1914 - 1984

Israeli poet.

Born Zelda Shneurson and also known as Zelda Mishkovsky, she signed her poems with her first name only. A devout Hasidic Jew, she was well versed in ancient sacred and traditional Jewish texts. In 1926 she emigrated to Israel from her native Ukraine. Her first book, Leisure, was published in 1968. Zelda published six other volumes of poetry: The Invisible Carmel, Be Not Far, Neither Mountain nor Fire, Tiny Poems, The Spectacular Difference, and Beyond All Distance. Her work is acclaimed by secular Israeli readers for its gentle, transcendental, mystic quality. Her poem "Each Person Has a Name" describes the characteristics acquired by individuals through the names assigned them and has been embraced by Israelis as an expression of their own collective and personal experiences with trauma and loss. The melancholy underlying her worldview is lightened by a sense of acceptance, a faith in the possibility of glory, and an enchantment with the beauty and sanctity of life.

Bibliography

Carmi, T. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse. New York: Viking, 1981.

— ZVIA GINOR
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