Yehudit Hendel


Yehudit Hendel was an award-winning Israeli author. She wrote novels, short stories, and non-fiction.
Much of her work focuses on the Holocaust, displaced persons, people with depression, and the terminally ill.
When she won the Israel Prize in 2003, the selection committee stated that "she is a unique, moving, powerful voice with psychological depth. She delves into man's soul and into the everyday existential problems with delicate observations, and out of recognition of people's tragic fates. Yehudit Hendel is a pioneer in turning from the center of the social map to its edges."

Biography

Hendel was born in 1921 in Warsaw. The same year, her grandfather moved to Palestine; her parents and family moved to Haifa in 1930. Her father, Akiva, took a job as a bus driver.
As a child, Hendel was a member of the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, a Zionist youth movement. She attended the teacher's college in Tel Aviv, and in 1948 she married the painter Zvi Meirovitz. They had two children, Dorit and Yehoshua. In 1980, Hendel moved to Tel Aviv, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Literary work

Hendel's first short story, "Bi-khvot Orot", was published in 1942 when she was seventeen years old. Her first collection of short stories, Anashim Aherim Hem, was published in 1950. In 1954, the manuscript for her novel Rehov ha-Madregot won the Asher Barash Competition. It was published in 1955 and became a bestseller. This was followed by the publication of a second novel, He-Hazer shel Momo ha-Gedolah '' in 1969. She was working on a third novel, to be titled Zelilah Hozeret, a biography of her late husband Zvi Meirovitz.
The 1980s and 1990s were a prolific period for her work. She wrote several more novels and short stories, as well as literary reviews. In 1985, she hosted a radio program on Voice of Israel radio.

Publications

English translations

As primary author

The Street of Steps Kesef Katan: A Collection of Stories
  • ''Small Change: A Collection of Stories''

As contributor

Ribcage: Israeli Women's Fiction The Oxford Book of Hebrew Short Stories Six Israeli Novellas Children of Israel, Children of Palestine: Our Own True Stories
  • ''Dreaming the Actual: Contemporary Fiction and Poetry by Israeli Women Writers''

Hebrew

  • “Bi-khvot Orot”
  • Twenty+ short stories in Mi-Bifnim, ''Davar, Sh’naton Davar, Mishmar, Le-Ahdut ha-Avodah, Haaretz, Molad, and Keshet Sofrim.
  • La-Magen: Pirkei Shirah
  • Anashim Aherim Hem
  • Rehov ha-Madregot
  • He-Hazer shel Momo ha-Gedolah -- reprinted in 1993 as Ha-Hamsin ha-Aharon
  • Zelilah Hozeret
  • Ha-Koah ha-Aher
  • Le-Yad Kefarim Shketim: Shneym-Asar Yamim be-Polin
  • Kesef Katan: Mahzor Sippurim
  • Har ha-To’im
  • Aruhat Boker Temimah: Mahazor Sippurim
  • Rehov ha-Madregot
  • reprinting of Anashim Aherim Hem , including the previously censored short story “Kever Banim”, 2000
  • ''Terufo shel Rofe ha-Nefesh''

Awards

Hendel was the recipient of many recognitions for her work, including: