Dan Ben-Amotz ( he, דן בן אמוץ, April 13, 1924 – October 20, 1989) was an Israeli radio broadcaster, journalist, playwright, and author, as well as a former
Palmach member. Despite having immigrated from Poland in 1938, he was often considered the epitome of the "
Sabra
Sabra may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Sabra (comics), a fictional Israeli female superhero in the Marvel Comics universe
* Sabra (magazine), a Japanese magazine for men
* ''Sabra Command'' the original title of the film ''Warhead''
* "Sabr ...
", a native born Israeli
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
.
[
]
Biography
Moshe Tehilimzeigger (later Dan Ben-Amotz) was born in Równe (then in Poland, now in Ukraine). He was sent to the British Mandate for Palestine
The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The manda ...
by his parents in 1938.
His parents were murdered in the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
In Palestine he was sent to Ben Shemen Youth Village
Ben Shemen Youth Village ( he, כפר הנוער בן שמן, ''Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen'') is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi ...
, where his counselor was Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...
. He changed his name to Moshe Shimony and later to Dan Ben-Amotz, feeling the latter had the right sabra
Sabra may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Sabra (comics), a fictional Israeli female superhero in the Marvel Comics universe
* Sabra (magazine), a Japanese magazine for men
* ''Sabra Command'' the original title of the film ''Warhead''
* "Sabr ...
sound. Reinventing his personal history to portray himself as a true native sabra, Ben-Amotz claimed to be an orphan who had relatives in some of the older Zionist settlements.[
In the 1940s, Ben-Amotz served in the ]Palmah
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
and joined the Palyam
Palyam ( he, פלי"ם, an abbreviation of ''Plugat HaYam'' (), lit. ''Sea Company'') was the sea force of the Palmach.
History
Palyam was set up in April 1945 as the Palmach's tenth company (Pluga Yud) which originated from the Palmach's Naval ...
during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.
Media and literary career
Amotz spent the years of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
in Europe as a national emissary. After the war he worked for a short while as a Paris correspondent for Israeli papers. He then traveled to the United States and went to Hollywood. He made friends with Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
and Blackie Dammett, Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...
's father, and had a small part in ''A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pers ...
'' (1951).[
In the 1950s Ben-Amotz returned to Israel. He was the star of the radio show "Three Men in a Boat", a weekly ]satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
review that became the country's most popular show, and wrote regularly for Israeli newspapers.[ In 1956 he published ''A Bag of Fibs'' with ]Haim Hefer
Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...
, a collection of tall stories from the Palmah folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, which gained cult status.
According to the Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
, "Ben-Amotz was one of the pioneers in the revival of modern Hebrew from a dormant language of prayer and study. He authored a dictionary of Hebrew slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
and wrote articles and novels that shocked many Israelis with their frankness."[
]
In the 1980s he was diagnosed with liver cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...
. When his disease became known to the public, he also brought to light the truth about his personal history. He made a much-publicized trip to Poland that included a tour of Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
.[ On April 8, 1989, he held a farewell party at the "Hamam" club in ]Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
, to which he invited 150 acquaintances. The invitees included Amos Keinan
Amos Kenan ( he, עמוס קינן), also Amos Keinan, (May 2, 1927 – August 4, 2009) was an Israeli columnist, painter, sculptor, playwright and novelist.
Biography
Amos Levine (later Kenan) was born in south Tel Aviv. His parents were ...
(a former rival), Amos Oz
Amos Oz ( he, עמוס עוז; born Amos Klausner; 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onw ...
, Meir Shalev
Meir Shalev ( he, מאיר שלו; born 29 July 1948) is an Israeli writer and newspaper columnist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth . Shalev's books have been translated into 26 languages.
Biography
Shalev was born in Nahalal, Israel. Later he ...
, Gila Almagor
Gila Almagor Agmon ( he, גילה אלמגור אגמון; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".
Biography
Gila Alexandrowitz (A ...
, Yaakov Agmon, Shlomo Artzi
Shlomo Artzi ( he, שלמה ארצי) is an Israeli folk rock musician, composer, music producer, radio broadcaster columnist and singer-songwriter.
He was born on November 26, 1949, in Moshav Alonei Abba. In the course of his career, he has so ...
, Yosef Lapid
Yosef "Tommy" Lapid ( he, יוסף "טומי" לפיד, born as Tomislav Lampel, sr-cyr, Томислав Лампел; 27 December 1931 – 1 June 2008) was a Yugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politi ...
, Yehudit Ravitz
Yehudit Ravitz ( he, יהודית רביץ; born December 29, 1956) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, multidisciplinary artist, composer and music producer. She is one of the most successful and famous Israeli rock musicians, with a career spannin ...
and Nurit Galron
Nurit Galron ( he, נורית גלרון, born March 21, 1951) is an Israeli singer.http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726220723&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull She is married to Israeli TV and radio journalist Rafi Reshef.
Biogr ...
. After the party he made a trip to the US, to say goodbye to his children from his first marriage. He died in 1989 in Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
and was survived by two sons and two daughters.[ His funeral was held on October 22.][
On January 11, 1992, journalist ]Amnon Dankner
Amnon Dankner ( he, אמנון דנקנר, February 5, 1946 – April 5, 2013) was an Israeli newspaper editor and author. He was the editor of the mass-circulation daily ''Maariv'' for six years.
Biography
Amnon Dankner was born in Jerusalem. Hi ...
published a biography of Ben-Amotz, in which he argued that Ben-Amotz had incest with his mother when he was thirteen. He also claimed that in his last years, Ben-Amotz had forced himself on underage girls he would pick up in Jaffa. These claims led to a police investigation of some of Ben-Amotz's friends. The book stirred a scandal. Some saw it as exploding the myth of Dan Ben-Amotz, while others saw it as an attempt to gain financially from exploiting Ben-Amotz's legacy by spreading groundless criticism against Ben-Amotz, and many of Ben-Amotz's relatives, who were also Dankner's friends, threatened to file a libel suit
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
against Dankner and broke off contact with him.
Published works
''Parents Meeting'' (1962) was semi-autobiographical short story about the hardships of the new immigrants in an Israeli boarding school in the Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...
. The screenplay for the movie ''Siege'' (1968), in which he also acted, dealt with the difficulties that a war widow faces in militaristic Israeli society. His novel ''To Remember, To Forget'' (1968) revealed some autobiographical motifs – the protagonist is a young man who lost his family in the Holocaust and attempted (by changing his name) to re-create himself as a true sabra.[ In the book, Ben-Amotz tried to confront such questions as his European past and German guilt over the Holocaust.][ In 1972 he published his dictionary of Hebrew ]slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
, which he co-wrote with Netiva Ben Yehuda.[ The novel ''Does Not Give a Damn'' (1973) told of a soldier who was wounded in battle and his rehabilitation efforts.
]
Novels
*Lizkor lishcoah. 1968; as ''To Remember, to Forget', 1968.
*Lo sam zayin 'Does Not Give a Damn'' 1973.
*Ziyunim zeh lo ha-kol: Roman mafteah le-lo man'ul (''Screwing Isn't Everything''). 1979.
*Ziyunyune ha-derekh: Roman mafteah le-lo man'ul (sequel to Ziyunim zeh lo ha-kol). 1980.
Short Stories
*Arba'ah ve-'arba'ah: Sipurim 'Four and Four: Stories'' 1950.
*Sipurim poh sipurim sham. 1982.
Plays
*Tefos kamah she-atah yakhol (Seret-metah-meforash) 'Catch As Much You Can''(screenplay). 1975; as Mishak yeladim othing to It 1982.
*Tel-Aviv ha-ketanah: Hizayon 'Little Old Tel-Aviv'' with Hayim Hefer. 1980.
*'Al 'akhbarim va-anashim, with Ehud Manor, adaptation of ''Of Mice and Men'' by John Steinbeck (produced 1990).
Screenplays
*Matzor iege with Gilberto Tofano, 1968
*Sheloshah yamim ve-yeled, with Uri Zohar and Amatsia Hiouni, adaptation of a story by A. B. Yehoshua, 1976.
Other
*Yalkut ha-kezavim, with Hayim Hefer. 1956.
*Mah nishma' 'What's New'' 1959.
*Ekh la-'asot mah 'How to Do What'' 1962.
*Milon olami le-'ivrit miduberet 'The World Dictionary of Hebrew Slang''(2 vols.), with Netiva Ben-Yehuda. 1972, 1982.
*Yofi shel milhamah. 1974.
*Keri'ah tamah; Sifrutek 'Reflection in Time'' 1974.
*Nashim kotvot le-Dan Ben-Amots: Bi-teguvah le-sefer "Ziyunim zeh lo ha-kol," with Varda Rasiel Jackont (correspondence). 1980.
*Sipurei Abu-Nimer 'Stories and Fables from Arab Folklore'' 1982.
*Sefer ha-felots veha-shikhehah, with Donald Wetzel and Martin Riskin. 1985.
*Kelil tif'eret ha-melitsah (dictionary and reader of 19th century Hebrew). 1986.
*Ten hiyukh: Metav ha-kezavim she-lo hikhzivu ba-'itonut hatseva'it, with Ze'ev Anner and Dani Kerman. 1989.
*Editor, with Shlomo Shva, Erets Tsiyon Yerushalayim. 1973.
*Translator, with Amnon Dankner, Adif melafefon 'al hagever mi-pene she, (''Why Cucumbers are Better Than Men'' by M. L. Brooks). 1985.
See also
*Hebrew language
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
* Hebrew literature
* Culture of Israel
References
External links
* "A new documentary seeks to tell another story of Dan Ben Amotz after a shocking posthumous biography erased his legacy."
* Yehonatan Geffen
Yehonatan Geffen ( he, יהונתן גפן; 22 February 1947 – 19 April 2023), also known as Yonatan Gefen, was a prominent Israeli author, poet, songwriter, journalist, satirist and playwright.
Early life and education
Geffen was born in ...
reading a poem during Ben-Amotz's farewell party in April 1989: "The organizers asked me to write a song of mourning. What came out was a song of envy. A song of envy for Dan, who succeeded in accomplishing what most people ask for. To live directly across from the sea. Against all the rules. And to screw anything that moves - including flags." effen Interrupts reading to hug Ben-Amotz.Geffen: "You hear about his conquests, and you become yellow with envy. Tell me, when does he have time to write? After all the young women and divorcees, he still runs over to stick it to the sacred cows
''Sacred Cows'', subtitled "The Songs That Helped Us," is an album featuring the rock band The Swirling Eddies, performing their own less-than-serious versions of popular CCM hits, released in 1996 on StarSong.
The basic plan for the recor ...
."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Amotz, Dan
1924 births
1989 deaths
Israeli journalists
Israeli novelists
Israeli male dramatists and playwrights
Palmach members
Aliyah Bet activists
20th-century Israeli Jews
Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent
20th-century novelists
20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights
Maariv (newspaper) people
20th-century journalists
Deaths from cancer in Israel
Deaths from liver cancer