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Chaim Nachman Bialik is often referred to as the poet laureate of the Hebrew language. Bialik was born in raised in the village of Radi, which was then in the Ukrainian part of the Russian Empire. His father died when Bialik was only 7 years old and as a result, he was sent to live with his grandfather. While not much is known of Bialik’s childhood more than that which he writes about later in life, he requested and was sent to study in the famous Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania at the age of 15. While he seems to have been tremendously interested in the Jewish sources, Bialik was not content with the yeshiva life-style and moved on to the modern city of Odessa. Working odd jobs and often teaching Hebrew just to get by, Bialik quickly got involved in Hebrew literary circles, as well as the Zionist movement. When he was 30, Bialik was hired to interview survivors of the Kishinev Pogrom and write about the horrible event. This seems to have been a critical turning point in Bialik’s life as he became even more involved in the Zionist movement and wrote one of his most famous poems “In the City of Slaughter” about the deadly pogrom. This epic poem inspired many people to move to Israel and create what would later become the Haganah and the Israel Defense Forces. While Bialik was known as a Modern Hebrew poet before publication of this poem, it was a defining point in his being recognized as one of the most important Modern Hebrew poets. Bialik’s Hebrew language skills were exquisite, especially for his time when relatively few people knew how to speak the Modern Hebrew language. He translated many classic European works including those by Shakespeare and Cervantes into the Modern Hebrew language. Though it might seem a bit strange that Bialik did not move to the Land of Israel until a mere ten years before his death, he had a great impact on the Modern Hebrew language, turning it from one of almost purely Biblical and religious usage into one which was used to produce beautiful and inspirational poetry. Bialik died in 1934 and is honored in Israel today with various streets, prizes and a town, Kiryat Bialik, named after him. To this day, he is almost universally recognized as the greatest Modern Hebrew poet. HebrewToday is one of the world's leaders in offering diverse resources for those interested in learning the Hebrew language. You can always find more information, resources and articles at: http://www.hebrewtoday.com
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