Longing for the country of the heart

January 18, 2006 Most people in our world believe in a holy trinity which is reminiscent of the Christian trinity – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In the Jewish world, these three are usually comprised of the Jewish people, the Land of Israel, and Torah, the Jewish religious law. For others, language, land and religion or some other component replaces one, two or all of the three. Whether we believe in the sanctity of these trinities or protest loudly against them, the period in which we live poses serious questions about our relationship to values which are sacred to others. One of these values is love of homeland. Most people believe that patriotism has a positive value; the feelings of detachment and alienation so common in modern literature seem to many to be diseases of our new age, where people are uprooted from place against their will, conceding their origins and giving up on a bond to self, to the landscape of homeland. Ever since intolerant nationalism raised its head, people have paid with their lives for opposition to occupation, and for their belief in the integrity of their countries. The spilling of blood in earlier centuries, which often stemmed from wars between people of different religions or nationalities, persists in our time, so that love of the homeland causes discomfort to some people who are aware of the great price they and others are forced to pay for this love.

Rachel’s poem ‘To my country’ is not only a lyric verse on love of country in general but also a poem which depicts, in tempered, almost minor tones, the poet’s intimate connection with the land she loves. There is a reason that the poem begins, paradoxically, with what the poet has not done: not sung and not glorified her homeland with stories of heroism or battle. The Hebrew word ‘raq’ – meaning only – appears four times in relation to what the speaker has done for her homeland, a small word with a great significance, strengthening the minor import of the speaker’s acts each time it appears. There is nothing like the power of a tree, a path, a shout of joy or a hidden cry to turn a poor country into a place where its citizens live in plenty, and enjoy the work of their days. Rachel, in her poetry and her life, came to give and not to take. People in general may be roughly classified into two types: those who are convinced that they deserve to receive from others and those who believe that the point of their existence lies in giving. The Hebrew expression “mother love” is ambiguous: it relates to the love felt by a mother for her children, and also the love felt by children for their mother. In contrast, “homeland love” is much less ambiguous, meaning love of the inhabitants of a country toward their homeland, and not the love of the homeland for its people. “Love of homeland” helps people build an identity, to know where they come from and mainly to know where they are going. There is nothing wrong with this love, as long as it goes hand in hand with love for people as people and not with hatred of others.