American-born Israeli translator, biographer, literary critic, and novelist
Hillel Halkin (
Hebrew : הלל הלקין ; born 1939) is an
American -born
Israeli
translator , biographer,
literary critic , and
novelist who has lived in
Israel since 1970.
Biography
Hillel Halkin was born in
New York City two months before the outbreak of
World War II . He was the son of
Abraham S. Halkin , then a
professor of
Jewish literature ,
history , and
culture at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America ,
[1] and his wife Shulamit, a daughter of
Rabbi
Meir Bar-Ilan .
[2] In 1970, he made
aliyah to Israel and settled in
Zikhron Ya'akov . He studied
English literature at
Columbia University .
[3]
Halkin is married to Marcia and is the father of two daughters.
[4]
Literary career
Halkin translates
Hebrew and
Yiddish literature into
English . He has translated
Sholem Aleichem 's
Tevye the Dairyman , and major
Hebrew and Israeli novelists, among them
Yosef Haim Brenner ,
S. Y. Agnon ,
Shulamith Hareven ,
A. B. Yehoshua ,
Amos Oz , and
Meir Shalev .
Halkin won a
National Jewish Book Award in 1978 for his first original book Letters to an American Jewish Friend: A Zionist's Polemic (1977).
[5] He expressed why
American Jews should immigrate to Israel.
[3]
Halkin's second book, Across the Sabbath River (2002), is a work of
travel literature in which he goes in search of the truth behind the mystery of the
Ten Lost Tribes . He became increasingly interested in the
Bnei Menashe —who began to immigrate to Israel from
India in the late 20th century—and helped to arrange
DNA testing for the group in 2003 in
Haifa .
[6] Since then, he has written A Strange Death: a novel based on the local history of
Zikhron Ya'akov , where he resides. His intellectual biography of
Yehuda Halevi won a 2010 National Jewish Book Award.
[7]
[8]
In 2012, Halkin published his first novel, Melisande! What Are Dreams? The critic
D. G. Myers described it as a "unique and moving study of marriage, a love letter to conjugal love."
[9]
In 2014, Halkin published a new biography of
Vladimir Jabotinsky .
Halkin writes frequently on Israel and
Jewish culture and
politics . His articles have been published in
Commentary ,
The New Republic ,
The Jerusalem Post , and other publications. He is a member of the
editorial board of the
Jewish Review of Books .
Halkin is the author of the
Philologos column, originally in
The Forward , and later in Mosaic. The American literary critic,
Edward Alexander , identified him as the author of the column. Mira Sucharov of
Canadian Jewish News claimed that "Philologos" is Halkin's
pseudonym .
[10]
[11] Halkin later admitted to being the author.
[12]
Published works
Books
Translations
Geulah Cohen (1966). Woman of Violence: Memoirs of a Young Terrorist, 1943–1948 . New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston .
Yosef Haim Brenner (1971). Breakdown and Bereavement .
Ithaca, New York :
Cornell University Press .
Mordecai Ze'ev Feuerberg (1973). Whither? and Other Stories . Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
Leah Goldberg (1973). Russian Literature in the Nineteenth Century .
Jerusalem : Magnes Press,
Hebrew University .
Shulamith Hareven (1977). City of Many Days .
Garden City, New York :
Doubleday .
Hanokh Bartov (1978). Whose Little Boy Are You? Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
Amos Oz (1985).
A Perfect Peace .
San Diego :
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich .
Sholem Aleichem (1987). Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories . New York: Schocken Books.
Tamar Bergman (1988). The Boy from Over There .
Boston : Houghton Mifflin.
Shulamith Hareven (1988). The Miracle Hater .
San Francisco : North Point Press.
Meir Shalev (1991). The Blue Mountain . New York:
HarperCollins .
A. B. Yehoshua (1992). Mr. Mani . New York: Doubleday.
Uri Orlev (1993). Lydia, Queen of Palestine . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Uri Orlev (1995). The Lady with the Hat . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Uri Orlev (1995). The Man from the Other Side . New York:
Puffin Books .
Nava Semel (1995). Flying Lessons . New York:
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Shulamith Hareven (1996). Thirst: The Desert Trilogy . San Francisco:
Mercury House .
Roman Frister (1999). The Cap: The Price of a Life . New York:
Grove Press .
S. Y. Agnon (2000). A Simple Story .
Syracuse, New York :
Syracuse University Press .
Samuel HaNagid (2000). Grand Things to Write a Poem On: A Verse Autobiography . Jerusalem:
Gefen Publishing House .
Haim Sabato (2003). Adjusting Sights . New Milford, Connecticut: Toby Press.
Uri Orlev (2003). Run, Boy, Run . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
A. B. Yehoshua (2003). The Liberated Bride .
Orlando, Florida :
Harcourt .
Haim Be'er (2004). Feathers .
Waltham, Massachusetts :
Brandeis University Press .
A. B. Yehoshua (2004). Five Seasons . Orlando: Harcourt.
A. B. Yehoshua (2006). A Woman in Jerusalem . Orlando, Florida: Harcourt.
S. Y. Agnon (2009). To This Day . New Milford, Connecticut: Toby Press.
Uri Orlev (2010). The Song of the Whales . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
References
^ Hillel Halkin, "
Either/Or: A Memoir ,"
Commentary 122 (September 2006): 48–55.
^
"Meir Bar-Ilan" . Archived from
the original on 2015-02-03.
^
a
b
"Anglo translators [first in a series]: Like being the dance partner of the greatest dancer" ,
Haaretz
^
"'A Strange Death' by Hillel Halkin" , Commentary
^
"Past Winners of the National Jewish Book Award for the Israel category" . Jewish Book Council . Archived from
the original on 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2020-02-07 .
^ Caryl Phillips, "
The Disappeared
Archived 2013-10-07 at the
Wayback Machine ,"
The New Republic (September 26, 2002).
^
Marc Tracy , "
Halkin Wins National Jewish Book Award ,"
Tablet , January 11, 2011.
^
"Past Winners" . Jewish Book Council . Retrieved 2020-01-21 .
^ D. G. Myers, "
Let My People Go ," Commentary 113 (April 2012): 69.
^
Edward Alexander (9 February 2017).
"Reflections on Death, Mourning and the Afterlife in the Jewish Tradition" .
Algemeiner Journal . Retrieved 13 February 2017 .
^ Sucharov, Mira (24 May 2016).
"Making Hatikvah an anthem for all of Israel's citizens" .
Canadian Jewish News . Retrieved 13 February 2017 .
^ Ivry, Benjamin (31 August 2021).
"Why a master of languages decided to reveal his true identity" .
The Forward . Retrieved 31 August 2021 .
External links
International National Academics Other