Bracha Habas (20 January 1900 – 31 July 1968) was an Israeli journalist, literary editor and writer. She is being considered as “one of the first professional women journalists in Israel.”

Biography

Born on 20 January 1900 in

Alytus Alytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2022 was 53,925. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The maj ...

, southern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, Bracha Habas moved to Palestine with her family in 1906. After the completion of her school education, she enrolled at the Training Seminary for Women Teachers where she graduated in 1921. In 1919 she joined the socialist-Zionist party,

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period ...

through which she started empowering the young working women. In 1926, she went to Germany to enroll at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

to advance her knowledge of

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...

theory. On her return she worked with the schools that were associated with Women Teachers’ Seminary. She later began her professional career in journalism. She periodically wrote editorials, stories and reports in a number of leading newspapers. She also served on the editorial board of the newspaper ''

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...

'' and of the ''

Am Oved Am Oved ("A Working People") is an Israeli publishing house. History Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief. It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publi ...

'', a books publishing house. She was also sent to the

Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו� ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

as its correspondent by the ''Davar '' newspaper. She briefly worked in educating the rural youths. In 1946 she married

David Hacohen David Hacohen ( he, דוד הכהן, born 20 October 1898, died 19 February 1984) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1949 and 1953, and again from 1955 until 1969. He fought with the Ottoman Army in World War ...

, an Israeli politician and diplomat. She died of cancer on 31 July 1968.

Publications

Some of her publications include * ''Ḥomah u-Migdal'' (1939) * ''Korot Ma'pil Ẓa'ir'' (1942) * ''David Ben-Gurion ve-Doro'' (1952) * ''Pagodot ha-Zahav'' (1959) * ''Benot Ḥayil'' (1964) * ''Ḥayyav u-Moto shel Joop Westerweel'' (1964) * ''Tenu'ah le-Lo Shem'' (1965) * ''He-Ḥaẓer ve-ha-Givah'' (1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habas, Bracha 1900 births 1968 deaths Israeli newspaper journalists Israeli women journalists Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 20th-century journalists 20th-century Israeli writers 20th-century Israeli women writers People from Alytus Lithuanian emigrants to Israel