(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Chaim Nachman Bialik, recognized as the foremost poet of contemporary Hebrew literature, left here for the United States, with Dr. Schmarya Levin, the noted Zionist leader and orator.
The purpose of the poet’s trip to the United States is to participate in the United Palestine Appeal, which seeks to raise the amount of $5,000,000 this year for the various Zionist activities in Palestine.
Chaim Nachman Bialik was born in the village Rady, District of Volyn, Russia, in 1873. His first poem, published in 1891, “El Ha’zipor” (“To The Bird”), in which he gave expression to the sentiments of a Russian Jewish child on seeing the birds fly south for the winter, presumably to Palestine, attracted wide attention. In the poem the poet sends to the Holy Land by the bird the prayers and hopes of the Jew.
He reached the pinnacle of lyricism in a number of poems of a universal and national character, particularly the poem “On the Massacre” which he wrote in 1906 following the anti-Jewish massacre in Kishineff. The poem, which gives expression to Russian Jewry’s protest against the Czaristic persecutions, is considered a classic and has been translated into many languages. Bialik is considered the poet of the renaissance of Hebrew literature and of the Jewish resettlement of Palestine. He is particularly famous for his style, which has been compared to the ancient Hebrew of the Bible.
Following the outbreak of the Russian revolution, Mr. Bialik, who resided in Odessa, settled in Palestine, where he is active in public life.
A public reception in honor of Mr. Bialik will be held in Mecca Temple, New York City, on February 10th. The meeting will be held under the auspices of the United Palestine Appeal.
A conference of Jewish organizations was held at the Pennsylvania Hotel, under the auspices of the Zionist Organization of America, to plan further details regarding the reception.
Mayor James J. Walker will appoint a committee to receive Mr. Bialik officially on behalf of the city, it was declared.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
