Isaac Dov Berkowitz ( he, יצחק דב ברקוביץ; 16 October 1885 – 29 March 1967), was a Hebrew and Yiddish author and translator.

Biography

Isaac Dov Berkowitz was born in

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1913, before moving permanently to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

in 1928. Berkowitz's first short story, ''On the eve of Yom Kippur'' (בערב יום הכיפורים), was published in the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Hebrew newspaper ''

HaTzofe :This article is about a newspaper; see Emanuel Hatzofe for the Israeli sculptor ''HaTzofe'' ( he, הצופה, ''The Observer'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel. In April 2007, it was reduced to weekly publication until ...

'' in 1903. In 1905, Berkowitz moved to

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

, where he worked as an editor for the Hebrew newspaper ''HaZman''. It was there that he met and later married

Sholom Aleichem ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = New York City, U.S. , occupation = Writer , nationality = , period = , genre = Novels, sh ...

's daughter in 1906. In 1910, Berkowitz published his first ''Collected stories'' and soon thereafter he began to translate Sholom Aleichem's writings from

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

into

Hebrew 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 ...

. Two years later, he translated

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

Childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

'' from

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

into Hebrew. Berkowitz emigrated to the

in 1913, on the eve of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Marcus, Jacob Rader Jacob Rader Marcus (March 5, 1896 –14 November 1995) was a scholar of Jewish history and a Reform rabbi. Biography Born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, United States into a traditional Jewish family and raised in Homestead, Pennsylvania, Ma ...

(1993).
United States Jewry 1776–1985. Vol. 4: The East European Period: The Emergence of the American Jew; Epilogue
'' Detroit: Wayne State University Press. . p. 364. From 1916 to 1919 he edited ''HaToren'' (The Mast), a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

-oriented periodical of high literary quality, and in 1919 he edited the short-lived journal ''Miklat'' (shelter, asylum, refuge or haven). After arriving in Palestinian Mandate in 1928, he co-edited the weekly newspaper ''Moznayim'' with Fishel Lachower, while also adapting to the stage several of Sholom Aleichem's plays for

Habima Theater The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the List of national theatres, national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the ce ...

Awards

* In 1944, Berkowitz was awarded the

Tchernichovsky Prize Tchernichovsky Prize is an Israeli prize awarded to individuals for exemplary works of translation into Hebrew. History The Tchernichovsky Prize is awarded by the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

for exemplary translation, for his translations of Sholom Aleichem's ''Collected works''. * In 1952, he was awarded the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Biali ...

(literary award named after the poet

Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ( he, חיים נחמן ביאַליק; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was part of the vangu ...

) for his ''Stories and plays'' (סיפורים ומחזות). * In 1958, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, for literature. * In 1965, Berkowitz was awarded the Bialik Prize a second time, for his ''Childhood chapters'' (פירקי ילדות).

References

External links

The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature (ithl.org.il)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkowitz, Isaac Dov 1885 births 1967 deaths People from Slutsk People from Slutsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israel Prize in literature recipients Israeli translators Israeli journalists Israeli male short story writers Israeli short story writers 20th-century translators 20th-century short story writers 20th-century male writers Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery 20th-century journalists

Biography

Awards

See also

References

External links