Rudyard Kipling under Discussion.
October 10th, 2023.
We will Rebuild the Temple for Judah!
Contents:
1. Introduction. Request from Mark McGee.
2. Who Was Rudyard Kipling?
3. Kipling and Yair Davidiy.
4. Kipling and the Jews.
5. An Explanation of the poem, THE BURDEN OF JERUSALEM,
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1. Introduction. Request from Mark McGee.
"The Burden of Jerusalem," is a poem by Rudyard Kipling.
The poem was written before Kipling died in 1936. The Nazis had come to power in Germany and were already persecuting the Jews, and alreay considered a threat but just how serious they were only became apparent later. The poem was never published. Winston Churchill: A copy of the poem was sent by British PM Winston Churchill to US President Roosevelt in 1943. Churchill opined that the poem be kept secret.
It was first brought to our attention by Alex Zephyr.
The poem is considered to be pro-Jewish and pro-Zionist even though it also has a slightly recriminating tone.
See:
Kipling on Jews and Zionism
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/poetry/kipljew/
We think the poem has a special message very much consistent with our own Brit-Am understanding of the Lost Ten Tribes and the Jews and the interaction between them.
We have referred to this poem a few times in the past and recently were requested to give more of our opinion concerning it.
Our friend, Mark McGee, asked if we could elaborate a bit more as to the message of Rudyard Kipling
The notes below are preparations for a slightly longer article.
Hi Yair,
I hope and pray that your and your family are safe and at peace this day.
Could you make some comments on Rudyard Kipling's poem? I would love to read your insight.
Blessings to you my friend.Mark McGee.
re
Brit-Am Now no. 3466.
Ten Tribes Studies. Hebrew Awareness.
https://hebrewnations.com/features/now23/3466.html
#4. Answer to Quora Query|:
What are the alternatives to Zionism?
Not only Jews but also descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes and Gentiles in general should wish to see the Land settled by Jews.
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2. Who Was Rudyard Kipling?
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudyard-Kipling
Rudyard Kipling, (born December 30, 1865, Bombay [now Mumbai], India, died January 18, 1936, London, England), English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, his tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.
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3. Kipling and Yair Davidiy.
Yair Davidiy as an adolescent read several books by Kipling including an anthology (by W. B. Yeates) of his verse, a collection of short stories, most of the "Puck of Pook's Hill" historical tales for children series, "Kim," one of the Jungle books, and others.
The "Puck of Pook's Hill" books were my favorite.
Kipling at one stage had taken an interest in the British Israel Movement, as it then was, identifying the British as Lost Israelites. Some of this stayed with him and several of his best poems refer to its beliefs and appear to have been inspired by them.
Kipling was quite important. He wrote at a time when even radio still had something of the novelty about it. The written word was then very powerful ,
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4. Kipling and the Jews.
Some of Kipling's early books had a swastika imprinted on their spine. This was before the symbol became associated with the German Nazis. Kipling had spent many years in India and as he himself explained later the swastika was considered a sign of good luck. .
As soon as the Nazis rose to prominence Kipling had the sign removed from his books.
Kipling at times could be ambivalent and critical concerning the Jews, or of elements among them. Nevertheless he seems on the whole to have believed that Britain and the US should support them.
A good moving poem could have a lot of importance.
We will write more on this subject and on Kipling, God willing, at another time.
Meanwhile here are a few notes concerning "The Burden of Jerusalem."
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5. An Explanation of the poem, THE BURDEN OF JERUSALEM,
Below is a brief commentary on the poem, THE BURDEN OF JERUSALEM,
It was written towards the end of WW2 and a copy of it was sent by PM Winston Churchill to US President Roosevelt .
# A practically unknown poem by Rudyard Kipling which Winston Churchill strove to keep secret. A copy of the unpublished private edition was given to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in October 1943, with instructions not to make the gift public. #
THE BURDEN OF JERUSALEM
In ancient days and deserts wild
There rose a feud -- still unsubdued--
Twixt Sarah's son and Hagar's child
That centred round Jerusalem
Abraham begat Isaac from Sarah and Ishmael from Hagar the maidservant of Sarah.
Ishmael became the ancestor and the spiritual forerunner of the Arab Peoples.
This applies especially to the Muslim version.
Jerusalem represents spiritual supremacy over all mnankind.
The Messiah will rule all the world from Jerusalem.
The Jews, Christians, and Muslims all vie for control of Jerusalem.
(While underneath the timeless boughs
Of Mamre's oak 'mid stranger-folk
The Patriarch slumbered and his spouse
Nor dreamed about Jerusalem.)
But Ishmael lived where he was born,
And pastured there in tents of hair
Among the Camel and the Thorn--
Beersheba, South Jerusalem
The Israelite and Arab nations evolved separately. Each was shaped by their own surroundings and predilections.
But Israel sought employ and food
At Pharoah's knees, till Rameses
Dismissed his plaguey multitude,
With curses, toward Jerusalem.
Across the wilderness they came
And launched their horde o'er Jordan's ford,
And blazed the road by sack and flame
To Jebusite Jerusalem.
Then Kings and Judges ruled the land,
And did not well by Israel,
Till Babylonia took a hand
And drove them from Jerusalem.
And Cyrus sent them back anew,
To carry on as they had done,
Till angry Titus overthrew
The fabric of Jerusalem.
The Israelites under Joseph descended into Egypt and settled there. They were oppressed by the Egyptians. It was only thanks to plagues that God sent against the \Egyptians that Pharaoh let them go.
In the eyes of the pagans this would have seemed as if the Hebrew had stricken Egypt.
After that the Israelites crossed the wilderness and under Joshua from the Tribe of Ephraim conquered the Land of Canaan.
Later the Babylonians expelled the Jews from Jerusaelm. (The Ten Tribes had been taken away before then by the Assyrians).
Cyrus the King of Persia allowed the Jews to return and rebuild Judaea.
The Romans under Titus expelled the Jews from the area.
Then they were scattered North and West,
While each Crusade more certain made
That Hagar's vengeful son possessed
Mohammedan Jerusalem.
Where Ishmael held his desert state
And framed a creed to serve his need--
"Allah-hu-Akbar! God is Great!"
He preached it in Jerusalem.
The Muslims and Christians between them drove the Jews into a corner and denied them passage to the Holy Land.
And every realm they wandered through
Rose, far or near, in hate and fear,
And robbed and tortured, chased and slew,
The outcasts of Jerusalem.
So ran their doom -- half seer, half slave--
And ages passed, and at the last
They stood beside each tyrant's grave,
And whispered of Jerusalem.
The Jews were both the instructors and the subjects of the Gentile Nations.
The Jews were persecuted throughout history, victimized and expelled at some stage or other from every country.
They survived and they kept their beliefs while their oppressors lost theirs.
We do not know what God attends
The Unloved Race in every place
Where they amass their dividends
From Riga to Jerusalem.
But all the course of Time makes clear
To everyone (except the Hun)
It does not pay to interfere
With Cohen from Jerusalem.
The Jews have suffered very much throughout their history.
Many of them have also been very successful.
These successes cannot be taken away from them.
They earned them. Divine Providence in some way was always with them.
The "Hun" referred to here means the Germans. At the time this poem was written (ca. 1943) the Nazis still reigned in Germany but the end was in sight. Winston Churchill once noted that every nation that has mistreated the Jews has suffered because of it.
For 'neath the Rabbi's curls and fur
(Or scents and rings of movie-kings)
The aloof, unleavened blood of Ur,
Broods steadfast on Jerusalem.
Abraham came from Ur. Despite moving around and intermixing with numerous peoples both friend and foe have been astonished by the apparent homogeneity evinced by the Jewish People.
Where Ishmael bides in his own place--
A robber bold, as was foretold,
To stand before his brother's face--
The wolf without Jerusalem.
Ishmael represents the Arabs and has stagnated. He almost exists, it would seem, mainly in order to vex the Israelite Peoples.
And burdened Gentile o'er the main,
Must bear the weight of Israel's hate
Because he is not brought again
In triumph to Jerusalem.
Yet he who bred the unending strife,
And was not brave enough to save
The Bondsmaid from the furious wife,
He wrought thy woe, Jerusalem.
In order for the Jews (and the world) to survive they must return to God Almighty and take over Jerusalem.
Kipling seems to have realized this at some level though without being enthusiastic about it. Neverytheless, it is for the ultimate good of all humanity.
The Midrash says that if the Gentiles had have been aware of how much benefut they derived from the Temple they would havep laced whole armies around it to protect it, insterad of destroying it.
The Divine Plan was that Jerusalem will be returned to Judah.
The Gentiles in some sources, the Ten Tribies in others, will help the Jews rebuild the Temple.
These sources are not contradictory since those Gentiles who will aid the Jews will in the end be revealed as descended from the Ten Tribes.
This was how it supposed to be from the beginning.
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Comment by Craig White:
Yair,
Great information re Kipling (my Mum's favourite poet along with Patience
Strong).
Re Yair wrote:
"The Burden of Jerusalem," is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. The poem was
written in ca. 1943. A copy of it was sent by British PM Winston..."
It should read that it was unpublished and given to FDR in 1943.
Kind regards,
Craig