JORGE ELBAUM
Those who have not trembled with her voice will not understand neighborhood ardors nor will they understand giant corner laughter. They will not decipher touching tears choked (by huge sensibilities) nor will they feel united with the humble of a Homeland that shelters ancestral sadnesses and prophetic furies.
They will not be crossed by early mornings of any train, in times where the cold juggles the end of the month together with the arithmetic of presentism.
They will never listen to their challenge in tatters.
They will not be moved by the hope of Victories owed. They will not know of recovered dignities. Nor will they be able to understand what it means to give one’s life for others.
They will not memorize accurate proclamations nor will they understand the strength of millions of footsteps in the streets.
They will not be enraptured like children seeing a ball or a bicycle for the first time. Nor will they jump (as we do) in the streets, nor will they weep for the love of speeches, nor will they feel the happiness of villages left behind.
They will not know -in their lives- any slogan nailed in the memory of their eyes. Nor will they be able to be moved by human farewells of profound beings, brilliant in this immensity of the world full of unspeakable love.
They will feel nothing – they will be empty: deserted, dead of history – they will be orphans of solidary embraces.
Thank goodness, comrades, that our hearts are not blind. jne
Jorge Elbaum
Journalist, sociologist and Doctor in Economic Sciences. In addition to writing for this website, he collaborates with the newspaper Página/12. He was director of the Directorate of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) and is currently the head of the Argentine Jewish Appeal.
