Israel Eliraz

{{Infobox person

| name = Israel Eliraz

| native_name = ישראל אלירז

| native_name_lang = he

| birth_name = Israel Rothstein

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|03|23|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|03|22|1936|03|23|df=yes}}

| death_place = Jerusalem, Israel

| resting_place = Kiryat Anavim, Israel

| nationality = Israeli

| occupation = Poet, educator

| spouse = Naomi Brunner

| children = 3

| education =

{{flatlist|

Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Tel Aviv University
University of Paris

}}

| awards =

{{flatlist|

Bialik Prize (2008)
Brenner Prize (2013)
ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award (2003)
Nathan Alterman Award (2002)
Jerusalem Foundation-Jerusalem Municipality’s Belles-Lettres Award (1992, 1999)
Israeli Council of Culture and Art Award (1963, 1965)
Ministry of Culture and Sport Award (2009)
Prime Minister’s Prize for Creative Work (1994, 2008, 2009)

}}

| notable_works = Libretto for Ashmedai

| image = IsraelEliraz.jpg

| caption = Israel Eliraz in 2007

}}

Israel Eliraz ({{langx|he|ישראל אלירז}}; born Israel Rothstein on 23 March 1936, {{langx|he|ישראל רוטשטיין}}; died on 22 March 2016) was an Israeli poet who won the Bialik Prize (2008), the Brenner Prize (2013), the ACUM lifetime achievement award (2003), the Nathan Alterman Award (2002), the Jerusalem Foundation-Jerusalem Municipality’s Belles-Lettres Award (1992 and 1999), the {{ill|Israeli Council of Culture and Art|he|המועצה הישראלית לתרבות ואמנות}} Award (1963 and 1965), the {{ill|Ministry of Culture and Sport Award|he|פרס שרת התרבות בתחומי היצירה הספרותית}} (2009), and the {{ill|Prime Minister’s Prize for Creative Work|he|פרס היצירה לסופרים עבריים}} (1994, 2008, and 2009).

Biography

Born Israel Rothstein on 23 March 1936 to a religious family in the Knesset Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem his parents were Ya’akov and Shifra Rothstein. He attended Alliance Israélite Universelle and Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he specialized in Jewish literature and philosophy, received his master’s degree from Tel Aviv University where he specialized in comparative literary studies, started writing poetry in 1980, studied theatre at University of Paris between 1995 and 1996 on a stipend from the French government, and worked for a living as a teacher and principal at Gymnasia Rehavia and as an instructor at {{ill|Kerem Institute for Teacher Training|he|מכון כרם}}. Occasionally he would also lecture in France, Belgium, and the United States: for example he was visiting professor of drama at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1980 and was invited to {{ill|Biennale Internationale des Poètes en Val-de-Marne|fr}} in 1999 and to {{ill|Centre communautaire laïc juif|fr}} in 1998. He lived in Jerusalem all his life and was married to Naomi née Brunner with whom he had three children. Eliraz died on 22 March 2016 in Jerusalem, Jerusalem District. His resting place is in Kiryat Anavim, Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, Jerusalem District, Israel.{{cite news|date=22 March 2016|script-title=he:המשורר ישראל אלירז הלך לעולמו|trans-title=Poet Israel Eliraz Dies|url=http://ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4781752,00.html|language=Hebrew|work=Yedioth Ahronoth|location=Rishon LeZion|access-date=9 September 2017|publisher=Yedioth Ahronoth Group}}

He wrote the libretto for Josef Tal's opera Ashmedai which premiered at the Hamburg State Opera in 1971, and was mounted at the New York City Opera in 1976.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/31/archives/harold-prince-stages-his-first-opera.html|title=Harold Prince Stages His First Opera|author=John Rockwell|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1976}}

Publications

אלירז, ישראל. [http://kibutz-poalim.co.il/page_9213 דְּבָרִים דְּחוּפִים: מבחר שירים 1980–2010], עורך: ד״ר דרור בורשטיין, עם ״איך אלירז יכול לשנות את חייך,״ עמ׳ 380–390 מאת ד״ר דרור בורשטיין. תל אביב–יפו: הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד, ה׳תש״ע/2010, 392 עמ׳. {{in lang|he}}

Haaretz critic Prof. Dr. {{ill|Miron Chaim Izakson|he|מירון ח. איזקסון}} wrote about this book that upon reading it he felt as if he “received endless letters from the poet regarding existential wonders"{{cite news|date=24 November 2010|script-title=he:דרך אל מקום שהוא דרך|trans-title=A Road to a Place Which Is a Road|last=Izakson|first=Prof. Dr. Miron Chaim|url=http://haaretz.co.il/1.1231531|language=Hebrew|work=Haaretz|location=Tel Aviv-Yafo|page=16|volume=926|publisher=M. DuMont Schauberg|access-date=8 September 2017}} while Iton 77 critic {{ill|Amos Levitan|he|עמוס לויתן}} said that it changed his life.{{cite news|date=August–September 2010|script-title=he:מבחר שהוא ספר שירים חי|trans-title=A Selection Which Is a Living Poetry Book|last=Levitan|first=Amos|url=http://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/99995-files/99995019/99995019-2010/99995019-349-42-43.pdf|language=Hebrew|work=Iton 77|location=Tel Aviv-Yafo|pages=42–43|volume=349|publisher=Ministry of Culture and Sport|access-date=8 September 2017}}

אלירז, ישראל. הֵבִּט: שירה מביטה בציור – בעקבות ציוריו של יהושע (שוקי) בורקובסקי. תל אביב–יפו: קשב לשירה, ה׳תשע״ב/2012, 132 עמ׳. {{in lang|he}}

Haaretz critic Ouzi Zur praised this book's “wonderful poetic introspection regarding the quintessence of seeing.”{{cite news|date=22 March 2013|script-title=he:ונציה הסמויה מהעין|trans-title=Hidden Venice|last=Zur|first=Ouzi|language=Hebrew|work=Haaretz|location=Tel Aviv-Yafo|publisher=M. DuMont Schauberg|access-date=2 November 2017|url=http://haaretz.co.il/1.1969808}}

אלירז, ישראל. [http://helicon.org.il/כמה-זמן-עוד-נשאר-איננה-שאלה-אלא-דלת.html כַּמָּה זְמַן עוֹד נִשְׁאַר אֵינֶנָּה שְׁאֵלָה אֶלָּא דֶּלֶת]. תל אביב–יפו ובן־שמן: הליקון ומודן הוצאה לאור, ה׳תשע״ג/2013, 96 עמ׳. {{in lang|he}}