It must be frank and unashamed
To speak of a true Hebrew man
Because the genuine Hebrews
Have always been the proud people,
Proud enough to be frank
And unashamed of themselves
In their ways to win the world—
Excusably so.
The Hebrew people are men
Of simple common sense,
That simple common sense
For which the ancient world
Was so distinguished, but which
Is so rare today.
To those who have not lost
The sense of ultimate human values,
To them alone I write this verse—
For they alone will understand
These poetic lines as uncompleted.
It must be wise and penetrating
In its overall understanding,
For the Hebrews have been before
All other peoples’ wisdom
And insight in their comprehension
Of the human heart and its function,
As well as operation of the mind,
And life of the unerring instincts.
No portrait of a Hebrew man
Would be complete without a mention
Of his conservatism, which in itself
Should not be a word of reproach,
As it is but a form of pride and rests
On a feeling of satisfaction
With the current attainments.
It’s really a sign of inward richness,
A gift rather to be envied. Besides,
His character must be humorous,
Because humour is an essential part
Of the Jewish nature—deep, mellow
And kindly funny in its own sense
Founded upon the bitter experience
Of bringing things to their extremes
From the tragic knowledge of defeat
To a lap of honour on the Royal carpet
Of the Nobel prize winners and back
To obedient acceptance of life as it is,
In all diversity of its predicaments.
Hence the Hebrew language abounds
In metaphors of all human dramas.
The fact of the Hebrew men’s survival
Throughout the ages is evidently
Something worth thinking about
Before you find yourself, Heaven forbid,
Between a rock and a hard place.
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For they alone will understand"
Oh, there is doubt within those two lines. Maybe the the true Hebrew Man can hearken back within his history and derive more out of this poem than can, say I. I will, however, have to say that this Anglo Christian (not believer, but heritage) can, and does feel this poem intensely and because today's savage drama in the middle east (No capital letters here), and even throughout the world beats up on Israel. Beating up on Jews is old hat. It has been going on forever it seems. Anyway, I feel very deeply and commiserate with, and for, the True Hebrew Man.