Symbolism In Half The People In The World By Yehuda Amichai

To what extent does Yehuda Amichai use symbolism to convey his own personal religious views in his poems?

Deemed one of the most renowned poets of the twentieth century, Yehuda Amichai was well known and celebrated for the controversial topics and issues regarding religion and corruption discussed in the majority of his poems. Amichai, was raised in a strict Orthodox Jewish family, his cultural background served as inspiration in poems such as, but not limited to: “For My Birthday,” “Jerusalem Is Full of Used Jews,” and “When I Was Young, the Whole Country Was Young.” Amichai was keen on using metaphorical symbolism to convey his very own elaborate and underlying viewpoint on the subject of his piece. However, the symbolic techniques Amichai …show more content…
In the sense of a war of love and hate, he speaks of the perpetuating conflicts between the Jews and Arabs dating back to the late nineteenth century. Finding it incomprehensible and frankly and abomination that he can’t live on freely, and that is forced to pick a side if he wants to belong. Amichai frowns upon the idea that in order to remain safe he must continuously change his standpoint to please both sides, losing himself in the process. “Must I because of this half and that half go wandering ceaselessly like rain in its cycle, must I sleep among rocks, and grow rugged like the trunks of olive trees…” Moreover, Amichai makes specific references to Jewish traditions, such as marrying under a “chuppah,” otherwise known as a canopy, symbolizing the home the couple will fashion together. However, he includes this in a negative connotation referring to this conflict between the Jews and Arabs as forcing him to abandon all his religious customs and go into hiding. Nevertheless, he also questions whether he must lose sight of his God completely and remain in a state of sin. “…and not feel my cheek against the cheek of angels, and love in the first cave, and marry my wife beneath a canopy of beams that support the earth…” Another key point is the symbolic angel of death. Once you have sinned you will be overcome by this angel since at this point God has abandoned you. Its important to realize that Amichai makes this reference because he believes he will stand before the angel of death if he takes part in all the heinous crimes each side is committing against the other. “And go on raids made only for returning and going through all the appalling stations- cat, stick, fire, butcher, between the kid and the angel of death?” To clarify, he is sure this meeting will be an unpleasant one.