The liquid Nature of the Jewish Narrative
Image: Alex Livac
Yoram Kaniuk has published 17 novels, a memoir, seven collections of short stories, two books of essays and five books for children and youth. His books have been published in 25 languages and he has won numerous literary prizes.was born in Tel Aviv. His father, Moshe Kaniuk, born in Ternopil, Galicia (Central Europe), was the first curator of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. His grandfather was a Hebrew teacher who wrote his own textbooks. Kaniuk's mother, born in Odessa, was also a teacher. Her family immigrated to Palestine in 1909, the year Tel Aviv was founded, and settled there.
At the age of 17, Kaniuk joined the Palmach. In 1948, during the War of Independence, he was shot in the legs by an Englishman in a kaffiyeh.
Kaniuk married Miranda, a Christian woman.
In May 2011, Kaniuk petitioned the Israeli Interior Ministry to change his religion status from "Jewish" to "no religion." He cited the fact that his child and infant grandson, because they are descended from a mixed marriage, are legally of no religion, and his desire not to belong to a "Jewish Iran" or "what is today called the religion of Israel." In October 2011, a district court judge approved his petition, meaning that Kaniuk is now considered a Jew by nationality, but not by religion. A new verb, lehitkaniuk (to Kaniuk oneself) was coined to refer to this process.
1 Prayer A poem by Admiel Kosman
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