The Diary of Yitzhak Lamdan
(A Translation of the Diary Entries)

Translation of Diary Entries

The translation of Lamdan's diary entries follows below or you can return to the overview, the concise summaries or the interpretive summaries of the diary entries.

June 1914
June 26, 1914 | June 29, 1914

July 1914
July 2, 1914 | July 6, 1914 | July 8, 1914 | July 9, 1914 | July 12, 1914 | July 16, 1914 | July 19, 1914 | July 21, 1914 | July 22, 1914 | July 23, 1914 | July 27, 1914

Notebook A

June 1914

[June 26, 1914] Friday, 2nd of Tammuz, in the afternoon, 5674 Mlynov^[1]

On Tuesday, I drew up a letter to A. [Avraham] Weitz^[2] and sent it to him, in it I requested he write me what he heard regarding the immigration certificate.^[3] I asked his pardon, if I was troubling him with my letter, I explained to him as in my previous letters, how terribly tragic for me if I couldn’t travel to the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael). In this letter, I also mentioned another item that I did not mention in previous letters and this was: that he should not anticipate that I would become a burden to him in Eretz Yisrael, and that I would try diligently with all my might to prevent this. I also expressed the hope, that he would surely respond to this letter of mine and not leave it unanswered as in previous ones.[”] No doubt he received and read this letter, and then he sent a courier here to buy household goods and food and also [sent] a letter from [his son] David, and in this letter there was not even a tiny allusion to my letter; obviously my remorse grew greater because of this.

I have no desire, nor am I able to write another letter. For what purpose? Only in the margins of one page of the newspaper HaZeman [The Time]^[4] I wrote [2] these words: A.N.! [Honored Sir, Adoni Nichbad] why didn’t I receive a response to my letters that I await with “pining eyes and a languishing body” [Lev. 26:16] Y. L. [Yitzhak Lamdan]? I wrote these things intending that they would see them when they held the edition in their hands. But lo and behold a representative came today with nothing for me. And it is impossible to understand any reason why.^[5] Are these men not known for being honorable and righteous. Would they be ungrateful and not bother to write me a letter? Or perhaps [6] they evade answering because they have no intention to add me to the certificate. Is it possible? Questions such as these and other similar ones come to mind, but their answer, who knows? It is difficult for me to determine the meaning of this. Even though I don’t know the meaning of this, still I’m angry with them that they don’t do right by answering my letters and by and by I am left hanging. And I do not know which world I am in. Thus the time is already so short!! Intense sorrow fills my heart. Who knows? [3] Who knows if some great catastrophe has befallen him? Oh no, Lord of the world, is it indeed, possible? ! … Is it really possible that my sacred idea, which I nurtured and developed, at this time, in my best feelings, and in the best blood flowing in my youthful veins; this sacred idea, for which I made great valuable sacrifices on its altar, this idea, will it really not soon come to fruition?... Truly? … A heavy sorrow I feel now with these thoughts. Hard. So difficult. “A crisis period”^[6] and tell me why a crisis is able to overcome a man? This week I read a notice in [the newspaper] “HaZeman” that a public school in Ehalavaya^[7] in the district of of Yekaterinoslav [now Dnipro Ukraine] are seeking 3 teachers, the first for Hebrew and general studies, a second for Hebrew studies in the upper division (i.e., classes) and the third (the last – certification is not needed) for Hebrew studies in the preparatory division. The salary of the first is from 600-700 rubles a year and the third from 500-600. And therefore during the week I sent a postcard there to see if it is possible for me to be a teacher of come to the school as a teacher for Hebrew studies in the preparatory program and [requested that] they clarify the details of the requirements. Look what a “crisis period” is able to generate!!

My entire spirit and thoughts are fastened on the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel has already sunk ancient, strong roots in my heart and mind so that I can’t think about living here in exile (galut), but here comes “the crisis period” and confronts me with something like this. I do my present writing in the alleyway behind our house next to the small table that I set up, between the shrubs, and under the shade of the willow. Today is a hot summer day and around me spills nature’s glory, gardens, trees, opposite the beautiful skies, flies and bees hum, and their buzzing attracts and enchants the heart, everything is beautiful and delightful and I look all around, strong longings for the Land of Israel attack me. I long for the blue skies of the Land of Israel, her mountains, her gardens [5], her cultivated fields and everything in her, my soul does not find satisfaction in the beautiful nature of Exile (galut) and my longings carry me far, far [away] to the place there where our cherished land is sprawling.

My longings are so strong, as are the sorrow and doubt that fill my heart….Oh my heart aches. Doubt eats at me …. Restrained anger fills my limbs: Why? Why don’t they (the Weitz family) answer my letters? Why are they ungrateful? How many times have they frequently bothered us and me with different kinds of errands and endless requests, but they don’t want to answer my letters? Is it indeed possible I am suspicious for nothing, suspect in I’m suspicious, but at this moment, a moment when bitter doubts gnaw my heart, it is almost impossible for me not to be angry and annoyed with them.

I am concluding my entry with great inner sadness, strong longings, and bitter doubt that tortures my soul….

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Notes

[1] The critical edition gives some background on Mlynov: “Mlinov” here in the Russian pronunciation. Mlyniv in the Ukrainian pronunciation. A small town in the Rivne Oblast, in western Ukraine, 30 km southeast of Lutsk. Mlynov is the birthplace of Yitzhak Lamdan. See Moshe Tamari, “In the Presence of Yitzhak Lamdan,” Gilyonot 31 (12) 5713 [1954], 290-293. [translator's note: see the translated version, of this essay in the Mlynov-Mervits Memorial Book, English, pp. 222-223] ↩

[2] The critical edition explans that: Avraham Weitz was a maskil (figure of the jewish enlightenment) of the organization Hovevei Zion, supervisor of his family’s forest holdings. He was father of Yosef Weiss (1890-1972) who among the well known pioneers of the second aliaya (he made aliya in 1908) and was among the head Keren Hakayemet and was known by the nickname, “father of the forests.” See David Tadhr, Encyclopedia to the Yishuv Pioneers and Builders [Heb.], 2nd vol. This Avraham Weitz lived in Bokiima, located 10 km southwest of Mlynov. Later in the diary he refers to a son David Weitz, and daughter Hinda who also planned to make aliyah to the Land of Israel. Others are mentioned further on: Haichel [Chaim] Weitz and Sarah Weitz, who are apparently also his children, and the mother of Hinda, who is his [Abraham’s] wife, named Raitzah [Rachel] nee Kalivner, according to Tadhr (ibid p. 858) ↩

[3] The critical edition explains: Immigration and residence permit in the Land of Israel, apparently mediated through the institutions of the Yishuv (Settlement) in the Land of Israel.Translator's note: In 1914, the Land of Israel was still under Ottoman control and permission to travel to and settle in the Land of Israel needed the Ottoman approval. ↩

[4] HaZeman was a Hebrew newspaper that was published in Russian and Lithuania in the years 1903-1915, first bi-weekly and afterwards daily. During the time that Lamdan wrote these lines, it was published daily in Vilna in Lithuania, edited by H. M. Margulies. Military censorship limitations brought it to an end during WWI, in Jan. 1915. ↩

[5] The critical edition makes clear that: The diacritics on the [Hebrew] soft letters (b, c, peh (בֿ;כֿ;פֿ)) are indicated in the handwriting as is usual in Yiddish, even though not in the following. ↩

[6] [In Hebrew] penultimate pronunciation. [Crisis period is] A concept known in the yeshiva world meaning a period of depression and doubts that leads to paralysis in action and study. ↩

[7] In this ad, it is written Ehalahvaya (or Aolovaya), in the region of Yekaterinoslav [today called Dnipro] according to Soloveitchik 34259. Ehlahvaya is the name of the street or the umbrella organization that the school belonged to. HaZeman (June 23, 1914), page 4. ↩

[June 29, 1914] Monday, the 5th of Tammuz, Early Afternoon, Mlynov (5674)

Yesterday, in the morning, Mr. David Weitz [son of Abraham] came to Mlynov and stopped by our house. Obviously, his visit was very welcome. Now – I thought at that moment – I will at last learn what is known about my status and the trip in general. This is what he said: for the moment they are not trying to get [immigration] certificates, due to doubt whether they will travel to the Land of Israel. The journey depends now on Avraham Lender[8] and if he goes – they will for sure go, but if he doesn’t go, they also won’t go, and the matter obviously has to be decided in the coming days. With regard to me he said : [“]they fully intend in the near future to add me to their certificate as soon as it is feasible,[”] hoping to calm me down. To calm me down entirely, obviously is not possible in the meantime, but be that as it may, David’s words soothed my spirit a bit which previously was very depressed! [7] But Mr. David’s words calmed my spirit just a little bit. And still now bitter doubt nestles in my heart, I think that perhaps Mr. Abraham Wietz will not go – then…. because, Father^[9] will agree to my going only if I accompany Mr. Weitz, but if he doesn’t go - who knows if Father will allow me to go? I am worried and scared about this, and thus [his update] has not removed or blunted the sharp sting of doubt that filled and continues to fill my heart even now.

Now, I must pray for others [i.e., Lender] as well as myself … I must pray that Weitz will in the end decide to travel, this is now my situation. We are still without clarity, and [everything] is cloudy. And the "crisis period" continues.

Last week I drafted and sent a letter to the administration of the [bi-monthly periodical] “Shaharit”^[10] in which I complained that I didn’t get the 3rd issue of the periodical perhaps because of some error. I requested that they send me one immediately. Meanwhile, no reply and [8] no “Sharharit.” What is the reason?

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Notes

[8] Avraham Lender according to the diary entry (15 Tammuz, 5674) was a relative of the Weitz family. ↩

[9] Yehuda Leib (Lubes or Lobes) (1864-1940), father of Yitzhak Lamdan, of blessed memory. See his description in the writing of his nephew Yosef Litvak “R. Yehuda Leib Lamdan,” In Yitzhak Siegleman (editor) Mlynov-Mervits Yizkor Book, Haifa, [published by] organization of Mlynov-Mervits, of by pp 242-243 [in original]. ↩

[10] Shaharirt was a Zionist periodical for youth that was published in Odessa and later Warsaw, under the auspices of Shmuel Eisenberg Eisenstadt (1886-1971). According to its title, it was intended to be a bi-monthly, “A newspaper dedicated to concerns of nationalist youth [i.e. Zionists] circulated in the Diaspora appearing two times a month. In practice only five editions appeared in the years 5673-5674 (1913). ↩

[July 2, 1914], Thursday, 8th of Tammuz, near evening, 5674, Mlynov

For two days I wrote nothing, because I had nothing to write, and even now I have nothing to write, but it seems to me that it’s been a long time since I wrote in my “daily” [i.e., diary]^[10a] and I want to write now.

Yes. I have nothing to write. Nothing new, more or less, happened this week. Everything was as before. Nothing changed in my situation, even a tiny bit. That could be because Weitz already made his decision about the trip, but I know nothing. It is impossible for me to forecast anything about my near future, it is impossible, or perhaps it is possible[,] but I don’t have the stomach to predict… No! I don’t want to! My heart! Be still! Don’t think anything!…

It is twilight now and something heavy weighs on my heart[.] [9] What sorrow, I do not know the emptiness** that dwells inside me, everything is as I wrote in my last poem, “Sinking Feelings.”^[11]

Nothing new is happening to me meanwhile. There are in fact a number of things to narrate in prose but who knows if I will bring them from my thoughts to the paper:

I am very hopeful about receiving the third issue of “Shaharit,” and the issue of “Perahim,”^[12] which published my poem “Spring Rain.” Two weeks and more have passed since I sent a postcard to the administration of “Shaharit” with the complaint about not receiving the booklet - but I received neither a response nor the booklet.

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Notes

[10a] [Translator’s comment:] In Hebrew, the word “diary” (yoman) is closely related to the word “daily” as in daily newspaper (yomon). Yitzhak is using the word “daily” (yomon) instead of “diary” and puts the word in quotes because he does not in fact write daily. [HS] ↩

[11] The poem “Sinking Feelings” did not survive like most of his youthful poems from that time. ↩

[12]“HaPerahim” [The Flowers] was a Hebrew weekly for children that was published in the town of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine in the years 5668-5674 (1907-1914) under the editorial supervision of the writer and educator Yisrael Benjamin Lvner (1916-1862) who held a senior position in the town as Crown rabbi. See Yehuda Slotsky, Jewish Russian Newspapers in the 1920s (1900-1918) Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University (5738), 451-452. The poem “Spring Rain” does not appear in HaPerahim during those years. In booklet 11 of the 7th year (5674) (1914), a poem with the name “Spring” appears without the name of the author on the title page. ↩

[July 6, 1914] Monday, 12th of Tammuz, early afternoon, 5674, Mlynov

On the Sabbath day, I received a reply from the principal of the agricultural school in Petah-Tikvah^[13] to the postcard that I sent him (which I wrote about in a previous journal entry^[13a] and he wrote to me:^[13b] [10] [blank page] [11] [blank page] [12]

“in responding to his letter we acknowledge that our most industrious students are in fact able to earn a sum (up to 25 fr [francs] a month) for their hard work but it is impossible to rely on this and especially when they are not specialists in work. On his question about whether his knowledge is sufficient, we noted that he didn’t indicate anything about his knowledge? When we know, we will answer. Sincerely, Dr. Pikhulitz."^[14]

That was the answer! From that answer, it is easy to understand that it is hard in fact to rely on what I hoped, to make a living working for others. Nonetheless, the response did not cool my ardor.

Regarding the second question regarding [requisite] knowledge, the writer [Dr. Pikhulitz] didn’t understand what I meant. I asked if – there is any stumbling block entering the school in relationship to general knowledge, and his answer didn’t respond to my question at all.^[14a] [13] To write another time – I think is redundant [because Yitzhak hopes to make aliyah soon], but if God of Zion will help me, and I am fortunate to make aliyah to the Land of Israel, I will make aliyah soon, in another month (Alas, how hard it is to write about this. Oh.* Even without this I think a letter is redundant — so I won’t write.

*[Lamdan’s footnote] I am stopping and I haven’t finished this discussion, because it is hard for me to write about this…

My situation is still murky! Nothing is clear to me. I still don’t know Weitz’s decision regarding my travel, and perhaps there is still nothing to know, because they didn’t decide anything at all. Or perhaps not?... Thus my thinking goes this way and that…. I want to go to Bokiima^[15] to [visit the family of] Weitz and speak to them about this so I can clarify the matter, and in fact today I could have gone because they sent us a wagon with wood [and I could have gone on the wagon when it returned to them], but I changed my mind, because I said to myself perhaps this is not right time for a trip and I [14] will be bothering them? Therefore I will wait and meanwhile perhaps David [Weitz] will come this week and if not I will send them a message requesting a good time for me to visit them and when there will be a wagon [coming] here from there. This is the situation now!

Yesterday, I sent a postcard to the editorial staff of [the magazine] Shaharit with the complaint that I still didn’t get the third issue, even though I previously turned to them in a postcard requesting they send it to me – and look today I received this issue. Too bad I wasted that postcard, since I have many places that I need to write and this postcard could have been sent elsewhere. (Such is life).

Meanwhile nothing else happened worthy of note[.] I have enough material for poems and also for prose, — I can hope that some new material will be added in the coming days.

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Notes

[13] Dr. Eliezer Pikhulitz (1880-1960) born in Austria, granted a degree as a doctor in agriculture Vienna. He went to Israel in 1910 and during the years 1910-1912 worked in Ben Shemen. He led the agricultural school in Petach Tivkah in the years 1912-1914, and afterwards went to Tel Aviv. See Baurch Rozen and Avraham Reshef, “Nutrition in Eretz Yisrael: Research and Activities Before and During WWI." Katedra 69 (Tishrei 5,754 [193-94]) p. 177, note 18. ↩

[13a] [Translator’s comment]: Mention of this postcard does not appear in the journal entries that are known. It seems possible there were entries before June 26 that have not been preserved. [HS] ↩

[13b] [Translator’s comment]: Yitzhak indicates that Dr. Pikhulitz responded to him. But when Yitzhak quotes the response, the writer refers to Yitzhak in the third person as if he is responding, not to Yitzhak directly, but to someone else. It may be that a third party sent a letter or recommendation on his behalf to Dr. Pikhulitz with questions and that person received the response and shared it with Yitzhak. It appears Yitzhak wanted to attend the agricultural school or perhaps to teach there. See Yitzhak's entry on July 23rd when he recommends to his friend, Shmuel Borshtak, that if he wants to make aliyah he should enter an agricultural school. [HS] ↩

[14] See above note 12. ↩

[14a] [Translator’s note]: It appears that Yitzhak wanted to know whether there were any general requirements to enter the school but when Pikhulitz responded he answered he think Yitzhak wants to know if he has sufficient knowledge to be gainfully employed. [HS] ↩

[15] On the village Bokiima, see above note 2. ↩

[July 8, 1914] Wednesday, 14th of Tammuz, 5674, Mlynov

At the moment, I have almost nothing to write. Nothing has happened during the two days in which I didn’t write in my “daily" [i.e., diary]^[15a] Nothing changed in my situation even the slightest bit. I am convinced that it is not good for me to wait until I extract^[15b] clarity from David if he comes here (and besides who knows if he will come at all in the near future). It is also possible that if they [the Weitzes] send a courier here, I’ll compose a letter [to send back] requesting that they notify me [and clarify] if it is okay if I visit them to discuss the situation – then I will know [if a visit is okay] and perhaps I will pry from their lips some clarity in the matter. But then a new question arises for me: whether the letter I am thinking of sending them will suffer the fate of all the letters I sent until now [and they will not respond] – why all this writing? It’s a standoff…^[16]

[16] Therefore, I don’t know yet what I will decide. Favorable winds and comforting news – are not blowing my way now, as far as I can anticipate, the future decision of Weitz, regarding the trip, will be negative, and then—my prospect won’t be bright at all… and it will be extremely hard to overcome an obstacle like this– – –

The “crisis period” is difficult as are the self-doubts that I have now during this period..

Today I composed a new poem (whether it will have a name or not I don’t know meanwhile, meanwhile it was written in one sitting and it still needs many corrections. I won’t copy it to my notebook of poems …. [end]

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Notes

[15a] [Translator's comment]: Yithzak places quotations marks around the word “diary” because in Hebrew the word (yoman) can also mean “daily.” The quotation marks acknowledge that he is not writing daily in his diary. [HS] ↩

[15b] [Translator's comment]: He uses a Hebrew word that means “save” or “rescue.” [HS] ↩

[16] Teku is Aramaic meaning “standoff” an expression widely use in the Talmud which meaning the problem continues to exist and there is no resolution. ↩

[July 9, 1914] Thursday, 15th of Tammuz, in the afternoon, 5674, Mlynov

Today Mr. [Abraham] Weitz received a postcard from the Land of Israel from his son Yosef.

[17] Among other things he wrote “I hope that your trip here will not be cancelled, God forbid, like last year’s. What will happen? We again see good signs in the prospect of buying land by Rehovot and hopefully by the end of the summer the acquisition will be completed.^[17] For my part I will do everything possible so that a portion of land remains in the possession of [our relative] Mr. Lender. I already registered this with a member of the settlement council, etc., [Yosef continued:]

… do what you feel about your journey. If you so desire come a bit early to enjoy it more.”

That is what their son wrote to them from the Land of Israel and a tiny spark of hope whispered to me. Perhaps Mr. Weitz and Mr. Lender will decide in the end — to go? After these words of their son Yosef? Perhaps? And this tiny spark of hope whispers softly … Master of the Universe! Will I be fortunate to soon see the land of my desires? Will I be fortunate to look lovingly on her dust?^[18] My big, bold idea that I developed and nurtured [18] with the very best of my youthful vigor won’t be broken? Yikes, how robust the tempest moving around inside me!....I hope! Yes, I hope, otherwise I can’t bear it. But, my God, how can I stop this hope? The hope blossoms in me, deep deep are its roots in my heart and soul. My blood waters and irrigates her [the hope] and she nourishes it, the best of my strength she safeguards inside, and if this hope of mine is uprooted, God forbid, (how terrible!). Via such a terrible reality, my wounds would be awful and terrible, from such a terrible uprooting! Please, my God, do not bring me to this situation which is dangerous for me….

It is very difficult for me to compose those words I wrote above, it is very difficult to let such thoughts enter my mind, but what to do, the thoughts emerge and poke out on their own and it is not possible [19] to prevent them.

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Notes

[17] End of summer in Aramaic ↩

[18] An expression of love, and longing for Zion, following Pslam 102:15 “Your servants will want to build her, and her dust they will long for-they will love” ↩

[July 12, 1914] Sunday, 18th of Tammuz (the 17th of Tammuz Nidcheh [delayed], 5674, Mlynov)^[18a]

“I am not happy, I am not forlorn
(Z. Shneour)
I am awake (alert?)^[19]

I find myself in such a situation at this moment. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad, or more precisely: — in such moments I don’t recognize my situation because today a change took place that is not easy. Today at noon, while I was composing a letter to Mr. D. [David] Weitz requesting that he write me regarding what is being said and developing with respect to their trip to the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) etc.[.] As I was still composing the letter, I see a wagon approaching the courtyard of our home. I lifted my eyes and lo and behold Mr. Avraham Weitz was sitting in the wagon, I am very excited by this because now — I thought —I would learn about the trip in detail. This is what I gleaned directly from Mr. A [Abraham] Weitz. He will not travel this summer for a number of reasons, but his daughter [20] Hinda and Abraham Lender will perhaps go in the month of Elul.* Meanwhile, those were the details he shared with me. And I don’t know at this time if my situation is worse off or remains as before.

My parents told me that if Weitz wasn’t going already, my hopes of going were dashed… but I responded that I didn’t lose anything thereby and it didn’t matter whether they went or didn’t and I would try to obtain an immigration certificate abroad.

Indeed, if only the trip of Weitz’s daughter and Mr. Lender was certain, I wouldn’t lose hope of going this summer. But if the daughter of W. [Weitz] and Lender don’t go, my trip is in grave jeopardy. Well then. This is my situation. Even though today is full of the change described above, nonetheless my “crisis state” is still present and persists. If only I find a way to travel [21] to the home of Mr. Weitz in the forest, and there I hope that I will learn all the travel details of Hinda [Abraham Weitz’s daughter] and Mr. Lender.

Now, at this moment, my mood has changed, the feelings that still fill my heart –they are not clear to me. and Everything is as described in the line I quoted above from Z. Shneour, yes: “I am not happy and I am not forlorn – I am ready”[.] But I know that my inner state is only “temporary” and that in the days ahead the change that took place today – to display the results in my inner self, and what amazing results!, – obviously are not known to me now.

*[Yitzhak added a footnote]: If they will definitely or possibly go — I didn’t clarify (nor the timing), because I wasn’t able to find out, since various factors got in the way of my speaking to him again but I hope to be with him and then I will know everything.

Notes

[18] The 17th of the month Tammuz is normally a fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. The fast marks the beginning of a three-week period of mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av. When the 17th of Tammuz falls on the Sabbath, the fast is postponed to the next day. Yitzhak is writing in his diary on that fast day. ↩

[19] The expression “I am alert” is added in pencil. The excerpt is from the poem of Zalman Shneour [Shneur Zalkind (1887 – 1959) “In My Room” (BeHedri) [5664? 1903?] The poem reads “I am not happy, I am not forlorn, I am alert and my heart sleeps.” See Zalman Shneour, Poems, Vol 1. Tel Aviv, 5718 page 42. ... ↩

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[July 16, 1914] Thursday, 22 of Tammuz, 5674, Mlynov

I do my present writing in the alley behind our house on the small table that I set up here, I sit now among the grasses [22] in the shade of the willow and I write with a pen, around me many insects pleasantly buzzing [,]which draws my attention, the sun scatters gold radiance all around, and under the trees there is a golden net…. Twittering birds rise up nearby and at a distance; the chirping of grasshoppers in the grasses, everything all around is heartwarming, lovely everything awakens golden dreams, pleasant dreams; And I? — I am captivated while I write now in my “daily” [i.e., diary]. I am silently captivated but my heart overflows its banks, it knows no rest, it storms and bubbles up, something wants to break out, but can’t… yes, my soul knows no rest, my thoughts lift me far, far away. I observe all the splendor spilling out around me and I enjoy it, “I enjoy”—No! How bitter is this enjoyment, how this enjoyment tweaks my heart, constantly, and how is it possible to serenely enjoy all the splendor around? Pleasure and enjoyment flow from the soul [23] and the heart and not from the physical body, the heart and soul are not here but in “the East” [i.e., in the Land of Israel] and only the physical body is here in Exile in “the West” and it is not possible to enjoy^[20] … impossible … everything here is foreign to me and I am a foreigner to all, here I was born, but cruel is this foreign birthplace, this step-mother tortures us, it is enough already to bathe in the mud of Exile, my soul thirsts for the ray of light from the sun of our ancestors' land. Alas who will place me between the mountains of Israel in the Land of Israel! Who will put me now in the shade of the orchard trees, that are planted by the hands of the new builders, children of those who returned to their borders [i.e. Land of Israel] … Who will place me now as a shepherd in the mountains and valleys of our land[?], who will make me now a shepherd of sheep and cattle, under the azure skies of our land in the tent formed by braided branches [?], yikes how strong are the longings now for our land, how much I desire to reach her, to give her rocks a giant hug, a son’s love — who has not seen [24] his mother in so very many days, …. how I long now to stand among the many Hebrew workers and hold a hoe, a spade and a plough and work and sing, to sing from joy, from the joy of building, raising the ruins, singing the song of rebirth of cultivated fields, and vineyards of our land, alas how strong are the longings for our homeland!

You all say, “all of these are vapid hallucinations!” But no, I know all the bitterness in life, the bitter reality that resists and conquers the fantasy of man; I know that from afar all sparkles and glows in an abundance of colors and lights up in its beauty, and when coming to the place itself, lo is not everything wilderness and broken earthenware fragments, isolated shrubs, and gloomy rocks that darken, I know all of that, the hopes that even though the end of most – is ephemeral; afterwards in the end the dreams come alive, rub your eyes and behold everything is reversed… [25]

I know the bitter reality in our land – – – –I know it all, you all shouldn’t say that the thoughts flow from a “vain hallucination.” No! I know it all but I pay attention. Longings for the Land of Israel bubble from a pure well that is not murky…I long for my land, because it is the birthplace of my people, I yearn for her, with my desire to leave the bitter exile and live on the soil of our land and restore the ruins, and this is not all, much more is hidden in the depths of my soul, but it is hard to dredge it all up and put it on paper.

My land, the land of my people, pulls me towards her with enchantment, and it can’t be otherwise… she pulls me upward to her, so it will be! And the God of Zion my help!

It has been several days since the change in my situation mentioned in my previous entry occurred. Meanwhile, I don’t have any important and interesting updates [26]. I hope to visit Mr. Weitz during Shabbat and learn everything. Will his daughter make the journey? When? Will [their relative] Lender go? Everything, everything. But who knows if I will the opportunity to visit them on the Sabbath. And have I not been yearning quite strongly already to know something. My heart is already so terrified lest…lest… But I will not continue to write bitter thoughts like these. I will stop.

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Notes

[20] Following Judah HaLevi “My heart is in the East and I in the end am in the West/ How will I taste food and how can I be pleasant”. ↩

[July 19, 1914] Sunday, 25th Tammuz 5674 Mlynov

Yesterday [on the Sabbath] we already said the blessing for the new month,^[20a] [the month] Menachem Av.^[20b] Alas, how true is the folk saying (in Yiddish): A man plans and God laughs.^[21] At the start of summer, I intended that during this time I would prepare those things that need to be put in place to fulfill my hope [to make aliyah], and now? Yes, I hope, I hope (that) the one who dwells in heaven thinks about me—I hope, but the reality of life is otherwise. [27] It was decreed. Thus are the lives of mortal men. Hope is long-lived, but perishable, hope appears suddenly and is created in a flash. Yes, the dream is pleasant and good and persists but waking up arrives in a split second and behold the radiance and majesty of the dream passes. The fate of man is hard, every single step he contemplates taking forward requires much work and according to most, he doesn’t have the strength to walk at all if the effort before him is great – he dies a spiritual death and sometimes a corporeal one, from the burden of the bitter life, and let me try to delve into and penetrate my conscience thoughts that arise sometimes in my head during moments of despair. “And if a person arrives finally at the longed for goal that he aimed for with what remains of his strength, is all the effort worthwhile? [where is closed quotes?] And what good is life when in reality there is death in the world and it steals everything, and when a person works hard and approaches his goal and his life is full of tremendous deeds, for everyone who is precious to him [28] what is the profit in all this if death will in the end take him from the land of the living? At times there is everything, all the world and its tumult, human deeds and the results of their spirit, everything, everything is worthless in my eyes knowing that death is in the world… And I also sometimes look afar with a disparaging eye at all the different political parties in [the people] Israel and [other] peoples at the people’s hope and revival, at all of it, all of it, I treat as foolishness if the end is death. And if the great “truth” that needs saying, “What is life?” And what is its true nature? Which faith is honorable? etc. etc.…– it is not in this world. These are the thoughts that sometimes arise and intrude in my mind, but I don’t let these thoughts into my heart, since they are only fleeting; I know “With righteousness God made men plain but they have engaged in too much reasoning.”^[22] [quoting Ecclesiastes 7:29]

I know that it is necessary to devote oneself to the work life [29] with joy and with happiness and if there “death” — who knows maybe it is for the best, were not the fate of people so very bitter?...

Yes the words that were written above, they are only momentary thoughts and no more. My heart is focused now really only on one exalted idea – to make aliyah to the land of Israel to restore there her ruins and to see with my own eyes my beloved people resurrected after thousands of years of its exile, I really want to see the work of revival, all of it going on and coming to fruition now in the land of our fathers. That is my goal with every breath, the goal of life! And the thoughts mentioned above will not frighten me.

[After that digression,] I will return to my subject. In the beginning of the summer, I thought that now I can I can prepare myself for my journey for sure, but because of the change with Mr. Weitz my hope also changed. And now I don’t know “what is my situation?”

(30) I intended to go to Mr. Weitz on the Sabbath day, but there was no wagon. And even if there was, I wouldn’t have been able to go because my left foot still hurts and is lame.*) And maybe one of them will be here today in Mlynov? But it seems to be that no one will be. I don’t know what to do, but just in case Weitz’s daughter definitely travels, I want to make sure I already have the certification.

And thus, I need to decide something in this matter.

*[Yitzhak adds this footnote:] I didn’t write about the incident but I’ll do so here: The last Sabbath day my brother asked me to draw a little cold water for him from the well behind our house, I did as he asked and began to work the drawing mechanism but suddenly, the iron piece that surrounds the mechanism—fell on my foot, and the pain from injury was intense. I thought that my foot would heal quickly but nine days have passed and I still am still limping and I can’t walk anywhere, and I am so sad because of this.

When Mr. Weitz was in our home, he said that when he was in Radzivilov^[23] he saw the young man Shmuel^[24] from the village of Hubyn [Hubyn Pershyi],^[25] where my brother holds a senior position, and the young man whined a lot about the cancelation of the trip to the Land of Israel, and he went to Radzivilov so that he could travel directly from there to the Land of Israel and his hope and heart’s desire [31] almost materialized. Then suddenly the residents of Hubyn retracted their decision to send him to the Land of Israel. And he returned to his town. And Mr. Weitz described how much this youth whined and complained, and in recounting these things Mr. W. [Weitz] was overcome with mercy for this forlorn [young man], and I know his feelings well, the heart of a young Hebrew man, faithful and hopeful, who longs and dreams incessantly about aliyah to the land of the ancestors, and who was already along the path to the realization of his idea and suddenly everything was destroyed—and he returned to foreign town in exile (galut) to the foreign men in with bitter disappointment - alas, how difficult is this situation and what a great inner tragedy for this young man. Ha! Overwhelming sorrow upon you, my dear friend, my soul is also silent crying out of sight, from fear that its hope will be in vain. But no, both my hope and your hope are not in vain, come brother let us hope that the soles of our feet will yet stand on the earth of Israel. [32] The land of pulls a]nd tugs my heart with a spell; my longings pinch and squeeze it, yikes, how strong is the longing, how depleted is [the longing of] my soul for the land of the ancestors and when, my God, will I be favored with putting my soles on the earth of the land drawing my dreams, when will I be favored to be on our holy land.

How great and strong are the longing and in particular now at this moment when I sit and write my entry behind my house by the small table, in the shade … of the willows and among the green grasses, the longing nips at and bites my heart without stopping, and I dream and dream, my imagination lifts me far far away and presents me my precious land her mountains and cultivated fields, her hills and valleys. Alas, how it pulls my heart, how strong is the longing.

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Notes

[20a] It is tradition to announce the upcoming new month on the Sabbath preceding it, after the Torah reading. ↩

[20b] The name of the month is Av (which means father) but it is traditional to call the month Menachem Av (consoling father) because the month is a low point of the Jewish calendar, memorializing the destruction of the first and second Temple. In modern observance, the prayer ushering in the new moon is recited on the Sabbath preceding the appearance of the new moon. ↩

[21] A Yiddish idiom: “A man plans [intends] and God plays” [on his plans [ and determines his fate] [Translator: a bit like the English expression “the best laid plans…”] ↩

[22] According to Ecclesiastes 7:29[…] “But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning. [Translator: the first part of the quote does not appear in Ecclesiastes. It is unclear if Yitzhak is misremembering or just glossing the biblical passage. ↩

[23] Radzivilov, recognized by the name Radyvyliv, a small town in the district of Rovno in Ukraine, 10 km north east of the town Brody, and about 50 km southwest of Mlynov. ↩

[24] Shmuel Borshtak, a young man the same age as Lamdan, one of his close friends. He wrote and met with him many times in Ukraine and the Land of Israel. He changed his name to Shmuel Dagan. He lived at first in Sharona in the Galilee, and afterwards in Kefar Yehoshua. He is mentioned twice in the continuation of the diary, and in the letters of Lamdan. See: Avidov Liphskar, ed., Letters of Yitzhak Lamdan, Tel Aviv, Genazim and Keren Yisrael Motz, 5,758 (1997-98), pp. 41-43, Letter 1, 45-49; Letter 3, 60-63, Letter 9, p. 60. In the continuation of the diary, members of his family are mentioned: Abraham Borshtak, his brother, and also Yeheziel and Dvorah, his parents, Shlomo his uncle, and Yaakov (his uncle?). See the description of his splendid house Borshtak, in Bereschetko, in the writing of Yosef Weitz, “Family of Mendel Hobner,” in: “There was a Town,” pp. 207-09. ↩

[25] The first Hubyn (Hubyn Pershyi) located 30 km southwest of Lutzk (to differentiate from just Hubin which is also in Volyn, 50 km west of Lutzk); Lamdan stayed in this town when the [WWI] front approached Mlynov (See Diary 2, page 80 and following). ↩

[July 21, 1914] Tuesday, 12th of Tammuz, early afternoon, 5674, Mlynov

I didn’t think about writing now in my dairy at all due to a lack of materials. [33] But I wanted to organize the thoughts I am having now in this [entry]. Shimon Berger^[26] came from Dubna [now Dubno, Ukraine]^[27] where he went a week ago, and now came to our home, he said that he has a basis for the purchase of hops (crushta)^[28] for Dubno. And so on, and he said that he needed an office (Контор)^[29] for a bookkeeper for buying hops in Dubno and was it possible that my brother Moshe^[30] would serve in this position and suddenly he exclaimed, “if only he (meaning me) would travel to Dubno and observe all the work related to hops, then, he would become a man over time, and he— he wants to journey to Palestine. What will you do there? You will work and work etc.” Obviously, I don’t pay attention to proof points from someone like Mr. Shimon Berger…but his words when taken on their own prompt me to think a bit about my present and future situation. Now I am thinking about what I think about frequently.

Both strangers and relatives, are not able (God forbid that I come to them [34] with this grievance) to understand my heart; their outlook is not able to comprehend my desire; my thinking and thoughts are strange to them. I am not able to dedicate [myself] to a job at some warehouse or anything— this I know for sure— haggling is totally strange to me and I am not patient by nature. My fate will be terribly bitter in life, if bitter reality smashes my aspiration and hope and I am forced, despite my nature and desire, to be ultimately stuck here.* *[Lamdan’s footnote:] But hope in me is strong because the good God will not bring me to this Still I ask myself, what are these longings? Indeed, I long and dream a great deal.

But what do my longings all in all amount to now and what about the future of my hope—My hope is: to exit exile (galut), which defigured my people, and make aliyah to the land of revival, the land of the ancestors and offspring; to work there on the people’s field and its literature, to drive a post in the soil of our land and dwell among her mountains [35] to enjoy oneself in the radiance of her sun, the blue of her heavens, and see with my eyes the rebirth of my people and the development of her name.

To go up to the Land of Israel and to rebuild her ruins, to work there on the field of literature and the people and establish there my dwelling—this in short defines the program of my aspiration. A secret prayer arises and erupts from the depths of my heart to the God of Zion: “Please, My God, do not forsake me and favor me to realize my lofty aspirations, and please do not leave me to drown here in exile (galut) in the filthy mud and be confounded before my time.”

And my fervent hope is that the same God who brought the members of Bilu and all the pioneers of revival to the land of their aspiration, who sacrificed their lives for her sake, and drenched her with their blood, will favor me, their poor brother, who yearns for the land of the ancestors and is faithful to the idea of revival with a complete heart and soul – that He will bring me to the land that fulfills my dreams. [36] At this time, as in the first days, I am very sad, very that it is not possible to find in my poems an easy expression of my feelings and longings for the soil of our land. More than once or twice, I already began on this — but no success! Surely, a situation like this is not ideal. A parable [:] what is this situation like? — to a man who is dumbstruck while speaking and he has so much more to relay and say and the matters are troubling him—and he is not able to get a word out of his mouth, and all of it, all of it ferments and storms deep inside.

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Notes

[26] Shimon Berger (Harari) friend of Lamdan, lived in the town Lobachivka, Ukraine: xxx, in the distict of Volyn, which is 40 km west of Mlynov. In the entry of Lamdan on the 8th of Tevet 5676 [Dec. 15, 1915] he writes about him: “one of my good acqaintances Berger student of Yiddish yeshiva, who lived close to Berestechko, whom I got to know in Dubno in the company of Rivitman.” Lamdn corresponded and met with him again in other places in Ukraine during the First World War. ↩

[27] Dubna: Dubno, a city in the region of Rovno in western Ukraine. Located about 10 km southeast of Mlynov. It was one of the known Jewish centers in Eastern Europe and in its center. Its name was associated in the 18th century with the name “Maggid of Dubno,” Rabbi Jacob ben Wolf Kranz (1741 – 1804) a preacher and speaker of famous parables who lived there. ↩

[28] Chamil a Russian word translated as “hop.” cuscuta, grain that served for the production of liquor, Lamdan used the Aramaic term “hop” (see for example Babylonia Talmud. Baba Metzia 42:72) ↩

[29] The word “kantor” Russian for offices. A mistaken expression for Russian Kantora, office ↩

[30] Moshe the fourth sibling of Yitzhak Lamdan, (Yitzhak was the sixth). In 1922 when Lamdan was in Sharona, he learned that during the Civil War in Ukraine 1919 he was thrown from a moving train by Deniken soldiers and was killed. Lamdan dedicated the poem Masada to him. See Letters of Yitzhak Lamdan, pp. 46-49, letter 3. ↩

[July 22, 1914] Wednesday, 28 Tammuz, 5674, evening, Mlynov

A courier for Mr. Weitz came to us. [His son] David sent a “note” in which he requested that we subscribe on their behalf to [the newspaper] “HaZeman” that they previously stopped receiving. He erred and forgot that two months ago I subscribed them for six months, and he was still entitled to receive four [37] months [worth], and so I wrote to him and pointed out his mistake* and after this I wrote: “what is known about the trip of his sister to the Land of Israel? I will try to visit them on the Sabbath, and learn everything, but if I can’t come — please write me about this.”

*[Yitzhak adds this footnote:] this was the two weeks that HaZeman wasn’t received and I don’t know the reason. Did it stop coming out? Or was an error of the administration in the middle. A real shame if it stopped coming out. But I think it was a mistake of the administration.

The time has surely arrived when the nature of my situation will be clarified. I wanted to go to them on the [prior] Sabbath and tomorrow, during the market day, when I can easily get a wagon, but the delay is: – my swollen foot hasn’t healed yet, and if the Lord helps and my foot heals, it is possible I will go there.

Today, Moshe Grinspun^[31] came to Mlynov. He too previously decided to journey to the Land of Israel. [God says:] My children yearn — they [long for] for the lap of the wonderful homeland!

During this time the harvest already began. At every moment a wagon full of sheaves of grain passes by and sitting on it is a farmer. I watch this scene [38] that stirs many different feelings inside me. The farmer sits and much joy and happiness fills his heart, he labors with hard work all day long in the field, but no complaint is uttered from his lips, the smell of earth does not give him reason to complain and when he brings his crop to the threshing floor he is fulfilled by endless pleasure! And when, Lord of the World, will I finally be fortunate to see the Hebrew farmer in our land? When finally will I be fortunate to see with my own eyes that example of rejuvenation?.... At these moments when I draw up my entry, behind our house, in the alleyway next to my desk, song reaches the ears, singing of the reapers returning home from the fields. Alas, what beauty and strength there is this singing. What joy and bliss this singing contains. When will I be fortunate to hear the song of our farmers, the song of new revival and saturation of light that serves the earth of our land and the drenching dew that falls on her mountains? When? When already will I be fortunate to hear the singing of our farmers, the song of new revival[,] the fulfilling light serving the soil of our land and the moist dew falling on her mountains? When? When will I finally be fortunate [39] to hear the chime of Hebrew language spoken and sung on the lips of Israel’s daughters in the land of the ancestors? And how long will foreign language grate on my ears, the strange content here in Galut? When will I be favored with this? fortune come my way?

Eretz! Eretz!^[31] How my soul longs for you! How strong my longings for you! Eretz! Eretz! I see how you signal from afar for me to come to you! You pull and pull me with your enchantment and please look where I am standing, look and see the rocky obstacle that lies on my way to you! But in truth will they restrain me for coming to you, Will these indeed overcome your strength, the strength of your charm that I love and my sublime love for you? Will it? No! Strong is my hope in the God of Zion, because something like this will not happen!

The sun sets. Nature is lovely and nice all about, thus heartwarming and charming, it is possible to enjoy oneself and to find contentment [40] in nature’s lap! But this is not the case with me: Enjoying myself is not possible all the more so finding any bit of contentment in nature in exile. My heart is in the far, far east, and all my thoughts and conversation are in the land of my ancestors.

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Notes

[31] Moshe Grinspun one of Lamdan’s good friends. He is mentioned several additional times in the dairy. Lamdan met him in Ukraine during the World War [I] and its aftermath and stayed with his parents in Berestechko, Ukraine which is in western Europe, 50 km west of Dubno. ↩

[31a] [Translator's comment: Eretz meaning land, a shortened form of Eretz Yisrael, Land of Israel [HS]. ↩

[July 23, 1914] Thursday, eve of the new month, Menachem Av, 5674, Mlynov

What troublesome grief now fills my entire heart. Today I thought about traveling to Mr. Weitz to learn everything I could about their trip, [and] I am already short-tempered by my “crises period”… I wanted to learn something definitive, but sadly, there were no wagons from the forest here despite it being a market day. Tomorrow they will send someone to pick up meat, but no doubt, a worker will come by foot via the forest [i.e., a wagon won’t be sent]. And moreover: I won’t be with Weitz this Sabbath, and the next Sabbath (God willing), [41] I won’t be able to travel [to the home of Weitz] because that Sabbath is “Shabbat Hazon” and during these days of mourning it is not customary to travel for the purpose of visiting. Therefore two weeks will pass without clarifying anything about my situation, and this saddens me and this is the reason grief now fills my heart.

My brother Moshe hasn’t yet traveled to Hubyn [Pershyi]^[33] with Avraham Borshtak and his sister who was staying with him since yesterday. I drafted a letter to Shmuel Borshtak, the young man I wrote about in a previous entry [see July 19] who was already on the way to the Land of Israel when his sponsors reneged and returned him to his home.

His sister sent me a message on his behalf requesting that I visit him in their village for a while. And on that basis, I wrote him my letter. I responded that it is impossible to come for several reasons, one reason being: that I am in a “crisis period” and I need to stand guard and to explore all the root causes of my situation and its progress and every day can bring large, noticeable changes and at a time like this it is not possible to travel, which is in fact the case. I also advised him in my letter that if he is set on traveling [to the land of Israel], he should enter agricultural school. I also wrote him about my sharing in his sadness that he wasn’t going to the Land of Israel. I also consoled him and that he should not despair and not become dispirited.

I sit at the table and write my [diary] entries, and the grief kicks my butt, so afraid I am of my situation. I’ve been wanting to hear something clear and decisive from Weitz. “Was his trip canceled completely? Would his daughter Hinda journey for sure? Would Mr. Lendar also go?[”] I’ve been wanting to know everything even the smallest detail regarding my travel, and therefore I have a strong desire to be at the Weitz home at this time. If his responses are positive, I will begin immediately seeking an [immigration] certificate, in preparation for the journey, I would voice my decision to my parents, etc., and I would talk with them about everything [43] related to this. But if I get Weitz’s positive responses much later, — who knows if I will have time enough to prepare everything by the targeted date.

[“]My God, My God! I think about paving a new road and it is a road to the land of your people-my people for which my soul yearns and longs. Please bring me along this road in peace and grant me the fortune to soon be on the soil of the Land of Israel in peace.”

With this prayer that bursts from the depths of my heart, and from this silent grief that disturbs me, I conclude this entry.

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Notes

[33] The critical edition explains that the Hebrew formulation means “to the town of Hubyn.” ↩

[July 27, 1914] Monday, 4 Menachem Av, 5674, Mlynov

Today at noon I received a note from Mr. D. [David] Weitz with these words:* “Shalom to you Mr. Yitzhak, my dear friend! What is the news about [the newspaper] “HaZeman,” did it stop publishing? Have you received an answer to your postcards? What did they answer you? Did they respond to your postcard? And if it really did stop publishing, please subscribe for me to Sephira.^[34]

Regarding my sister’s journey to the Land of Israel, it is still up in the air. Regards to your honored sisters,^[35] regards David. [44]

Here is the situation: regarding the journey of my sister, it is still up in the air.” Thus the situation is not good at all. It is possible to hope that Mr. Weitz will decide that she goes—but it is only a “possible” hope… It is possible the opposite will happen…The trip itself now suffers a crisis, different in it’s meaning a bit from the meaning of my spiritual “crisis”… “It still is up in the air,” until when Lord of the Universe? When will they make a final decision? The situation is not pleasant at all. Is it possible it will improve? Ha! my heart is frozen… and now that I know the travel situation of the young Weitz woman—the need grows even more intense— to go visit Mr. Weitz in the forest and learn there the detailed matters about the trip, from such details I will without a doubt learn a great deal and it will be possible for me to plan subsequently for my situation.

But this week, it is impossible to travel because [45] of the days of national mourning [the first nine days of Av]. It is possible that during these days someone from the Weitz home will be in Mlynov—but it’s not possible to rely heavily on this.

Behold, yes this is now my time of “crisis.”

*[Yitzhak’s footnote to the above:] I copied his words in this entry without changing his language.

Yesterday I wrote a postcard to my brother who is staying now in Hubyn [Pershyi]. I asked him to bring me back the book of Mr. [Moshe] Smilansky, “Generations of One Love [Toldot Ahavah Ahat]”^[36] and the book of Dr. M. [Mordechai] Rabinson, “Generations of New Hebrew Literature.”^[37]

In the margins of yesterday’s [newspaper] HaZeman,** an announcement was disseminated among the disciples of [the organization] Ezra,^[38] from those who were formerly members but who came over to our camp during the War. The proclamation which was addressed in quiet enthusiasm that was so impressive, with a national genius, to those who remained in the traitor’s camp, – impacted me very much, in realizing the solid national education that the students received in our schools, that compelled them to produce a proclamation like this. And there is hope that the words of the proclamation will make the needed impression among the disciples of [46] Ezra.***

**[Yitzhak’s footnote] It began to be received [last] Friday [after a hiatus remarked on in earlier entries] ***[Yitzhak’s footnote] what I read already today in Der Moment

The distribution of the proclamation was something that needed to be done – there was no doubt about it. Because how can ours heart not be pained in knowing, that these students were educated in a spirit foreign to our people, in the German language and despising our national movement – they need to be educated as our country men, and in a place where we work with all our strength, and this is how all our energy should be consumed, for the Land of Israel will be a land of complete rejuvenation, launching a new generation that is created through a revival movement – [otherwise] in the future [the land of Israel] will be a place of “those who assimilated” and “traitors” like in exile (galut). Therefore it is necessary to fight with all our strength to save what can be saved. It is necessary to weaken and diminish as much as possible the influence of a foreign culture in our Land and if the influence indeed weakens, in the end it will be snuffed out.

Today the booklet, HaShiloach, was received[,] the first issue for the second half of the year. Among other things, the continuation of the story by A. A. [ Aaron Abraham] Kabak, “Mystery of the Land” begins and it was very satisfying [47][,] I also enjoyed reading from this issue about the lives of the worldly Israelis whom I love and respect so much…. just as a story from the lives of those in the Land of Israel was published in the previous issue, called “Insult” from A. Talush. I so enjoyed reading such things because, is it not obvious, it strengthens my idea to make aliyah in the near future to the Land of Israel. I yearn to read about the new lives unfolding in the Land of Israel, until I can’t read constantly about the lives in exile…ha! How I love our land and all that is being realized there.

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Notes

[34] Sephira the first Hebrew newspaper in Poland. First published in 1862 initially weekly and then daily as of 1886. The first editor was Chaim Zelig Slominski (HaZas), who edited with an enlightened spirit, as a periodical for news, science and literature. Around the 1880s, the head editor was Nahum Sokolov, and progressively the newspaper became focused on Zionist issues. In its editions were published literature from Mendele Mocher Sforim, Shalom Aleichem, Frishmann and Berdyczewski, and also young creators like Uri Zvi Grinberg, and like Agnon. See Menuha Gilboa, Lexicon of Hebrew Newspapers in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Tel Aviv. Mosad Bialik and University of Tel Aviv. 5,754 [1993-94], 167-181. ↩

[35] In Lamdan’s family there were four sisters and two brothers, according to this order. Henya (1884-1961), Devorah-Rivka (Rivah) (1889-1942), Hannah (Hanstza) (1892-1942), Moshe (died in 1919), Malcah died in 1980, Yitzhak (1897-1954). ↩

[36] Moshe Smilansky (1874-1953), Toldot Ahavah Ahat. Warsaw: 5671 [1910-1911]. [Translator’s comment]: Smilansky was a pioneer of the First Aliyah and a Zionist leader who advocated peaceful coexistence with the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. He was born in Telpino, Ukraine, influenced by Bilu, and by disciples of Leo Tolstoy. He was also a disciple of Ahad Haam. Smilansky travelled to Ottoman Palestine in 1890, at the age of 16.[HS] ↩

[37] Mordechai Rabinson (1877-1953), Our New Literature: A History of Our New Hebrew Literature. Vilna: Rosenkrantz and Schriftztzer Publishing, 1913. [Translator’s note: the Rabinson volume Our New Literature includes monographs on the history of Hebrew writers from Avraham Mapo to Mordechai Ze'ev Fierberg , the content of their work, and a critical view of their nature and value. Unlike others, Rabinson believed that proper beautiful literature developed in Hebrew only in the second half of the 19th century , and therefore began his book with Avraham Mapo. Rabinson assigned each poet and writer a literary genre, and explained what the writer’s general nature was. The book is considered the first textbook of modern Hebrew literature. [HS] ↩

[38] “Aid Society of German Jews” (Hilsverein der Deutschen Juden), (abbreviated as “Ezra” [meaning Aid]) a humanist aid organization of German Jews that expressed faith in German culture and its spread among Jews of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Middle East. Ezra offered aid in 1901-1939 to those injured in pogroms with Hebrew schools, professional development and encouragement to immigrate to the United States. It competed with Alliance [Alliance Israélite Universelle] which propagated French culture. See Yishayahu Friedman, “The Organization ‘Ezra’: The German Foreign Office and its Polemic with Zionists, 1901-1918,” Kathedra 20 (July 1981), 97-122. ↩

Translated by Howard I. Schwartz
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