August 31, 2017
The Complex Greatness of the Jewish National Poet, Part Three
By Hillel HalkinḤayyim Naḥman Bialik's faith in a Zionist-led Hebrew renaissance never faltered; nor did his labors on its behalf. Yet he also became, so he felt, Zionism’s prisoner.
This essay is the seventh in a series by Hillel Halkin on seminal Hebrew writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first six dealt with the novelists Joseph Perl, Avraham Mapu, and Peretz Smolenskin, the poet Yehudah Leib Gordon, the essayist and Zionist thinker Ahad Ha’am, and the writer, journalist, and intellectual Micha Yosef Berdichevsky.
The essay appears in three consecutive parts, of which this is the third and final one. The first part, comprising sections 1 through 4, was published Tuesday, August 29; the second, containing sections 5 through 7, appeared Wednesday, August 30.
8.
Subscribe to Continue Reading
Get the best Jewish ideas and conversations. Subscribe to Tikvah Ideas All Access for $12/month
Login or Subscribe