Tuesday 9 February 2016

YISROEL-ELYE HANDELZALTS

YISROEL-ELYE HANDELZALTS (1879-1942)
            He was born in Shershev, Pruzhdany region, Byelorussia.  He studied in religious elementary school, yeshiva, and with private tutors.  In 1902 he moved to Warsaw and became a Hebrew teacher.  He was active in the Mizrachi movement.  During WWI he was director of a Yiddish-Hebrew public school in Warsaw for children made homeless by the war.  He began writing for Hamelits (The advocate) and later was a co-editor of Hatsfira (The siren).  He contributed as well to Baderekh (On the road) in Warsaw, with translations from Russian, Polish, and German.  In 1906 he began publishing in Yiddish, debuting in Yudishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper) in Warsaw (edited by Sh. Y. Yatskan), later placing pieces in Unzer lebn (Our life), Der moment (The moment), and Haynt (Today), among others.  He also published in Hamizrakhi (The Mizrachi) and Der mizrakhi-veg (The Mizrachi way)—in Warsaw.  In his last years, he published solely in Hebrew.  He edited the children’s magazines Tsafririm (Zephyrs) and Ganenu (Our garden)—in Warsaw.  He also published under the pseudonyms: Y. O. and Y. Z., among others.

Sources: Dr. R. Feldshuh, in Yidisher gezelshaftlekher leksikon (Jewish communal handbook), vol. 1 (Warsaw, 1939); Dos naye lebn (Lodz) 1 (1945); information also from R. Avrom Zembo in New York


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