Chanukah Heroes
Activity: "I Didn’t Win Light in a Windfall"
Read this poem by Chaim Nachman Bialik and discuss the questions that follow.
Hebrew and English available here.
I DIDN’T WIN LIGHT IN A WINDFALL (Shirim, 1966)
I didn't win light in a windfall,
nor by deed of a father's will.
I hewed my light from granite.
I quarried my heart.
In the mine of my heart a spark hides –
not large, but wholly my own.
Neither hired, nor borrowed, nor stolen –
my very own.
Sorrow wields huge hammer blows,
the rock of endurance cracks
blinding my eye with flashes
I catch in verse.
They fly from my lines to your breast
to vanish in kindled flame.
While I, with heart's blood and marrow
pay the price of the blaze.
- What does the concept of light signify in this poem? What meaning does it have here in comparison with the Chanukah story?
- How does this poem relate to an understanding of Israel?
- What emotions do you feel when reading this poem? How can you relate to it on a personal level?
