Biographical Context of "Jerusalem is full of used Jews"

    Jerusalem is full of used Jews is a poem written by accomplished Israeli poet, Yehuda Amichai, about the livelihood of the Jewish people in Jerusalem at the time of writing. It takes an especially sardonic tone in talking about Jerusalem as a whole from the beginning - talking about how the Jews in Jerusalem have been "worn out by history", and how the "eyes of the living and the dead are cracked like eggs to make the city puff up rich and fat" (Amichai). Already this paints a picture of Jews themselves struggling to maintain a desired livelihood while the city itself benefits. It goes a step further by quoting the Hatikvah, the national anthem of the state of Israel, stating that "the eye yearns towards Zion all of the time" (Amichai) - this is especially important later in the poem.

    The sardonic tone of the poem continues into the following paragraphs. Amichai likens the state of Jerusalem to a circus, that needs a "ringmaster" rather than a mayor, and compares "tired" Jews to "circus bears dancing on aching legs", "always goaded on for holidays, for memorial days" (Amichai). This comparison invites critique towards Jerusalem - a comparison to a circus is never especially favorable, and one can surmise that Jews themselves are being paraded around for the sake of Jerusalem's ends. 

    The purpose of the poem becomes clearer in the final few lines, where Amichai concludes the circus analogy by writing, "Later they'll jump back down again to the sound of applause and wars" (Amichai). The sardonic irony is especially clear here; the "circus" is met with applause but it is also met with war and suffering, "and the eye yearns towards Zion and weeps". (Amichai). Ultimately, the Jews themselves are used, tired, and unhappy with this outcome.

Yehuda Amichai

    This analysis makes a little more sense when you consider Amichai's history with war and his lived experience as a Jew in Jerusalem. According to an article about his life and work written by the Poetry Foundation, Amichai lived in Jerusalem for much of his life after fleeing Hitler's rise to power and serving in World War II. He later fought with the Israeli army in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. The horrors of these wartime experiences inform the way he wrote his poetry, and, undoubtedly, Amichai's feelings on Jews being "used", "tired", and the continued endless cycle of wars they must endure (Silbert).

    On the idea that all poetry is political, Amichai wrote, "This is because real poems deal with a human response to reality, and politics is part of reality, history in the making. Even if a poet writes about sitting in a glass house drinking tea, it reflects politics" (Amichai). Given our current political climate and how it still seems to match the intent behind Yehuda's writing, these words seem more poignant than ever.

Silbert, L. (2015). Yehuda Amichai. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/yehuda-amichai