Hamenaḥem, Ezra

views updated

HAMENAḤEM, EZRA

HAMENAḤEM, EZRA (1907–1993), Hebrew writer. Born in Skoplje, Serbia, he settled with his family in Ereẓ Israel in 1914. After receiving a religious education in the Old City of Jerusalem, he worked in a Jerusalem bank and then at Mosad Bialik, the Am Oved publishing house, and as editor of literary programs on the Israel radio. In the late 1930s, he began writing about the old and new cities of Jerusalem, particularly about their Oriental Jewish community. His collections of short stories include Bein ha-Ḥomot (1941), Afar ha-Areẓ (1948), Be-Ẓel ha-Yamim (1956), Sippurei ha-Ir ha-Attikah (1968), and Mi-Sippurei Na'ar Yerushalmi (1988).

bibliography:

A. Cohen, Soferim Ivriyyim Benei Zemannenu (1964), 144–6; Y. Keshet, Maskiyyot (1953), 261–72; R. Wallenrod, Literature of Modern Israel (1956), 188. add. bibliography: M. Lipshitz, "E. Hamenaḥem: Romantikan Yerushalmi," in: Moznayim, 48/4 (1979), 285–88; N. Govrin, "Tokheḥah mi-Golah," in: Yeda Am, 20 (1981), 15–28; G. Shaked, Ha-Sipporet ha-Ivrit, 2 (1983), 301–3.

[Getzel Kressel]