Bracha Peli | |
|---|---|
 Peli, 1940s | |
| Born | Bronya Kutzenok 1892 |
| Died | 1986 Israel |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Known for | Hebrew Book Week |
| Spouse | Meir Pilipovetsky (Peli) |
| Children | Alexander Peli and daughter |
Bracha Peli (Hebrew: ברכה פלאי) (1892–1986) was the founder and owner of the Israeli publishing house, Massada. She was the driving force behind the publication of Encyclopaedia Hebraica,[1] and is credited with starting Israel's annual Hebrew Book Week.[2]
Bronya Kutzenok (later Bracha Peli) was born in Starovitzky, a small village in Russia, now Ukraine[3] to a family of Hasidic Jews. 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.[3] Early on, she became proficient in Yiddish, Russian and Hebrew. In 1905, when she was about to study at a Gymnasium in Kiev, pogroms against the Jews erupted, disrupting her plans. She waited two years to complete her secondary education and study economics.[3]
In 1914, after her mother died of tuberculosis, Peli met a young Zionist teacher, Meir Pilipovetsky, whom she married against her family's wishes. After her son, Alexander, was born she opened a Jewish secondary school that attracted 400 students in its first year.[3]
In July 1921, Peli and her husband left Russia for Palestine, settling in Tel Aviv.[3] In 1926, Peli opened a stall in Tel Aviv to sell books cheaply, which led to the inauguration of an annual event.[2] Today Hebrew Book Week is a national 10-day event.[4] 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.[3]
Bracha Peli died in 1986.[citation needed]
