Naftali Herz Imber

Naftali Herz Imber (Hebrew: נפתלי הרץ אימבר‎, Yiddish: נפתלי הערץ אימבער‎; December 27, 1856 – October 8, 1909) was a Jewish Hebrew-language poet, most notable for writing "Hatikvah", the poem that became the basis for the Israeli national anthem.

Naftali Herz Imber
Born	Naftali Herz Imber (1856-12-27)27 December 1856 Zolochiv, Galicia, Austrian Empire
Died	8 October 1909(1909-10-08) (aged 52) New York City, New York, US
Resting place	Givat Shaul Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel 31°47′53.28″N 35°10′39.82″E
Known for	Hatikvah (The Hope)
Signature

The first verse and chorus in the handwriting and with the signature of Naftali Herz Imber, 1908, preserved in the collections of the National Library of Israel.

Biography

Early life

Imber was born to Shmuel Yaakov Imber and Hadel, daughter of Yaakov Tzvi Schwartz, in the city of Zolochiv in Galicia (then under Austrian Empire rule, now in the Lviv Oblast of Ukraine). His father struggled to make a living by running a tavern. His family was religious, and Imber received a Torah-based education; his parents belonged to the Misnagdim of the Litvak stream, opposing Hasidism. In his childhood, Naftali was a challenge for his parents, and he frequently suffered corporal punishment from his father. According to his brother, Shmarya, their father did not believe in Naftali’s talents and even envied him, as their mother tended to indulge him.

Imber studied at the Talmud Torah in his town and excelled in his studies, though he also challenged his teacher. He refused to sit at the students' table, instead sitting under the table and demanding his teacher test him at the end of the day. His teacher was astonished by his talent and abilities; by age eight, Imber studied with the town's top educators and learned in the Beit Midrash where 15-year-olds studied. By the age of ten, he was called the "prodigy of prodigies" because he had begun studying the Book of Zohar.

In his youth, he began to be drawn to the ideas of the Jewish Enlightenment, reading extensively in general literature and also taking an interest in Kabbalah literature. A few years later, he composed a poem titled "Austria," which he dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph, who awarded him a monetary prize for the poem. This poem earned him recognition within the community.

At the age of 18, following his father’s death, his mother’s struggle to manage the tavern and care for his five other siblings, and the anti-Hasidic atmosphere in the city that did not favor him, Imber moved to Brody. There, he met members of the Haskalah movement, including Abraham Krochmal, Yehoshua Heschel Schorr, and Jeremiah Mozen. They helped him publish his poem "Austria" and sent him with a letter of recommendation to Lviv to Rabbi Yissachar-Ber Levinstein. The reform rabbi recognized the young man's talent, housed him, and hired teachers to educate him in general studies. After about six months, he had to return home, as his mother came to retrieve him due to rumors that her son had strayed from Judaism in appearance and dress. Shortly after returning to his mother's house, he decided to set out and wander across Europe – in Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. In Romania, he lived for a time in Iași at the home of Rabbi Moshe Waldburg, and in 1878, he wrote the first two stanzas of the poem "Tikvatenu", which would later become known as "Hatikvah" and be established as the official anthem of the State of Israel.

Imber began wandering through cities, and in 1881 he arrived in Constantinople, then the capital of the Ottoman Empire, where he made a living as a peddler. During this time, he became acquainted with Laurence Oliphant – an English Christian diplomat and Zionist sympathizer, who befriended him. Oliphant invited Imber to come to Eretz Israel with him and settle in the Carmel region.

In Eretz Israel

The Oliphant House in Haifa

Imber's restored room in the basement of the Heisman House in Rishon LeZion

Naftali Herz Imber arrived in Eretz Israel with Oliphant and his wife Alice in November 1882. Imber became Oliphant's secretary and personal translator. He taught Hebrew to Laurence and Alice, while Alice taught Imber English. According to Naftali’s brother, Shmarya, his arrival with the Oliphants was because "neither she nor her husband would do anything without his counsel and consent, both in public and private matters," though this claim has not been substantiated.

Imber lived in a room in a villa rented by Oliphant in the German Colony in Haifa (today known as the Oliphant House). Due to the couple's struggle with Haifa’s summer heat, Laurence built a summer house for himself and his wife in the village of Daliyat al-Karmel (now the Oliphant House), serving today as a "House of the Yad Lebanim for Druze Soldiers"). Imber and Alice Oliphant often stayed together in the summer house.

The Oliphant Summer House in Daliyat al-Karmel

He frequently visited the early moshavot of Rishon LeZion, Zikhron Ya'akov, Ekron, Gedera, Rosh Pinna, Petah Tikva, and Mishmar HaYarden, even composing poems in honor of some of them, which instilled confidence and hope among the settlers. His poetry, infused with nationalistic motifs, like the poems "Mishmar HaYarden" and "Tikvatenu," expressed great admiration for the "New Jews" of the First Aliyah he encountered in the land, and his works were warmly received by the pioneers.

During his stay in Eretz Israel, Imber published poems, articles, and various satirical pieces. Starting in the summer of 1883, he began writing for the periodical "Havatzelet" and later for the newspaper "HaTzvi." Initially, he wrote in support of Baron Rothschild's activities.

During his stay in Jerusalem in 1884, Imber contracted malaria, and Oliphant covered the cost of his treatment. He also rented a room for Imber at the home of farmer Shraga Feivel Heisman in Rishon LeZion, where Imber recovered from his illness over three months.

Shraga Feivel Heisman, one of the founders of Rishon LeZion. Imber stayed at his home for three months while recovering from malaria.

While recuperating in Rishon LeZion, Imber closely observed the situation in the moshava and became aware of the settlers' anger toward HaBaron's officials. He criticized the baron's officials for their disdainful and offensive attitude toward the settlers in articles and poems in the Hebrew press. He also supported opposition against the baron’s officials during the Shmita year and was involved in the rebellion against the officials.

Even after he left Eretz Israel, while residing in London, his anger toward the officials did not subside, and he published a poem against the baron titled "The Interpreter of Dreams." In the dispute between the "Havatzelet" newspaper and "HaTzvi," he sided with "Havatzelet," arguing that Eliezer Ben-Yehuda covered up the misdeeds of the officials. This stance led to intense anger from Ben-Yehuda and sparked a fierce debate between him and the poet.

As Imber’s role as Oliphant's secretary did not fully occupy him, Oliphant sent him to Beirut to undergo vocational training as a watchmaker. Imber even opened a shop in Haifa for a short period. Oliphant attempted to enroll Imber in agriculture studies at Mikveh Israel and wrote to Samuel Hirsch, the institution’s director at the time, in September 1884 regarding this matter. Although Imber was enthusiastic about the institution, he was not accepted for studies there.

In Egypt

Naftali in the late 1800s

In 1885, Imber traveled to Egypt. In two articles he published in the newspaper "Havatzelet," he claimed that the reason for his journey to Egypt was that he accompanied the French Dr. Paul Vernier, whom he had met while visiting Jaffa. Imber was impressed by Vernier because he spoke 12 languages. Dr. Johannes Lepsius, a friend of Vernier, also joined them. According to Imber, he accompanied them to see the pyramids. During his visit to Egypt, Imber suffered from a severe case of trachoma and was hospitalized for two months.

He recorded his impressions of Egypt in the article "Egypt Journey," which he sent that year to "Havatzelet." While in Egypt, he learned of the death of Alice Oliphant (in early January 1886) from malaria. It was claimed that Imber was in love with Alice; he wrote a poem in her memory, "My Eternal Home," which appeared in his first poetry collection Barkai ("Barka," meaning the morning star).

"Pure and innocent as an angel of God, her soul's virtues fell short of nothing in its purity (...) every wicked and vile thing in me was refined in the pure fire of her gaze."

The book also included the poem "Tikvatenu," which he expanded (from the draft he had written in Romania) to nine stanzas during his visits to the colonies, completing it in 1884. The first two stanzas are as follows:

As long as deep in the heart
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And toward the edges of the East, forward
An eye gazes toward Zion –

Our hope is not yet lost, the ancient hope,
To return to the land of our ancestors,
To the city where David encamped.

Our hope is not yet lost...

Following Alice’s passing, Imber returned to Eretz Israel, while Laurence Oliphant, deeply stricken with depression after her death, decided to return to England. With Oliphant’s departure, Imber was left without financial support and also left the country, departing for Europe in March 1887. "Tikvatenu" began to gain popularity in Eretz Israel shortly after Imber left.

Later years

Imber returned to Europe in March 1887. After wandering through Berlin and Paris, he continued to Africa, reaching as far as Bombay in India. From India, he traveled to London and settled there. In London, he became friends with Israel Zangwill, a renowned Anglo-Jewish writer and one of the founders of the Zionist movement in England. Zangwill taught Imber English and, in turn, learned Hebrew from him. After about six months, Zangwill translated "Hatikvah" and "Mishmar HaYarden" into English, and Imber began regularly writing poems and articles for the "Jewish Standard" (known in Hebrew as "Degel Yeshurun"), an Orthodox English-language newspaper. Between 1888 and 1890, he published thirty installments of his memoirs in "Degel Yeshurun." These chapters were likely written in English. Additionally, he published Yiddish poems in the weekly "HaShulamit".

On December 23, 1888, Laurence Oliphant passed away in England, and Imber was among the few who attended his funeral. He also eulogized him in the "Jewish Standard" and "Havatzelet." Louis, the editor of the "Jewish Standard," resigned and moved to the United States. The new editor appointed to the newspaper stopped publishing Imber's articles, and in 1891, the newspaper ceased its operations.

Laurence Oliphant, 1829-1888

In 1892, Imber moved to the United States, where he remained until his death. His life in America was marked by suffering and poverty. Judge Mayer Sulzberger of Philadelphia provided him with monthly financial support for several years. While living in Boston, he edited a newspaper called "Ariel" for a time, which was dedicated to Kabbalah, and he wrote studies in English on Kabbalah and the Talmud. Feeling spiritually stifled, Imber decided to travel across the United States, composing poems and writing articles for various journals in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English. During his travels, he reached St. Louis, where he fell ill but recovered thanks to Mayer Sulzberger, who paid for a doctor to treat him. Afterward, he took a ship to England to recuperate, where he stayed briefly before returning to New York.

In 1899, Imber married in Denver, Colorado, to a convert named Amanda Kati. This was her second marriage, and her name on documents was Margaret A. Lipyade. The marriage lasted only a few months, during which Imber left the home several times due to her family’s dislike for him. However, they officially divorced only in 1906.

In 1904, he wrote a book of Hebrew poems titled "Barkai HaShlishi", which he dedicated to Emperor of Japan Mutsuhito. The book included praises for Japan's victory over Tsarist Russia and its anti-Semitism in the Russo-Japanese War.

He spent his final years in the Lower East Side of New York, where he was known in the Jewish neighborhoods for his witty and biting humor. During these years, he suffered from rheumatism and became addicted to wine out of sorrow and bitterness.

Louis Lipsky, a leader of the Zionist movement in the United States, described him as follows:

He had no clothes besides those he wore. He could fit all his possessions into a side bag. He fled from life, and in his flight, he never stopped drinking. He drank to inspire his imagination and dull his senses. He had the head of an Indian. His face was swarthy, his hair was long, and his clothes were always tattered and worn. He was indescribably filthy, and he always reeked of cheap whiskey... Many were puzzled by his absurd behavior.

Imber passed away from kidney disease, caused by excessive drinking, in poverty and destitution. In his writings, he left a sort of "will" in which he wrote, among other things:

To the rabbis, I leave all that I do not know and understand. This will be of use to them for long life and years. To my enemies, I bequeath my illness, rheumatism. Between the Republicans and the Democrats, I divide the bribe that they have not yet touched. To the Jewish editors, I leave my broken pen. Let them write slowly and without errors. My books, those written for beginners, I leave to the eight professors so they can learn to read. On second thought, I leave my last unpaid debt note to my publishers. They have permission to frame it and keep it as a charm, so they will be protected from such authors.

He was buried at Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens, New York. His funeral was attended by more than 10,000 people, and articles and editorials about him appeared in several newspapers, including "The New York Times," the "New York American," and the "Jewish Chronicle."

Reinterment in Israel

Imber in the 1900s

Before his death, he wrote a special poem titled "The Oath," in which he addressed his people with a request:

"I adjure you, my brothers and sisters

Who have heard the voice of my melodies:

When God remembers you,

When, in the end of days, you are redeemed,

Take my bones from here

That are scattered on foreign soil."

In this poem, Imber expressed his wish to be buried in the Land of Israel.

After the establishment of the State of Israel, a public committee, headed by Professor Joseph Klausner, was formed to arrange for the transfer of Imber's remains to Israel. The committee was supported by a group of Zionists in the United States, led by Moses Margolies. Jack (Yitzhak) Zeikel, Imber’s nephew, also worked on this matter. Jack met with President Weizmann, who assured him, "Rest assured, the day will come when his remains will be brought up."

Imber's casket was sent to Israel aboard the ship "Tel Aviv," and on April 16, 1953, it arrived at Haifa Port. Due to Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations, the funeral procession departed on April 23 from Haifa, passing through Zikhron Ya'akov en route to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Imber was buried in the plot reserved for the fathers of Zionism and the writers of the Revival, near the grave of the writer Israel Efroykin. Later, Joseph Klausner was buried beside him. A tombstone was only erected at his grave in late 1955.

Imber has been described as the "first Hebrew beatnik." He made a mockery of the serious and had a sardonic vulgar wit. Apart from writing his own poems, Imber also translated Omar Khayyam into Hebrew. Additionally, he published Treasures of Two Worlds: Unpublished Legends and Traditions of the Jewish Nation (1910), which posited that the Tabernacle carried by the Hebrews during their 40 years in the desert contained an electrical generator, and that King Solomon invented the telephone.

His archive is housed at the Gnazim Archive - Hebrew Writers Association at Beit Ariela Library in Tel Aviv.

His brother, Shemarya, was the father of Yechiel, who was the father of the Kol Israel announcer Shamira Imber.

His works and reception

Collection of Imber’s songs, from the National Library of Jerusalem

Hatikvah

Imber, who identified himself as a Zionist, offered his poem "Tikvateinu" in its various versions as the anthem for the Zionist movement to Theodor Herzl ahead of the Fifth Zionist Congress, but it was rejected. At the Sixth Zionist Congress, where the Uganda Plan was debated in 1903, "Hatikvah" was sung fervently, with the verse "Our eyes look towards Zion" taking on special significance in light of the dispute between supporters of the plan and the "Zionist Zionists" who opposed it. At the end of subsequent congresses, "Hatikvah" was sung, and beginning with the Eleventh Zionist Congress, it was sung as the anthem while standing. Starting from the Eighteenth Congress in 1933, it became the official anthem of the Zionist movement.

Although "Hatikvah" was effectively used as the anthem of the State of Israel from its founding, it was only legally declared the national anthem by the Knesset on November 10, 2004, with an amendment to the "Flag and Emblem Law," which was renamed the "Flag, Emblem, and National Anthem Law."

Published works

Mural for Naftali Herz Imber in Lviv

During his life, Imber published dozens of poems and articles, including songs about Zion, the Land of Israel, and prose. The main ones include:

• Barkai (1886)
• Barkai HaHadash (1900)
• Barkai HaShlishi (1904)
• Yizkor for the Slaughtered and Burned in the Land of Blood, Russia (1905)
• Lecha Ivrit (1907)

Collections of His Writings

• Dov Sadan (editor), All the Poems of Naftali Herz Imber (biography: Shemarya Imber; introduction: Dov Sadan), Tel Aviv: Mordechai Neuman Publishing, 1950.

In 1929, his brother Shemarya Imber compiled part of his writings.

His works were translated into English, with a few individual poems translated into French and Spanish. Except for a few individual pieces, Imber did not receive significant recognition from the literary community or the general public.

Further reading

Articles

• Shemarya Imber, "The Poet of 'Hatikvah'," in HaOlam, September 26, 1940.
• Shalom Shtriet, "Naftali Herz Imber," in Haaretz, September 30, 1932.

Research

• Yaakov Kabakov, The Author of Hatikvah, Lod: Berman Institute for Literary Research, 1991.
• Nakdimon Rogel, The Imber File: Following Naftali Herz Imber in the Land of Israel, Jerusalem: The Zionist Library of the World Zionist Organization, 1997.
• Eliezer Raphael Malachi, "The Poems of N.H. Imber on the Kishinev Pogroms," Barkai, Vol. 41, 1974, pp. 53–55.
• Tuvia Preschel, "N.H. Imber in the Footsteps of Heine," HaDar, Vol. 50, 1971, p. 7.

Fiction

• Ram Oren, Restless Spirit, a historical novel, Keshet Publishing, 2012.

See also

• Hebrew literature

External links

• Media related to Naftali Herz Imber at Wikimedia Commons