Bracha Peli (; 1892–1986) was the founder and owner of the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i publishing house, Massada. She was the driving force behind the publication of ''

Encyclopaedia Hebraica The ''Encyclopaedia Hebraica'' () is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.ha-Entsiklopediyah ha-ʻivrit (האנציקלופדיה העברית) / ''Encyclopaedia Hebraica' ...

'',Founder of the Hebrew Enterprise, Uri Dromi, accessed October 2009 and is credited with starting Israel's annual

Hebrew Book Week Hebrew Book Week () is an annual week-long event in Israel celebrating Hebrew literature. History Hebrew Book Week evolved from a one-day event on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv organized by Bracha Peli, founder of Masada Press, to promote ...

Biography

Bronya Kutzenok (later Bracha Peli) was born in Starovitzky, a small village in Russia, now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Bracha Peli
Asher Weill, Jewish Women's Archive. accessed October 2009 to a family of

Hasidic Jews Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affi ...

. She was the eldest of seven children. Her father, Shmuel Kutzenok, was a wealthy lumber merchant who supplied timber for artillery wagons to the Russian army. Her mother, Sarah, ran the village general store. She acquired an education by overhearing her brothers' lessons. Early on, she became proficient in Yiddish, Russian and Hebrew. In 1905, when she was about to study at a Gymnasium in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, pogroms against the Jews erupted, disrupting her plans. She waited two years to complete her secondary education and study economics. In 1914, after her mother died of tuberculosis, Peli met a young

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

teacher, Meir Pilipovetsky, whom she married against her family's wishes. After her son,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, was born she opened a Jewish secondary school that attracted 400 students in its first year. Encyclopaedia Hebraica 2

In July 1921, Peli and her husband left Russia for

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, settling in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. In 1926, Peli opened a stall in Tel Aviv to sell books cheaply, which led to the inauguration of an annual event.Hebrew Book Week :from an open, urban fair into an entertainment festival
, Shiri Lev-Ari, Jewish Theatre, accessed October 2009 In 1930, she started publishing the books "Masada" in her home. In 1932, she officially founded the publishing house on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv and founded the Palai Press, where the publishing house's books were printed. The first project produced by the publishing house was "The General Encyclopedia" edited by Prof. Yosef Klausner. Other multi-volume projects were the Bible with S.L. Gordon's commentary, a history of music in Europe, the encyclopedia of psychology, "Encyclopedia Mesada" in five volumes, an encyclopedia of culture, an encyclopedia of culture and the world of culture originally translated from Italian (Fabri Publishing) and an encyclopedia for youth "Aviv". Today

is a national 10-day event.Israel - Book Production Data Economic situation
, Frankfurt Book Fair, accessed October 2009 The Encyclopaedia Hebraica project began using Bracha Peli's publishing house in 1946 with her son, Alexander, supervising. The last volume was published in 1996. Bracha Peli died in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peli, Bracha 1892 births 1986 deaths Encyclopedists Israeli women chief executive officers Israeli chief executives Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli publishers (people) 20th-century Israeli businesswomen 20th-century Israeli businesspeople Naturalized citizens of Israel Businesspeople from Kyiv Businesspeople from Tel Aviv Ukrainian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Ukrainian Ashkenazi Jews Ukrainian schoolteachers Ukrainian Zionists Jewish encyclopedists

Biography

See also

References