אַשְׁרֵי הַגַפְרוּר שֶׁנִשְׂרַף וְהִצִית לֶהָבוֹת
.אַשְׁרֵי הַלְהָבָה שֶׁבָּעֲרָה בְּסִתְרֵי לְבָבוֹת
...אַשְׁרֵי הַלְבָבוֹת שֶׁיָדְעוּ לַחְדוֹל בְּכָבוֹד
.אַשְׁרֵי הַגַפְרוּר שֶׁנִשְׂרַף וְהִצִית לֶהָבוֹת
Ashrey ha-gafrur she-neesraf ve-heetzeet lehavot,
Ashrey ha-l’hava she-ba’arah be-sitrey levavot.
Ashrey ha-levavot sheyadu lachdol be-kavod…
Ashrey ha-gafrur sheneeshraf ve-heetzeet lehavot.

Blessed is the match consumed in kindling the flame,
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret places of the heart.
Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor’s sake…
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling the flame.

cw: violence, SA

This poem was written by Hannah Szenes, a Jewish resistance member who fought the Nazis during World War II. She volunteered to parachute into Yugoslavia, to aid the resistance and attempt to rescue Jews who had been deported for Auschwitz.

Trying to cross the border into German occupied Hungary, Hannah was arrested by Hungarian police. In their custody, she was stripped, tied to a chair, and brutally beaten for three days. She lost several teeth as a result. Transferred to a prison in Budapest, the police repeatedly tortured and interrogated her in order to get her to give up information about her mission and help them trap her comrades. Even when they arrested and threatened to kill Hannah’s mother, she refused to cooperate.

Ultimately, she was tried for treason by a Hungarian court and convicted. Hannah was executed by firing squad on November 7, 1944. She was just 23 years old at the time of her death. Throughout her short life and her time in prison, up until the day of her death, she kept a diary. Remembered equally for her heroism and her poetry, Hannah Szenes’ timeless words continue to give the world inspiration.

A year before her death, Hannah wrote to her brother: “I am starting something new. Perhaps it’s madness. Perhaps it’s fantastic. Perhaps it is dangerous… I wonder, will you understand? Will you believe that it is more than a childish wish for adventure? There are times when one is commanded to do something, even at the price of one’s life.”
 


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Min Ha-Meitzar: An Abolitionist Haggadah from the Narrow Place by Noraa Kaplan