The Ashkenazi Revolution

124The poet gives an ultimatum to the God of Israel and, in his knowing thatthe ultimatum will not be fulfilled and that justice, that is to say the God ofIsrael, will not appear, he casts down its throne. Bialik speaks to the Godof Israel as if He were a clerk who, if he fails to fulfill his duty properly,will be fired unceremoniously. Bialik deals with Ahad ha’Am with adifferent attitude entirely, in his poem, “To Ahad ha’Am”:The children of old age to our people that returns, with dark, our birthToward the light of life (bold in the original)With 248 limbs we trembled.The old people, and its god, is being extinguished, fading into shadows ofthe darkness, and the “children of old age” pray to “light”, that is to say, tonew gods. However this god appears:And whilst we remain lost, losing hope and lacking faith,Tarrying by a fork in the road and asking: Where? –your star twinkles, to show us, and with a modest hintCalls us from the midst of the darkness and draws us near –And to under your only star we all cry out.Instead of the God of Israel who “is one and His name is one” comes the“only” star of Ahad ha’Am. Bialik showers upon Ahad ha’Am a long lineof exaggerated and strange praises in his poem “On a promontory on theSea of Death”. Again, the word “one” is repeated:On a flint nested one (bold in the original) eagle…Ahad ha’Am helped Bialik patch up and nurse the torn fragments of hiscollapsing personality. The poet, who was destined to become the faithfulservant of the God of Israel, finds himself a second-rate emergencyalternative in the promotion of heathen gods that Ahad ha’Am promoted.The poet turned into a servant of his master, into a part of his godliness,and into one who battles together with him in the battle for mastery overthe Jews. For dominion of the Jews is evidence of godliness, as Ahad