Esther Raab ( he, אסתר ראב; April 25, 1894 – September 4, 1981) was a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
author of prose and poetry, known as "the first
Sabra
Sabra may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Sabra (comics), a fictional Israeli female superhero in the Marvel Comics universe
* Sabra (magazine), a Japanese magazine for men
* '' Sabra Command'' the original title of the film ''Warhead''
* "Sab ...
poet", due to her eminence as the first Israeli woman poet and for the prominence of her native landscape in her imagery.
Biography
Esther Raab was born and raised in the rural
moshava
A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist im ...
of
Petah Tikva in
Palestine (part of
Ottoman Syria at the time), to founding residents Judah (Yehuda) and Leah Raab.
Raab's grandfather was an immigrant from the Hungarian village of
Szentistván who moved to Palestine with his son in 1876 and settled in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Raab was the second of four children born to Yehuda and Leah, Yehuda's second wife.
In late 1909 the
moshava
A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist im ...
’s school became
co-ed
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
and Raab, aged fifteen, was prohibited by her father from attending.
She later wrote that she was much hurt by that decision.
In 1913, she moved to
Degania Alef, the earliest
kibbutz (
socialist Zionist
Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
farming commune), with
Second Aliyah
The Second Aliyah ( he, העלייה השנייה, ''HaAliyah HaShniya'') was an aliyah (Jewish emigration to Palestine) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated into Ottoman-ruled Palestine, mos ...
pioneers.
In 1914, she returned to Petah Tikva.
In 1921, Raab visited her cousins, the Green family, in Cairo, Egypt.
In December 1921, Raab married her cousin, Yitzhak Green, in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
Raab and Green lived in Hilwan, a suburb of Cairo, for five years following their marriage.
She then returned to
Palestine (by then under British rule) and lived in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
, where her home became a literary salon.
Raab’s first poetry collection, ''Kimshonim'' ("Thistles"), was published in 1930.
The collection is dedicated to Green, who died suddenly the same year.
Raab was briefly remarried to artist Arieh Alwei from 1932-1935.
In 1945, she returned to Petah Tikva. During that time, she studied education, and worked in teaching and agriculture.
Raab continued to publish over several decades, often silent for years due to financial and other difficulties. Raab’s second collection of poetry, ''Tefila Achrona'' ("Last Prayer"), was published in 1964.
Raab died in 1981.
A line from her poem ''Neshoret'' ("Fallout") is written on her tombstone: "The clods of your soil were sweet to me, homeland, as the clouds in your skies."
Two collections of Raab's work were published after her death: Collected Poems in 1988 and Collected Prose in 2001. Both volumes were edited by Raab's nephew, Ehud ben Ezer.
Ben Ezer is also the author of her 1998 biography, ''Yamim shel La'anah u-Devash'' ("Days of Gall and Honey").
Poetry
Much of Raab's poetry is written in
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Defi ...
, with no set rhyme or meter.
The principal theme present in Raab's work is nature; she references particular plants and often describes the
land of Israel in her works.
Much of Raab's poetry also manipulates traditional ideas of
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
and
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...
, challenging a concrete
gender binary
The gender binary (also known as gender binarism) is the classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary ...
.
Awards and recognition
*1964 – for literature, awarded by the Municipality of
Holon for the poetry book ''The Poems of Esther Raab'' (in Hebrew)
*1972 – the
Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works
The Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works, also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award, named after Israel's third Prime Minister, is an annual award granted to writers in the Hebrew language. The prize was established in 1969.
Abou ...
Published works
Books in Hebrew
* ''Thistles (poems)'', Hedim, 1930 (Kimshonim, קמשונים)
* ''Poetry of Esther Raab'' (includes ''Thorns''), Massada, 1963 (Shirei Esther Raab, שירי אסתר ראב)
* ''Last Prayer (poems)'',
Am Oved
Am Oved ("A Working People") is an Israeli publishing house.
History
Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief. It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publi ...
, 1972 (Tefila Acharona, תפילה אחרונה)
* ''The Murmur of Roots'',
HaKibbutz HaMeuhad, 1976 (Hemyat Shorashim, המיית שורשים)
* ''A Destroyed Garden: selected stories and seven poems'', Tarmil, 1983 (Gan She-Charav, גן שחרב)
Later Compilations and Editions in Hebrew
*''Esther Raab, An Anthology: selected poems with an introduction'', selected edited and introduced by Ehud Ben Ezer and Reuven Shoham, Yachdav and the Hebrew Writers Association, 1982 (Esther Raab, Yalkut Shirim, אסתר ראב ,ילקוט שירים)
*''Complete Poetry'',
Zmora Bitan
Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir is one of Israel's largest book publishing companies.
History
The company's oldest imprint, Dvir, was founded in Odessa in 1919 by Hayim Nahman Bialik. , 1988 (Kol Hashirim, כל השירים); a second edition published 1994
* ''Complete Prose'', Astrolog, 2001 (Kol Haproza, כל הפרוזה)
Works in Translation
* English: ''Selected Poems of Esther Raab'', translated by Ehud Ben-Ezer and Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Bnei Brak, 1996
*English: ''Thistles'': ''Selected Poems of Esther Raab'', translated and introduced by Harold Schimmel, Jerusalem, 2002,
See also
*
Rachel Bluwstein
Rachel Bluwstein Sela (20 September (Julian calendar) 1890 – 16 April 1931) was a Hebrew-language poet who immigrated to Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire, in 1909.
She is known by her first name, Rachel ( he, רחל ), or as Ra ...
(1890–1931), friend and Hebrew poet, known as "Rachel the poetess"
References
External links
Biography and English bibliographyfrom the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
Complete and authorized bibliography of her writings
Bibliography on Raabin the Lexicon of Modern Hebrew Literature (Hebrew)
Entry on Raab in Jewish Women's Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Esther
1894 births
1981 deaths
Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Israeli poets
Modern Hebrew writers
Hebrew-language poets
Israeli women poets
Ashkenazi Jews in Ottoman Palestine
20th-century poets
20th-century women writers
Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works
Burials at Segula Cemetery
Jewish women writers
People from Petah Tikva