Sorry I haven’t posted anything over the last day or so. I had the fourth covid booster jab on Saturday and it’s left me very weak and more than a bit fluey. But I am reading the very relevant discussion in the comments section about getting rid of the Tories and whether that would achieve anything, when Starmer’s Labour is doing its level best to be exactly the same or worse.
Now more music from the Bund, the Russian/Polish Jewish socialist party that strenuously rejected Zionism in favour of the emancipation of Jewish working people in their present homelands. I found this version of Di Shvue – the Oath – on the Towarzsyszsekretarz channel on YouTube. The blurb for the song says that it was written by S. An-sky in 1902, and performed by Zahava Seewald. It also has the song’s lyrics in Yiddish and English. The English translation goes
The Oath
Brothers and sisters in toil and struggle
All who are dispersed far and wide
Come together, the flag is ready
It waves in anger, it is red with blood!
Swear an oath of life and death!
Heaven and earth will hear us,
The light stars will bear witness.
An oath of blood, an oath of tears,
We swear, we swear, we swear!
We swear an endless loyalty to the Bund.
Only it can free the slaves now.
The red flag is high and wide.
It waves in anger,
it is red with blood!
Swear an oath of life and death!
The Bund and its anthem, although long gone, evidently have real meaning for many Jews, as shown by the comments. Adam13weishaupt posted ‘As a young girl in tsarist Russia, in Smorgon (near the Lithuanian-Belarus border), my late grandmother sang this song at Bund gatherings held secretly at night in the forest.’ And Cisza01 said ‘We should never forget about Jewish socialists from BUND’
The Youth Anthem was posted by Jack Ross on his channel on YouTube. The blurb for it simply reads ‘Performed by the Workmen’s Circle chorus, a tribute to past and future radical Jewish youth.’ Ross himself is an historian of the Bund, having written a book on its history between the First and Second World Wars. The final image shows Jewish gay rights marchers waving a flag containing the rainbow and the Star of David. I think Miriam Margolyes would approve, as she’s gay and supports a Jewish organisation, Gay Y*ds, set up to tackle homophobia in the Jewish community.
Tags: Andam13weishaupt, Booster Injection, Bund, Cisza01, Conservatives, Coronavirus, Demonstrations, Di Shvue, Ehava Seewald, Gay Rights, Gays, Homophobia, Jack Ross, Jews, Labour Keir Starmer, Miriam Margloyes, S An-sky, Towarzyszzekretarz, Workmens' Circle, World War I, World War II, Yiddish
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