Rachel+the+Poet

= = Rachel the poetess

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= =  Hadas Sylvetsky 11th grade, Neve-Chana ( י"א 2 )    12/5/2013

= = ** Id card: Rachel, the poetess ** **__Name:__** **Rachel Bluwstein Sela** **__Birth:__ Saratov, Russia, on September 20, 1890** **Death: April 14, 1931** **__Parents names__: Isser- leib, Ans Sophia** **__Field of interests:__ Rachel liked painting, art and philosophy, she was a an active Zionist, and wrote poetry.** **__Her main contribution:__ Rachel wrote beautiful Hebrew poetry that influenced the Israeli literature and culture.**

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** An interview with Rachel, the poetess **
**Hello Rachel, I am honored to interview you today. The first question I would like to ask you is when did you start writing?** Well, I started writing when I was fifteen years old. But, I wonder if you know, I was born in Russia, so I started write in Russian, of course..

**When did you start writing in Hebrew?** When I came to Kibuts Kineret, at the age of twenty one, I wrote my first Hebrew poem. Those were days of some excitement for me.. I came to “The Laddies's farm” to work in the fields of  the Kineret shores, very motivated, and I met some great people- one of them was Aharon David Gordon- a Zionist leader, who I got to learn a lot from. Anyway, I dedicated my first Hebrew poem to him. It's called “The walk of the soul”.l   **Let me ask you about your writing. You have written some beautiful love poems during your life- and I wonder, how you manage to express feelings such as love in such a powerful way.?** Thank you for the compliments. The experience of loving a person is very personal, and in my poems I just express the way I feel. But I can also tell you that I try to receive that powerful affect in my poems by writing shortly, without using many complicated metaphors, just saying what I want to say directly.

**That is very interesting. Ther is one poem you've wrote, “A locked garden”. What is the story behind it?** I wrote it to a person who was a love of mine, but didn't return his love to me. His name was Zalman Shazar, witch probably sounds familiar to you, for the name of the third president of Israel. That was him, he so cold and distant when I met him, also at “The Laddies's farm”, and I wrote the poem about him- about how people can be lock their hearts and not let others in' and be like “locked gardens”

**In Another poem, “ The book of my poems “ you accuse the readers of your poems. For what, if I may ask?** I wrote that poem after polishing some of my songs. I have to admit I was very frustrated … What I felt, after hearing some critics about my poems, was that people enjoy, or don't enjoy my work- forgetting that my poems talk about my own life and feelings! So, in that poem, I accuse the readers of being non sensitive while criticizing my life. **So, you don't like being a writer?** It's not a question of liking or disliking. I belive that I was born to write. Everything I did in my life and everything that I felt- was written at some point. That was the way I expressed my internal world, in words- that were always my 'cup of tea'.

**I understand. Let me ask you another question- you never had children, tough – you wanted to, as you write in some of your poems. Do you fell like maybe, your poems are some kind of kids for you?** Absolutely. As I wrote- “the ones who death couldn't take” I believe that my poems are the only thing I got to leave behind after my death- and give the world. And I put all of my love and talent, care and trust- in them. As if they were my babies.

**But you've died lonely- without any friend or family besides you. Did your poems give you any comfort?** It's a good question you are asking. That is true- my friends in Kibuts Dgania kicked me out of that Kibuts when they found out that I was sick. And I did die lonely, witch felt like the worst thing.. I wrote a lot about it, but when I think about it now, I must say It didn't bring me much comfort. My “babies” disappointed me that time..

**Do you want to give us any tips for being a good writer?** I'v got three: first- write about everything. Any subject is good. Second- find your own voice. Don't try to write like famous writers you know. And the last tip: give your poems to people you love. They will tell you the truth of how good they are.

**Rachel the poetess, thank you for answering my questions. Is there anything else you would** **like to say?** Well, I just want to say thank you- to people who see who I really am by reading my poems. That is one of the gifts of writing: getting an opportunity of reaching to so many people- that embrace my poems to their hearts.

** Speech- by the editor of Rachel's new poem book **
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Dear friends, I am standing in front of you today in great excitement. When I was told about the plan to bring together all of Rachel the poetess's best pieces of poetry, I thought about how necessary it is for the generation of our children to be familiar with the the work of one of the best song writers of the Hebrew language. As you all know, Rachle Bluwstein Sela's writing includes details that are borrowed from subjects related to the poetess's life: Love- her own love to Zalman Rubshov, who later became Zalman Shazar- the third president of Israel. Loneliness- after the members of Kibuts Degania had the decision to throw her out of the Kibuts for being sick, Rachel wrote many songs about feeling all alone, when all of her friends have left her to die, without a family, and without any children.

Rachel writes a lot about nature in her work- for example, the Kineret sea: 'My Kineret', she writes, 'were you real, or just a dream?' also, helping to build Israel and working in the fields is mentioned in other songs of her: 'I didn't sing to you, my country, and didn't praise your name...just a tree- my hands planted, quiet Jordan shores'... beautiful words. As the editor of Rachel's new poem book, I have to say working on it felt to me like such an important mission- and knowing I am dealing with the life story of a women who could only long for love and company while dieing slowly from a tough sickness- I tried to be careful and sensitive choosing the very best of Rachel's work.

I would like to ask the audience that gathered here today to share some respect to the famous poetess, to try and be sensitive as I tried to be while editing this new unique book. I would like you intelligent professors, teachers and writers yourself to change the way you read Rachel Bluwstein Sela's poetry. Don't read it like you would read an encyclopedia, don't read it like it was some kind of an historical exhibit you need to analyze- imagine how you would feel if someone would read the song of your life that way. I am telling you this because Rachel the poetess wrote: ” screams I have screamed, hopeless, hurt, in times of trouble and lose- became a beautiful line of poems- in my white poem book”

I am calling you honored people to respect the poetess's feeling, even tough she is already dead and gone. Her poems can seem beautiful and unique- as they really are-, but they were written in great pain.

I wish for us all to enjoy the new book, with a new way of reading, and- very importantly- try and find more talents around us. Rachel started writing at the age of fifteen, and I am calling the young audience that is here among us today- to take their shot. Writing is fun, and gives you the opportunity to express things that are hidden inside of you.

Thank you all for your listening, I am Daniel Cohen- Main Editor of “ Star books”

**__ Rachel the poetess- Biography __**
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**Rachel Bluwstein Sela, most known as 'Rachel the poetess' was born on** September 20 ,1890. She started her life in Saratov, Russia, the eleventh daughter of Isser-Leib and Sophia Bluwstein. During her childhood, her mother had past away, and her family moved to Poltava, Ukraine, where she learned in the Russian-speaking Jewish school, and later attended high school. She began writing poetry in russian at the age of 15. When she was 17, she moved to Kiev and began studying painting. At the age of 19, Rachel visited Israel with her sister, Shoshana. They were planing to go to Italy to study, But They decided to stay in Israel as Zionist pioneers. They settled in Rehovot, and worked in the fields. Later, Rachel moved to “Kibuts Kineret” on the shores of the Kineret sea, where she studied and worked in a women's agricultural school. Rachel wrote a few songs about her love to the Kineret sea. At Kinneret, she met a few people who influenced her life: like the idealistic Zionist leader Aharon David Gordon, who had made a great impression on her. She dedicated her first Hebrew poem- “the walk of the soul” to him. That time, she also met and had a romantic relationship with Zalman Rubshov (who later became 'Zalman Shazar', the third president of Israel).—the object of many of her love poems, for example, the well known poem of hers, “A locked garden”

In 1913, at the age of twenty three, she journeyed to France to study agronomy and drawing. She wanted to return to Israel, But was unable to because of the beginning of world ward 1, therefore she went Russia to teach Jewish refugee children- wher, as it looks, she got infected in tuberculosis. In 1919, after the war was ended, she boarded the first ship to leave Russia to Israel __.__ //In Israel, she// joined “Kibuts Dgania”, wher she had some friends. But shortly after her arrival she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. she was expelled from Degania and left to deal with the sickness on her own.

In 1925 she lived lonely, in a small white house in Jerusalem. Later, she moved to Tel aviv. Spenting the rest of her life traveling, making a living by teaching private lessons in Hebrew and French. Most of her poems were written during those years, and they were published mostly in the Hebrew newspaper, “davar”. They became very popular with the Israeli community. Rachel was the first Jewish woman poet in Israel to receive recognition and have a constant group of readers. Her poems were known by their briefness and simplicity. Some of them expressed her feelings of longing to be loved, but being sick and unable to have a family and grow children. Her love poems emphasized the feelings of loneliness, distance, and longing for the person she is wishing to be with. Others touched upon the hard times the pioneers in Israel had working the land. Several poems of her were ironic, or comic. Her writing was often influenced by Biblical stories, and the literature of the pioneers who came to Israel in the second “Alia”. Her work Captured the everyday life of the individual in Israel. Her poetry remaind Popular till our days. Many of her poems were set to music, both during her lifetime and afterwards. A lot of them are sung by Israeli singers. Her poems are studied in Israeli schools today.

In her last years, Rachel settled in a hospital for tuberculosis patients in Gadera. Rachel died on April 16, 1931, at the age of 40. She is buried in the Kinneret cemetery- like she wished for in some of her poems.

** Rationale **
I chose to write my project about Rachel the poetess, because reading poetry is a hobby of mine, and I love reading Rachel's poems specifically. By reading her poetry, anyone can see she has been through a lot of suffering, and I also noticed it, but did not know where it came from. So I thought Focusing on her life story in my work will expose me to new information related to her.

** Reflection **
I have learned a lot about Rachel the poetess's life, and what brought her to write her famous poems. Writing about a woman I appreciate was very interesting. Also, I learned that she was the first famous woman poetess in Israel. Making the project taught me how to work on different assignments. I got to write an Interview, an article and an ID card in English for the first time. I think my vocabulary was improved. It was hard for me to type so much in English, and also thinking of so many ideas for the interview. Ten questions were a lot… Something that could be improved is the number of assignments. I think there could be less of them...

** Bibliography **
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|| **America Zionist Movement. (No date).//Rachel the Poet. Retrieved from // **[|//**http://www.azm.org/rachel-the-poet/#wrap**//]**Bar, Amos. __Hameshoreret mikinnereth__. Tel Aviv: am oved, 1993.Pnichel, Abba, editor. __Shirat Rachel__. Tel Aviv: davar, 1999.****Rachel the poet, (October 23rd 2004).in Wikipedia,from **[|**http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A8%D7%97%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A8%D7%AA**]