Bemo Yadav (pirkey Elik) [=In his own hands]

In Hebrew. 257, (1) pages. 215 x 130 mm. Moshe Shamir (Safed, Eretz Israel Sept 15, 1921 - Rishon LeZion, Israel Aug 20, 2004) was an Israeli author, playwright, critic, and public figure. The Israeli film He Walked Through the Fields is based on his play, which in turn is based on his 1947 novel with that name. After attending the Tel Nordau School, he graduated from the Herzliya Hebrew High School in Tel Aviv. In the Israeli War of Independence he served in Palmach. He began his political career as a member of the movement Hashomer Hatzair, in a leadership role. He was one of the editors of their official newspaper Al Ha-Homa from 1939 to 1941. 1944 to 1946 he was a member of kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, was founder and editor of the Israel Defense Forces official newspaper Bamahane ("In the Camp") from 1947 to 1950. In the 1950s he was a member of the editorial board of the newspaper Maariv and the editor of its literature section. He began writing stories at a young age and immediately attracted attention both for his literary ability and his views. The first opposition he encountered was from Meir Yairi, leader of the left-wing movement, Mapam, to which Shamir belonged, over what was perceived as "ideological aberration" in his stories. The anger that was aroused against Shamir was so strong that he left his kibbutz in 1947. Shamir's first story, published in 1940 in Al Ha-Homa, the youth movement newspaper, dealt with Abraham and the binding of Isaac. In his 1947 novel He Walked Through the Fields, which became the first play performed in the established State of Israel. The book won the Ussishkin Prize. It was adapted as a movie directed by Yosef Millo, who also directed its theatrical debut. In 1947, he became the chief editor of the Haganah (later Israel Defense Forces) newspaper Bamahane. He edited it until he was dismissed, at David Ben-Gurion’s request, for publishing an article about the disbanding of Palmach. He aroused more scandals than any other Hebrew author of our time. As a member of the Knesset, he crossed the political lines from left to right to oppose the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Moshe Shamir also wrote some poetry. Though active in Mapam, after the Six-Day War, he, like the songwriter Naomi Shemer, changed his political positions, was one of the founders of the Movement for Eretz Israel HaShlema, = "Whole Land of Israel", a part of the La'am faction in the Likud. He was one of the founders of the "Bnai" faction (acronym for a phrase "Union of Eretz Israel Faithful") that opposed the Camp David Accords (1978). In late 1979, after the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, he broke away from Likud, along with Knesset member Geula Cohen, and found the Tehiya Bnai party. He supported the settling of the West Bank after its capture. His shift from left to right resulted in his being banned by the “enlightened” literary societies. Awards: 1950, the Ussishkin Prize; 1953, the Brenner Prize; 1955, the Bialik Prize for literature; 1988, the capstone was the Israel Prize, for Hebrew literature. Top left corner of title page has a very small rubber stamp impression in Hebrew of the former owner, Professor Michael (Milton) Arfa, the distinguished Rabbi, author and professor of Hebrew literature and philosophy. Dr. Arfa taught generations of students at Yeshiva University, Herzliah Hebrew Teachers Institute, Hunter College, HUC-JIR and NYU. As chairman of the Israel Matz Foundation, Dr. Arfa devoted himself to aiding indigent Hebrew writers, and published scholarly works of Hebrew literature and philosophy. He was a gifted teacher, humanitarian, scholar, lover of Zion and above all a modest and quiet doer of good deeds. He died in 2003.Top left corner of title page has a very small rubber stamp impression in Hebrew of the former owner, Professor Michael (Milton) Arfa, the distinguished Rabbi, author and professor of Hebrew literature and philosophy. Arfa taught generations of students at Yeshiva University, NYU. . .