applied to those imprisoned in the USSR for advocating Zionism. From same poem, Naomi Shemer derived a line of her famous song, "Jerusalem of Gold" - " lechol Shirayich Ani Kinor" which in Halevi's poem is "ani kinor leshirayich"
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My heart is in the East, and I am at the ends of the West;
How can I taste what I eat and how could it be pleasing to me?
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I am in the chains of Arabia?
It would be easy for me to leave all the bounty of Spain --
As it is precious for me to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.
In Hebrew.
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Zion - thou art anxious for news of thy captives
"Tzion Hallo Tishali leshlom asirayich"
"Zion, thou art doubtless anxious for news of thy captives;
they ask after thee, they who are the remainder of thy flock
From West and East and North and South, from near and far;
bring peace from every side.
And peace is the desire of the captive, who giveth his tears
like the dew on the Hermon and yearns for the day they will fall on thy hills
I am a mourner who weeps for your poverty and when I dream
of the return I am the accompaniment to thy songs.
In Hebrew
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Wikipedia article about Zionism - A comprehensive article including the history of Zionism as well as links to specific topics and articles about anti-Zionism.
Zionism - Table of contents at the Jewish Virtual Library
Zionism - Definition and Brief History - A balanced article that covers the definitions and history of Zionism as well as opposition to Zionism and criticisms by Arabs, Jewish anti-Zionists.
Labor Zionism - Early History and Critique - Contribution of Labor Zionism to the creation of the Jewish state, and problems of Labor Zionism in a changing reality.
The US Library of congress has a comprehensive and balanced set of articles about Zionism:
Zionist Precursors - US Library of Congress
Political Zionism - US Library of Congress
Cultural Zionism - US Library of Congress
Labor Zionism - US Library of Congress
Revisionist Zionism - US Library of Congress
Jewish Agency Zionism pages - Links to basic information about Zionism from the Jewish Agency
Ambassador Herzog explains Zionism in the UN
Advocacy
Dvar Dea - Israel & Zionist advocacy
Realistic Religious Zionism - moderate religious Zionist Web site
ZioNation - Zionism-Israel Web Log Israel News Israel: like this, as if Christian Zionism Albert Einstein Bible Palestine Nakba 1948 Israel Independence - Birth of a Nation Six Day War War of Independence History of Zionism Zionism FAQ Zionism Israel Center Maps of Israel Jew Zionism and its Impact Israel Christian Zionism
