Online Auction 026 – Jewish and Israeli History, Art and Culture
Poetic Letter, Handwritten and Signed by Uri Zvi Greenberg – Eve of Rosh HaShanah 5721 (1960) – "I bless you my dear Rivkah, who carries in her heart so very very very much"
Opening: $200
Sold for: $813
Including buyer's premium
Personal, poetic letter, handwritten and signed by Uri Zvi Greenberg, to "Ms Rivkah." Written on official stationery. Ramat Gan, "the end of Year 5720 and on the threshold of 5721 [1960]."
In the letter, Uri Zvi Greenberg writes as follows: "To my dear friend Ms Rivkah, May She Live [Long], even as we speak the year draws to its conclusion. Blessed be G-d, that we exit with body and soul [intact] into the new year. The Lord does discern our soul and its desires, its torments and its wishes, for ourselves, and for our people and our land. He has been gracious with my household, and notwithstanding all the injuries sustained by my children, they have endured. And I was ‘the hero,' who remained steadfast of body, and was able, in between all the disturbances and worries, to create compositions for publication in ‘Haaretz' and ‘Moznayim' (these have not as yet been published, and will appear after Yom Kippur). And so I bless you, my dear Rivkah, who carries in her heart so very very very much, and her heart has the strength to carry, and with a smiling face, and yet a tear of emotion does sparkle in her eye! Indeed you do not set aside that which weighs upon your heart. And yet I sense the tension in it [your heart], and in its beating, in your day and in your night. I wish you health of body and soul in anticipation of that which approaches – and [I wish you] vitality of the spirit! And may we be so fortunate as to be blessed [in this way] again in the upcoming year. And yet another aspiration: Oh to rejoice over the redemption of Jerusalem. From the bottom of my heart, peace unto you: Uri Zvi, the end of Year 5720 and on the threshold of 5721 which approaches us with good [tidings]. I enclose a letter to Malka."
We were unable to confirm the identity of "Ms Rivkah." It is quite possible that the woman in question is Rivkah Aharonson, who was well acquainted with Uri Zvi Greenberg, and who participated in a private party in his honor at the home of the publisher Alexander Mozes in March 1960, the year this letter was written. One of Rivkah Aharonson's closest friends was her housekeeper, Malka Samsonov, and this may indeed be the "Malka" mentioned at the very end of the letter.
[1] f., approx. 20.5 cm. Good condition. Horizontal fold line.
In the letter, Uri Zvi Greenberg writes as follows: "To my dear friend Ms Rivkah, May She Live [Long], even as we speak the year draws to its conclusion. Blessed be G-d, that we exit with body and soul [intact] into the new year. The Lord does discern our soul and its desires, its torments and its wishes, for ourselves, and for our people and our land. He has been gracious with my household, and notwithstanding all the injuries sustained by my children, they have endured. And I was ‘the hero,' who remained steadfast of body, and was able, in between all the disturbances and worries, to create compositions for publication in ‘Haaretz' and ‘Moznayim' (these have not as yet been published, and will appear after Yom Kippur). And so I bless you, my dear Rivkah, who carries in her heart so very very very much, and her heart has the strength to carry, and with a smiling face, and yet a tear of emotion does sparkle in her eye! Indeed you do not set aside that which weighs upon your heart. And yet I sense the tension in it [your heart], and in its beating, in your day and in your night. I wish you health of body and soul in anticipation of that which approaches – and [I wish you] vitality of the spirit! And may we be so fortunate as to be blessed [in this way] again in the upcoming year. And yet another aspiration: Oh to rejoice over the redemption of Jerusalem. From the bottom of my heart, peace unto you: Uri Zvi, the end of Year 5720 and on the threshold of 5721 which approaches us with good [tidings]. I enclose a letter to Malka."
We were unable to confirm the identity of "Ms Rivkah." It is quite possible that the woman in question is Rivkah Aharonson, who was well acquainted with Uri Zvi Greenberg, and who participated in a private party in his honor at the home of the publisher Alexander Mozes in March 1960, the year this letter was written. One of Rivkah Aharonson's closest friends was her housekeeper, Malka Samsonov, and this may indeed be the "Malka" mentioned at the very end of the letter.
[1] f., approx. 20.5 cm. Good condition. Horizontal fold line.
Hebrew Literature and Poetry, Yiddish and Russian Poetry and Literary Anthologies, Avant-garde
Hebrew Literature and Poetry, Yiddish and Russian Poetry and Literary Anthologies, Avant-garde