Citation:
Giddon Ticotsky. 5/2024. “The Small Synagogue At Heart: On Ruins And History In Yehuda Amichai'S Oeuvre”. In Burkhard Hose, Daniel Osthoff And Yona-Dvir Shalem (Eds.), "Auf Meinem Tisch Liegt Ein Stein..” – Festschrift Zum 100. Geburtstag Von Yehuda Amichai / “On My Desk There Is A Stone..” – Commemorative Publication For The 100Th Birthday Of Yehuda Amichai, Pp. 201-19. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.
Abstract:
In Yehuda Amichai’s writings, recurrent instances of visiting ruinsserve to confront individuals with history. This motif appears to
engage with the romantic tradition prevalent in literature and art,
which typically glorifies the ancient majesty of ruins. However, Amichai’s
treatment of ruins diverges from this tradition; Rather than
employing ruins to impart a collective–historical lesson, he employs
them to underscore the ephemeral nature of human existence.
The first sections of this article explore these instances of visiting
ruins, while the subsequent sections focus on a specific subset:
ruined synagogues. Through depictions of synagogues in the Galilee
(in the northern part of Israel) and in Würzburg, both in his poetry
and prose, emerges the unique, humanistic ethics of Amichai’s
oeuvre.