חורבנות Jewish calamities in the poetry of Aleksander Wat

In Judaism, calamity [Hebr. חורבן churban, plural. חורבנות churbanot] is a cultural category that not necessarily characterized as negative. It viewed form of purification, which begins crisis finally leads to religious and moral recovery. Three most important churbanot are usually recognized in the history Israel: destruction Salomon’s Temple by Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) followed Babylonian captivity, Herod’s Titus (70 A.D.) with subsequent dispersion Israelites (Hebr. גלות [‘galut’]) Holocaust (1939–1945 A.D.), planned methodical extermination European Jews. All these experiences Jewish disaster strongly resonated work Aleksander Wat (1900–1967), Polish poet roots. Two his poems analyzed here. The first one (consisting two parts), entitled Na melodie hebrajskie [‘To Hebrew Tunes’] (from volume Wiersze [‘Poems’], 1957), explicitly mentions churbanot: captivity diaspora 70 A.D. other poem third part Pieśni wedrowca [‘The Songs Wanderer’] środziemnomorskie [‘Mediterranean Poems’], 1962). allusively greatest disaster. each case, churban helps identify heart identity. Because Shoah cannot be said have any positive consequences, treats it mystagogical terms, i.e., mystery.