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Advanced Level –?מסילת הרכבת?

Yehuda Amichai

Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) was an Israeli poet, and was considered one
of the most important Hebrew poets, a trailblazer and a creator of a
revolution in Modern Hebrew poetry.

Amichai was born in Germany to an Orthodox family. He immigrated to
Israel with his family at the age of 11, and lived most of his life in
Jerusalem, in the Yemin Moshe neighborhood.

During World War II he enlisted in the British Army and fought against
the Nazis as part of the Jewish Brigade. During the War of Independence
in 1948 he joined the Palmach and served as a fighter. His difficult
experiences from the wars, especially during the difficult battle in which
his commander, Chaim Laxberger, was killed, influenced him and many of
his poems.

After studying literature at Hebrew University, Amichai worked as a
creative writing teacher at various universities in Israel and around the
world including New York University, University of California and Yale.
He was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize, and although he did not
receive the award, he received international appreciation and recognition
and his poems were translated into 35 languages.

When he received the Israel Prize in 1982, the judges said it brought about
a revolutionary change in Hebrew poetry, when he combined poetic
language with day-to-day Hebrew and connected between Judaism and
secularism in his poems.

He wrote many poems about war, love and Jerusalem which he loved so
much. Throughout the German Colony, one can find posters with his
poems.

At the beginning of Emek Refaim Street, one can find a fence with a sign
explaining that here they are building a neighborhood named after Yehuda
Amichai. The sign has been there for a few years but still no sign of
construction. We hope the day will come when we will be able to sit in the
garden in the Yehuda Amichai neighborhood and read of his beautiful
poems.

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