"For the tree of the field is a man's life"

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Mamilla Avenue (the mall) is currently showing an exhibition of sculptures based on fairy tales or legends.
There is also one artwork inspired by a biblical verse.
The artist is Osher Sutil.
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Today the radio is playing sad nostalgic songs in honor of the 15th anniversary of the death of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Appropriate and often heard is "For is the tree of the field a man whom comes in siege before you?"
It is a song by Israeli singer Yehudit Ravitz, based on Nathan Zach's poem and on the verse in Deuteronomy 20:19 [a very good link].
Here are the words, translated by Ariel Brosh:

Because the man is the tree of the field;
Like the tree the man grows up.
Like the man, the tree also gets uprooted,
And I surely do not know
where I have been and where I will be,
like the tree of the field.

Because the man is the tree of the field;
Like the tree he aspires upwards.
Like the man, he gets burnt in fire,
And I surely do not know
where I have been and where will I be,
like the tree of the field.

Because the man is the tree of the field;
Like the tree he is thirsty to water.
Like the man, thirsty he remains,
And I surely do not know
where I have been and where will I be,
like the tree of the field.

I've loved, and I've hated;
I've tasted both this and that;
I was buried in a plot of land;
And it's bitter, it's bitter in my mouth,

Like the tree of the field;
Like the tree of the field.*
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Yitzhak Rabin, z"l, was cut down by an assassin's bullet on this night in 1995 at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
Our nation was shocked that such a thing could happen here--a political assassination by a Jewish Israeli.
Today there is a new generation, kids ready to start their army service, who are too young to remember Rabin or his murder.
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We try to teach them and to remind ourselves today with memorial services across the country and a special session of the Knesset and programs on the media.

The main gathering will be at the unique grave of Yitzhak and Leah Rabin on Mt. Herzl.
Please see my post about how Senator Ed Kennedy brought earth from Arlington to add to this grave and a post about a statue dedicated to Rabin.
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Shalom chaver.

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*From Israeli Poetry: A Contemporary Anthology selected and translated by Warren Bargad and Stanley F. Cheyt, copyright 1986 by Indiana University Press.

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