- Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Infobox Writer
name = Hayyim Nahman Bialik
caption =
birthdate = birth date|1873|1|9|mf=y
birthplace =Ukraine
deathdate =July 4 ,1934
deathplace =Vienna ,Austria
occupation = Poet, journalist, Children's writer, Translator
nationality =
period =
genre =
subject =
movement =Hovevei Zion
influences =
influenced =Jacob Steinberg ,Jacob Fichman
website =Hayyim Nahman Bialik (
Hebrew : חיים נחמן ביאליק) (January 9, 1873–July 4 ,1934 ), also Chaim or Haim, was aJew ishpoet who wrote in Hebrew. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized asIsrael 'snational poet .Biography
Bialik was born in
Radi ,Volhynia inUkraine to Yitzhak Yossef Bialik, a scholar and businessman, and his wife Dinah (Priveh). Bialik's father died in 1880, when Bialik was 7 years old. In his poems, Bialik romanticised the misery of his childhood, describing seven orphans left behind—though modern biographers believe there were fewer children, including grown step-siblings who did not need to be supported. Be that as it may, from the age 7 onwards Bialik was raised inZhitomir by his stern Orthodox grandfather, Yaakov Moshe Bialik.In Zhitomir he received a traditional Jewish religious education, but also explored European literature. At the age of 15, inspired by an article he read, he convinced his grandfather to send him to the
Volozhin Yeshiva inLithuania , to study at a famousTalmud ic academy underRabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin , where he hoped he could continue his Jewish schooling while expanding his education to European literature as well. Attracted to theJewish Enlightenment movement (haskala ), Bialik gradually drifted away from yeshiva life. Poems such as "HaMatmid" ("The Talmud student") written in 1898, reflect his great ambivalence toward that way of life: on the one hand admiration for the dedication and devotion of the yeshiva students to their studies, on the other hand a disdain for the narrowness of their world.At 18 he left for
Odessa , the center of modern Jewish culture in the southern Russian Empire, drawn by such luminaries asMendele Mocher Sforim andAhad Ha'am . In Odessa, Bialik studied Russian and German language and literature, and dreamed to enroll in the Modern Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. Alone and penniless, he made his living teaching Hebrew. The 1892 publication of his first poem, "El Hatzipor" "To the Bird," which expresses a longing forZion , in a booklet edited byYehoshua Hana Ravnitzky (a future collaborator), eased Bialik's way into Jewish literary circles in Odessa. He joined the so-calledHovevei Zion group and befriended Ahad Ha'am, who had a great influence on hisZionist outlook.In 1892 Bialik heard news that the Volozhin yeshiva had closed, and rushed home to Zhitomir, to prevent his grandfather from discovering that he had discontinued his religious education. He arrived to discover his grandfather and his older brother both on their deathbeds. Following their deaths, Bialik married Mania Averbuch in 1893. For a time he served as a bookkeeper in his father-in-law's lumber business in
Korostyshiv , nearKiev . But when this proved unsuccessful, he moved in 1897 toSosnowice , a small town near thePrussia n border. In Sosnowice Bialik worked as a Hebrew teacher, and tried to earn extra income as a coal merchant, but the provincial life depressed him. He was finally able to return to Odessa in 1900, having secured a teaching job.For the next two decades, Bialik taught and continued his activities in Zionist and literary circles, as his literary fame continued to rise. This is considered Bialik's "golden period". In 1901 his first collection of poetry was published in
Warsaw , and was greeted with much critical acclaim, to the point that he was hailed "the poet of national renaissance." Bialik relocated to Warsaw briefly in 1904 as literary editor of the weekly magazine "Hashiloah " founded by Ahad Ha'am, a position he served for six years.In 1903 Bialik was sent by the Jewish Historical Commission in Odessa to interview survivors of the
Kishinev pogrom s and prepare a report. In response to his findings Bialik wrote his epic poem "In the City of Slaughter", a powerful statement of anguish at the situation of the Jews. Bialik's condemnation of passivity against anti-Semitic violence is said to have influenced the founding Jewish self-defense groups in Russia, and eventually theHaganah in Palestine. Bialik visited Palestine in 1909.In the early 1900's Bialik founded with Y. H. Ravnitzky, Simcha Ben Zion and Elhanan Levinsky, a Hebrew publishing house, "Moriah", which issued Hebrew classics and school literature. He translated into Hebrew various European works, such as
Shakespeare 's "Julius Caesar ",Schiller 's "Wilhelm Tell ",Cervantes ' "Don Quixote ", andHeine 's poems; and from YiddishS. Ansky 's "The Dybbuk ". Throughout the years 1899-1915 Bialik published about 20 of his Yiddish poems in different Yiddish periodicals in Russia. These poems are often considered to be among the best achievements of modern Yiddish poetry. In collaboration with Ravnitzky Bialik published "Sefer Ha Aggadah" (1908-1911, "The Book of Legends"), a three-volume edition of the folk tales and proverbs scattered through the Talmud. For the book they selected hundreds of texts and arranged them thematically. "The Book of Legends" was immediately recognized as a masterwork and has been reprinted numerous times. Bialik also edited the poems of the medieval poet and philosopherIbn Gabirol . He began a modern commentary on theMishnah , but only completedZeraim , the first of the six Orders (in the 1950's, the Bialik Institute published a commentary on the entire Mishnah byHanoch Albeck , which is currently out of print). He additionally added several commentaries on the Talmud.Bialik lived in Odessa until 1921, when Moriah publishing house was closed by
Communist authorities, as a result of mounting paranoia following theBolshevik Revolution . With the intervention ofMaxim Gorki , a group of Hebrew writers was given permission by the Soviet government to leave the country. Bialik then moved to Berlin, where together with his friends Ravnitzky andShmaryahu Levine he founded the "Dvir" publishing house. In 1924 he relocated with his publishing house to Tel Aviv, devoting himself to cultural activities and public affairs. Bialik was immediately recognized as a celebrated literary figure. He delivered the address that marked the opening of theHebrew University inJerusalem and was a member of its board of governors, and in 1927 he became head of the Hebrew Writers Union, a position he retained for the remainder of his life. In 1933 his 60th birthday was celebrated with festivities nationwide, and all the schoolchildren of Tel Aviv were taken to meet him and pay their respects to him.Bialik died in Vienna, Austria, on July 3, 1934, following a failed prostate operation. He was buried in Tel Aviv: a large mourning procession followed from his home on the street named after him, to his final resting place. One of his descendants is the American actress
Mayim Bialik . [ [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~szwetch/Stamps.of.Israel/12.html Samuel Zwetchkenbaum, "Chaim Bialik (1873-1934)", 1997] ]Works and influence
Bialik wrote several different modes of poetry. He is perhaps most famous for his long, nationalistic poems, which call for a reawakening of the Jewish people. However no less effective are his passionate love poems, his personal verse or his nature poems. Last but not least, Bialik's songs for children are a staple of Israeli nursery life. From 1908 onwards, he wrote mostly prose.
By writing his works in Hebrew, Bialik contributed significantly to the revival of the
Hebrew language , which before his days existed primarily as an ancient, scholarly tongue. His influence is felt deeply in all modern Hebrew literature. The generation of Hebrew language poets who followed in Bialik's footsteps, includingJacob Steinberg andJacob Fichman , are called "the Bialik generation".To this day, Bialik is recognised as Israel's national poet. His former home at 22 Bialik Street in Tel Aviv has been converted into a museum, and functions as a center for literary events. The municipality of
Tel Aviv awards theBialik Prize in his honor.Kiryat Bialik , a suburb of Haifa, andGivat Hen , amoshav , are named for him.Bialik's poems have been translated into at least 30 languages, and set to music as popular songs. These poems, and the songs based on them, have become an essential part of the education and culture of modern Israel.
Bialik wrote most of his poems using "Ashkenazi" pronunciation, while Hebrew in Israel uses the Sephardi pronunciation. In consequence, Bialik's poems are rarely recited in the meter in which they were written.
References
elected bibliography in English
*"Selected Writings (poetry and prose)" Hasefer, 1924; New York, New Palestine, 1926; Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1939; New York, Histadrut Ivrit of America, 1948; New York, Bloch, 1965; New York, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1972; Tel Aviv, Dvir and the Jerusalem Post, 1981; Columbus, Alpha, 1987
*"The Short Friday" Tel Aviv, Hashaot, 1944
*"Knight of Onions and Knight of Garlic" New York, Jordan, 1939
*"Random Harvest - The Novellas of C. N. Bialik", Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press (Perseus Books), 1999
*"The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself" (2003), ISBN 0-8143-2485-1External links
* [http://benyehuda.org/bialik/ Bialik's Complete Works] at
Project Ben-Yehuda
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/bialik.html Biography at the Jewish Virtual Library]
* [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bialik.htm A third biography]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/kerbale/index.htm Bialik's Yiddish poems (selection)]
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