On This Day in Jewish History: September 22, 1896

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#onthisday, 1896, famed Israeli poet and politician, Uri Zvi Greenberg, is born to a Hassidic family in Lvov, Ukraine. By the time he was 20 years old, he had already been published in both Yiddish and Hebrew.

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Greenberg was distinguished as a poet for his ability to write and edit well in both languages.

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In 1915, he served in the Austrian army until deserting two years later. Upon returning to Lvov, he witnessed pogroms in 1918 that shaped him moving forward.

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After spending some time in Germany and Poland, Greenberg moved to British Mandatory Palestine in 1924 and began writing exclusively in Hebrew as part of the transformation into the “new Jew” – shedding aspects of the Diaspora.

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Aligning himself with the right-wing Revisionist Zionists, Greenberg became increasingly active with the group following the 1929 Arab Riots. He strongly felt that the Yishuv’s restraint and lack of response towards Arab and British actions were deplorable.

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During the 30’s he also wrote a lot about the demise of European Jewry (quoted above) – predicting correctly the horrors that were coming their way, blaming Jewish indifference as a main cause.

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Following the creation of Israel, Greenberg wrote poetry that focused on how Zionism is part of the promised redemption – emphasizing that Hebrew poetry is present to express the messianic vision.

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Greenberg was a member of the 1st Knesset in Menachem Begin’s Herut party and following the 6 Day War was a member of the Greater Land of Israel group.

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In 1957, he was recognized with Israel’s highest award, the Israel Prize, for his contribution to Hebrew Literature.

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✍: @jewishistoryguy

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#judaism#jewish#history#jewishhistory#onthisday#urizvigreenberg#poet#israeli#culture#otdjh#happybirthday#israelprize#herut#revisionist#zionism

Text Source:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/uri-zvi-greenberg

Image Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Zvi_Greenberg#/media/File:Uri_Zvi_Grinberg_1956.jpg