By Rabbi Lee Diamond At the Kineret Cemetery, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee close Kibbutz Degania (Israel’s first Kibbutz) lays this peaceful yet powerful cemetery. Here we tell the story of idealistic youth who came to change society, the Jewish people, and Jewish destiny.
This cemetery tells the story of individuals souls who lived and often died for this commitment. The Chalutzim or pioneers were only as strong as every individual heroic soul who gave his/her all to this group and to making the dream of 2,000 years happen.
Among the many who are buried here is Israel’s unofficial poet laureate:
Rachel Blaustein, known endearingly as “Rachel”
Unlike many of her contemporaries amongst the Chalutzim pioneers, Rachel was ill and physically weak. Her contribution came not from labor in the fields nor in building the roads and the buildings of her time. Rachel’s contribution to the newly forming society and state of Israel was her poetic soul and her poetry. Note this short quotation from one of her poems:
“…The Kinneret is not simply a landscape, not just a part of nature; the fate of a people is contained in its name. Our past peeks out of it to watch us with thousands of eyes; with thousands of mouths it communicates with our hearts.”
Another brief poem illustrates her inner love for Israel and the strength of her vision:
Sham Harei Golan
Over there are the hills of Golan,
Stretch out your hands and touch them.
In their stalwart stillness they give the
command to halt. In splendid isolation
grandfather Hermon slumbers.
A cool wind blows from the peak of
whiteness.
Over there, on the seashore,
a low-topped palm tree stands,
disheveled like a mischievous infant that
has slid down and splashes in the waters of
the Kinneret.
How abundant are the flowers in the winter,
bunches of blood-red anemones, the
orange of the crocus.
There are days when the greenery is sevenfold
green and seventy-fold is the blue of
the sky.
But even if I become poverty-stricken
and walk bent over and my heart becomes
the beacon for strangers,
how can I betray you, how can I forget.
How can I forget the grace of youth?
Herein lays the magic contained in this cemetery. Rachel was a soul on fire as were so many of the souls of her generation who are buried here. One candle burning brightly gives light but when many of these flames are gathered in one place it becomes a light unto an entire nation. Every one of us has such a soul. Every one of us can make a contribution. Heroes are those who give their all to a cause and as a result of this have the power to change the world or improve it. This value of the power of an individual to change the world is deeply rooted in Judaism. The value of giving ones all and one’s best is deeply rooted in Judaism. The value of a group being only as powerful as the intensity of the souls within the group is no less a Jewish value. The modern state of Israel was born in this way and the continuity of Israel and of the Jewish people will continue to exist, create and make its contribution to the world precisely because of this value.
Among the graves of the founders is a latter day poet whose life and works are deeply connected to Israel’s soul and whose contribution lights the flame of a generation.
Another soul on Fire:
Naomi Shemer: First Lady of Israeli Song
Naomi Shemer gave life to an emerging nation. Of all of her works and they are as numerous
“as the stars in the sky” is Jerusalem of Gold which has become a hymn of Israel today:
JERUSALEM OF GOLD
by Naomi Shemer
The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.
And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.
And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).
For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold…
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram’s horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.
And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine –
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
