ABSTRACT
Shva Salhoov is a multidisciplinary writer: an essayist, author, critic and poet. This chapter presents the theory that Shva Salhoov's poetry secretly shrouds a proposal for a different Statism, a different Israeliness: an Israel that acknowledges its spiritual mission, that sees in its allotted piece of land a summon to connect with its Jewish heritage, an Israel tightly bound to its place in the heart of the Arab Middle East, and an Israel that sets its goals up high: new standards of mutual support, of assisting the weak and of honouring of all humanity. It demonstrates how Salhoov's poetry is affiliated to concepts defined by the French Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas: concepts which are inherently entwined with the divine presence manifested in Being. Salhoov blends the spiritual and personal, the political and public, and "walks" simultaneously towards the others and towards God.
