By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — “O the chimneys
On the carefully planned dwellings of death
When Israel’s body rose dissolved in smoke
Through the air-
To be welcomed by a chimney sweep star
Turned black
Or was it a ray of the sun?” — Nelly Sachs
“Dress me good mother, in a splendrous coat of many colors
And with dawn lead me to toil
My land wraps in light like a prayer shawl,
Houses stand like phylacteries,
And like bands of phylacteries glide hand-laid asphalt roads.
Thus a beautiful city offers her morning prayer to her creator
And among the creators, your son Abraham,
Poet-roadbuilder in Israel.” — Avraham Shlonsky
German-Jewish poet, Nelly Sachs, the first German-speaking woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature, and Avraham Shlonsky, Ukranian-born Israeli poet, had their lives described and their poetry read at last Monday’s Jewish Poets of the Past program on Zoom.
The virtual audience was welcomed by JCC Senior Department and Astor Judaica Library Director, Melanie Rubin. Jewish Poets-Jewish Voices MC, Joy Heizmann, introduced the program.
Co-chair of the event, Leean Knetzer, presented highlights in the life of Nelly Sachs: her privileged childhood, her fleeing to Stockholm, Sweden, the influence of Hassidism and Kabbalah on her writing and her bouts with depression.
The 10 poems by Sachs, many dealing with the killings during the Shoah and the plight of refugees, were first read in their English translations, then in their German original. Five members of the Vollrath family read the German. The Vollrath parents, Annette, an internal medicine hospitalist, and Ben, a biotech executive, are native speakers. Children, Paul, now at Virginia Tech, Jonathan and Hannah, at San Diego High Schools International program, all were students at the Einstein German Immersion School. Their youngest son, Joshua, still attends there. The Vollraths are members of Congregation Beth Israel.
The English readers of Sachs’ poems were Shira Sandell, Lisa Schwartz, Dan Wingard, Susie Meltzer, and Liba Sherman. All read with deep understanding and expressiveness.
One participant wrote: “What a moving event! It was by far the best Zoom experience I’ve ever had. Hearing the poems in their original language felt spiritual in a way I would not have expected. And the readers!! I am humbled to have shared a ‘stage’ with these folks.”
Rabbi Martin Lawson, Rabbi Emeritus from Temple EmanuEl, an ardent poetry lover, presented the bio of Avraham Shlonsky with familiarity of the poets’ life and writings.
Seven Hebrew Shlonsky poems were read: three by Jewish educator Ruth Levy and two each by Evyatar Lustiger and Yuval Faibish, Shinshinim from Israel. These 18-year old Israelis have just graduated high school and are doing a year of service, “Shant Shirut,” before going into the army. The San Diego Jewish Community is fortunate to benefit from the service of these two bright and dedicated young men.
The seven Shlonsky poems were eloquently rendered in their English translations by Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices committee members, Sara Appel-Lennon and Michael Horvitz and by Eli Meltzer.
Three Shlonsky songs were sung: Lullaby and Zemer, bookending the poetry readings, and Blue Handkerchief, in the middle of the readings. Lullaby and Zemer were delivered by the talented singer and choir leader, Elisheva Edelson, even adding a background of Mt. Gilboa with her final song subtitled Night on Gilboa, Blue Handkerchief was interpreted with romantic charm by my daughter, Myla Wingard.
This event was sponsored by the Astor Judaica Library, the JCC Senior Department and the Center for Jewish Culture. Sarah Mattes was the technical coordinator.