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ISRAEL Under the Dome of Heaven
ARTprinter Publishing House, 2020, Romania
”Dear Poet, I would like to thank you for such lively, vibrant volumes, dedicated to the love of life and poetry, that is, to Love. The exile in the Land of the Exiles fits you, I think, if I consider, not the beautiful statement on the cover, but the pages in which the Romanian word bore fruit with so much charm and warmth. I wish you all the best with the predestined Man and in the poetry from which you made DESTINY. ” (Norman Manea)
A letter that troubled me. Yes, the Romanian word has borne fruit in the Holy Land, the Land of the Exiles, the loving harbor of so many Romanian creators in search of a life that means hope, light, a big family… Maria Găitan Mozes and her husband who loved books and poetry have stepped on this harbor where so many great Jewish writers and scholars had left before them, who had left Romania and made Israel a new, paradisiacal garden, much dreamed of, of the Romanian-Israeli culture and literature. They are due our homage, all these enlightened minds and warm souls who welcomed Maria with open arms, in the garden of the Cenacle “Punct”, of the Publishing House and the magazine “Minimum”, later of the Publishing House “Familia”. As the great writer Amos Oz told me, at his home in RamatGan, in Tel Aviv, where Fania Oz was my guide: “It is a naive, popular song known to various generations of pioneers, Nily’s parents, my parents and which says, “Here, in the land of our ancestors, all our dreams will come true.” Israel is, indeed, the fulfillment of a dream. The dream of generations who cried with tears of blood for its fulfillment. An ancient dream brought today, with gratitude and pain to the Wailing Wall. This book is the author’s lyrical offering to the country that received her with love. Her harbor with love, hers and of all those who climbed to this dream. Of all those who, since 1882, have come from Romania, cleared the Holy Land with their blood, watered it with their tears, warmed it with their hearts. Rosh Pina, Zikhron Ya’akov, Romanian roots, struggles, labor, dream… Maria Găitan Mozes enters this dream with piety, with poetic steps… A dream called Israel, the loving harbor of all these dreamers… A country given to children of generations and generations of soldiers… A connection between Israel and Romania, between Israel and all those who will read this book in English, everywhere. Along with the author’s bouquet of poems, my soul’s wish: God bless You, Israel.
MARIA GĂITAN MOZES: DOVES MUST FLY
Where have the doves of peace hidden?/Have they been kidnapped?/Have their wings been cut/Or have they been locked/In silver and gold cages/And, terrified,/Have they let go of the olive branch?/…This is the moment/When the doves must fly!/To travel the skies/From one corner to another /And, we, hungry for peace,/As the one who craves a loaf of bread,/To bring them fresh branches,/So /that peace will stay with us,/Not just as a guest./… This is the moment/When doves must fly again!/Without colorful ribbons,/Without parade,/Without fireworks and trumpets,/But, boldly,/Over the sea of hate/That keeps hurling./The road is long and steep,/Covered by stumps,/With open, painful wounds,/With stumbles./But we want for/The doves to fly!/…Our brides,/Without grooms, /Widows, mothers,/Who keep crying,/Hiding their faces/Under blackened scarfs,/The orphans,/Who tell their parents,/The first prayer,/Who still believe in life,/And this is our joint creed./The still shivers/After years of labor/And after years of pain./But we reach out like men/And we say it whenever,/That it seeks its justice/When hate,/The knife and death/Jump you like a pack./…We want for/The doves to fly again!/And their white and pure wings/Would not be covered/By the blood of death/And the waves of /hate.
We thank the writer Norman Manea for agreeing to publish his letters.
Photos: Irina Airinei
Foreword by Cleopatra LORINȚIU
Publisher: Attila KOPACZ
Editor: Irina AIRINEI
Translator: Vanesa MAGHERUȘAN
Lay out: Zita HORVÁTH
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