Israel 1969, Jorge Luis Borges

Israel 1969 - 40 years ago

"Borges was anti-totalitarian, philosemitic and a Zionist", Raphaël Lellouche

"You shall be an Israeli, a soldier,
You shall build a country on wasteland,
making it rise out of deserts."


I feared that in Israel there might be lurking,
sweetly and insidiously,
the nostalgia gathered like some sad treasure
during the centuries of dispersion
in cities of the unbeliever, in ghettoes,
in the sunset of the steppes, in dreams,
the nostalgia of those who longed for you,
Jerusalem, beside the waters of Babylon.
What else were you, Israel, but that wistfulness,
that will to save
amid the shifting shapes of time
your old magical book, your ceremonies,
your loneliness with God?
Not so. The most ancient of nations
is also the youngest.
You have not tempted men with gardens or gold,
and the emptiness of gold
but with the hard work, beleaguered land.
Without words Israel has told them:
Forget who you are
Forget who you have been
Forget the man you were in those countries
which gave you their mornings and evenings
and to which you must not look back in yearning.
You will forget your father's tongue
and learn the tongue of Paradise.
You shall be an Israeli, a soldier,
You shall build a country on wasteland,
making it rise out of deserts.
Your brother, whose face you've never seen,
will work by your side.
One thing only we promise you:
your place in the battle.

In In Praise of Darkness
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Argentinian writer
Translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni
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Israel 1969

Temí que en Israel acecharía
con dulzura insidiosa
la nostalgia que las diásporas seculares
acumularon como un triste tesoro
en las ciudades del infiel, en las juderías,
en los ocasos de la estepa, en los sueños,
la nostalgia de aquellos que te anhelaron,
Jerusalén, junto a las aguas de Babilonia,
¿Qué otra cosa eras, Israel, sino esa nostalgia,
sino esa voluntad de salvar,
entre las inconstantes formas del tiempo,
tu viejo libro mágico, tus liturgias,
tu soledad con Dios?
No así. La más antigua de las naciones
es también la más joven.
No has tentado a los nombres con jardines,
con el oro y su tedio
sino con el rigor, tierra última.
Israel les ha dicho sin palabras:
olvidarás quién eres.
Olvidarás al otro que dejaste.
Olvidarás quién fuiste en las tierras
que te dieron sus tardes y sus mañanas
y a las que no darás tu nostalgia.
Olvidarás la lengua de tus padres y aprenderás la lengua del Paraíso.
Serás un israelí, serás un soldado.
Edificarás la patria con ciénagas: la levantarás con desiertos.
Trabajará contigo tu hermano, cuya cara no has visto nunca.
Una sola cosa te prometemos:
tu puesto en la batalla.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899- 1986), Argentinian writer