Isaac Dov Berkowitz
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Isaac Dov Berkowitz (1885-1967), a Jewish and Israeli author, born in Slutsk, Belarus. His first work, At the eve of Yom Kippur (בערב יום הכיפורים), was published in the Warsaw publication, The Scout (הצופה) in 1903. In 1905, Berkowitz moved to Vilna, Poland, where he worked as an editor for the publication The Time (הזמן). It was there that he met and later married Sholom Aleichem's daughter in 1906.
In 1910, Berkowitz published his first Collected stories and soon thereafter he began to translate Sholom Aleichem's writings from Yiddish into Hebrew. Two years later, he translated Leo Tolstoy's Childhood from Russian into Hebrew. Berkowitz emigrated to the United States on the eve of the First World War, and in 1916 he founded and became editor of the publication Flagpole (התורן). Four years later, he became the editor of the publication Shelter (מיקלט).
In 1928, Berkowitz emigrated to and settled in the Land of Israel, then the British Mandate of Palestine, where he co-edited the weekly publication Weights (מאזניים) along with Fishel Lachower, while also adapting to the stage several of Sholom Aleichem's plays for Habima. In 1944, he was awarded the 'Tschernikovsky Prize' (literary award named after the poet Saul Tschernikovsky) for his translations of Sholom Aleichem's Collected works. In 1952, he was awarded the 'Bialik Prize' (literary award named after the poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik) for his Stories and plays (סיפורים ומחזות). In 1958, he became the recipient of the Israel Prize. Berkowitz was awarded the Bialik Prize a second time for his Childhood chapters (פירקי ילדות) in 1965.
