Youth
Born in 1934 in Herzliya, to second generation Sabra, Har-Zion and his father moved to Ein Harod in 1947. In 1949 he was briefly detained with his 13-year-old sister, Shoshana, after being caught in Syrian territory east of Beisan. Two years later they were both captured by a shepherd while on the Syrian side of the border. This time they were held prisoner in Damascus for three weeks.
During his first year in the army he made the trek to Petra, 40 km inside Jordan. During the 1950s around a dozen Israeli teenagers were killed on trips to Petra. It was a elite rite of passage. The song "HaSela HaAdom" (The Red Rock), which praised a group killed attempting the trek, was banned.
Read more about this topic: Meir Har-Zion
Famous quotes containing the word youth:
“For youth is a frail thing, not unafraid.
Firstly inclined to take what it is told.
Firstly inclined to lean. Greedy to give
Faith tidy and total. To a total God.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“Youth! There is nothing like youth. The middle-aged are mortgaged to Life. The old are in Life’s lumber-room. But youth is the Lord of Life. Youth has a kingdom waiting for it. Every one is born a king, and most people die in exile.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“He wears the rose
Of youth upon him, from which the world should note
Something particular.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)