Aliza Azikari - Your letter has arrived

I'm not a fan of historical comparisons, but as I've been anxiously following the war in Ukraine I couldn't help but think of the Six-Day War, and how it led to a surge in national pride. This led me to an article on songs that were written during the tense waiting time before the war, during the war, and after the victory. I was familiar with most of the songs on the list, especially "He who dreamed" (Mi sheChalam), which has become a somber anthem for fallen soldiers, but I had not heard of this song, sung beautifully by Aliza Azikari, at all. I was struck by the sensitivity of the lyrics and was curious to learn more about Miriam Yalan-Shteklis, the woman who wrote them. I found out that she was born in the town of Potoki, near Kremenchuk, Ukraine and she studied psychology and social sciences at the University of Kharkiv, a city I had never heard of before this senseless war. She immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1920 and published her first poem in Hebrew in 1922, eventually becoming Israel's leading children's poet. As her JWA encyclopedia entry states, "alongside poems filled with hope for peace and redemption are lyrical-confessional poems about the fears and emotions of a child trying to come to term with his/her identity and living in society." It's not easy to know how to comfort a child during a war, but the father in this song manages to do just that, and something about the way he reassures his daughter made me think of Volodymyr Zelensky's courageous and heroic fight for his country's survival. I can't even begin to imagine what ripped-apart Ukrainian families are going through, and I hope with all my heart that they will be reunited soon. 

Your letter has arrived, thank you very much, my daughter

How good it is that you know how to write

How good it is that you can read my letters

I kiss both your eyes, my girl

Both your eyes, my girl

Always remember: I am with you all, you are all with me

Because there is no distance in the soul within

Take care of your little brother, take care of mother

And I'll return to you soon, my girl

I'll return to you, my girl

Be quiet, also be sure, my daughter

The fathers are guarding our borders

Our hands are strong, our hearts are strong

I kiss the light of your eyes, my girl

The light of your eyes, my girl

I kiss the light of your eyes, my girl

The light of your eyes, my girl