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MIZRACHI SCHOLARS³IN³RESIDENCE TORAT MIZRACHI

hopeful woman, and she knows that ‘in The prolonged silence was finally Weizman, then interim President, con-
every expectation, there is the sadness broken by a student who stood up at the ducted the event with emotion.
of Nevo.’ This is one of the most beau- end of the hall and declared, ‘Wait, isn’t Current Israeli politics has not been a
tiful lines of poetry in the world, for all it something about Moshe Rabbeinu?’ big source of festive celebration. Most
generations. I remember another meeting, at a of the time we are either before or after
I told my students that if I would be a school in one of the kibbutzim in Emek elections. Four election campaigns in
Nobel Prize judge for poetry, I would Yizrael. We read Rachel’s poem ‘Barren.’ two years is a big challenge. Our son
give two prizes to two lines in this won- It begins with ‘A son, I had’ and contin- once asked, “Ima, I know we’re the
ues with ‘I will still bear my indignation
derful, troubled poem. The poem ends like Mother Rachel, I will still pray like only democracy in the Middle East,
with a line engraved on the author’s Chana at Shilo.’ They had heard about but aren’t we exaggerating with this
tombstone by the Kinneret: ‘Each Mother Rachel, but not one of them democracy thing?”
man and his Nevo, upon the great knew who Chana at Shiloh was, the Indeed, Tu BiShvat this year is perhaps
land,’ meaning, each person and his woman whose prayer for fruit of the a day of cheshbon nefesh – introspec-
unachievable. womb is one of the most wondrous tion – about the state of Israeli politics.

I once recited this poem by heart to my reflections of a tormented soul in all of How can it be that the Jewish nation has
students, and I felt they weren’t with world literature. returned to its Land, built a magnificent
me. I personally feel chills every time I thought they should know that. country, Arab countries are standing
I read it, but they didn’t understand at At the end of the meeting, the Princi- in line to sign peace deals with us, and
all what it was about, so they couldn’t pal said to me: ‘Why did you come? To yet we have failed to create any sort of
be moved by it. I call this the ‘associa- embarrass and offend them?’ ‘No,’ I said. political stability? How can we succeed
tive disconnect.’ Our Hebrew has been ‘I didn’t come for that, but to show them and fail at the same time? How is it that
accumulated from all the generations the danger of detachment. As heirs of during a pandemic of these proportions
of Jews, Tanach and Midrash, liturgy a rich, multi-generational culture, they we have not learned to unite?
and prayer. need to be aware of that. They need to This is not a column of political analy-
know what they don’t’.” sis, but it is a platform to request your
This kind of disconnect is a very dan-
gerous thing. prayers. We invite you to add stability
and unity in Israel to your prayers. And
At that point, I placed the book in Tu BiShvat is also the birthday of may we all live to see the fruits of our
my bag, looked at the clock and told the Israeli Knesset. In 1949, after efforts!
my students, ‘It was nice to meet you. 4the first elections, the first Knes- Happy Tu BiShvat!
Today at 11:15, in this school, Hebrew set of the State of Israel began to serve
poetry died.’ the country. In a festive ceremony on Sivan Rahav Meir and Yedidya Meir are
February 14 , 1949, the first ceremo- popular Israeli media personalities and
th
They were silent. nial session opened, and Dr. Chaim World Mizrachi’s Scholars-in-Residence.

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