A Walk to Caesarea
| A Walk to Caesarea | |
|---|---|
| by Hannah Senesh | |
| Original title | הליכה לקיסריה |
| Written | 1942 |
| Language | Hebrew |
"A Walk to Caesarea" (Hebrew: הליכה לקיסריה, Halikha LeKeisarya), also commonly known by the opening words "Eli, Eli" (Hebrew: אֵלִי, אֵלִי, "My God, My God") in the song version, is a poem in Hebrew written in 1942 by Hungarian Jewish WWII resistance fighter Hannah Szenes,[1] which Israeli composer David Zehavi set to music in 1945.[2] Szenes wrote the poem while residing in kibbutz Sdot Yam which is located a short distance along the Mediterranean coast from the ancient port town of Caesarea.
The song is considered one of Israel's unofficial anthems,[2] and is the most-commonly played song on Yom HaShoah (the Holocaust Remembrance Day) in Israel.[3]
The following is an English translation of the song version:[4]
My God, my God,
may it never end –
the sand and the sea,
the rustle of the water,
the lightning of the sky,
the prayer of man.
In Hebrew, the poem reads:
אלי, אלי, שלא יגמר לעולם
החול והים
רשרוש של המים
ברק השמים
תפילת האדם
References[edit]
- ^ "My God, May This Wonder Never End - Poem of The Week". Haaretz. 24 February 2015.
- ^ a b "Fire In My Heart: About the Exhibition". Museum of Jewish Heritage. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
- ^ The most played song on Yom HaShoah
- ^ "My God, May This Wonder Never End - Poem of The Week". Haaretz. 24 February 2015.