Dorit Rabinyan

Dorit Rabinyan
Native name
דורית רביניאן
Born (1972-09-25) September 25, 1972
Kfar Saba, Israel
LanguageHebrew
CitizenshipIsraeli

Dorit Rabinyan (Hebrew: דורית רביניאן; born September 25, 1972) is an Israeli author and screenwriter.[1] She is known for her novels Persian Brides (1995), Strand of a Thousand Pearls (1997), and All the Rivers (Hebrew: Gader Haya, 2014). Her work has received literary recognition in Israel, including the Bernstein Prize.[2] In 2016, All the Rivers became the subject of public debate after Israel’s Ministry of Education decided to ban it from the national high school literature curriculum.[3]

Biography

Dorit Rabinyan was born in Kfar Saba, Israel, to an Iranian-Jewish family.[1] Her father, Zion, owned a textile factory in Tel Aviv. She has published four novels, two of which have been widely translated. She has also published a poetry collection and three illustrated children's books.[4] Rabinian wrote the screenplay for the film "Shuli's Boy," which won the Israeli Film Academy Award in 1997. Her first novel, Persian Brides, won the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize in 1999.[5]

She was a close friend of Palestinian artist Hasan Hourani, and wrote a eulogy for him in The Guardian after his death in 2003.[6]

Her 2014 novel, All the Rivers, originally published in English as Borderlife in English (Heb. Gader Haya), which tells a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man and semi-biographical,[7] has become the center of controversy. The novel was well-received and won the Bernstein Prize.[2] In 2015, a committee of teachers requested Borderlife be added to the recommended curriculum for Hebrew high school literature classes.

A committee in the Israeli Ministry of Education found the book inappropriate and declined to add it, on the grounds, according to The Economist, that it promotes intermarriage and assimilation.[8] Dalia Fenig, the leading committee member, argued that the book "could do more harm than good" at this time of heightened tensions, though she noted the book was not banned and could be added next year. The decision led to protests from high school teachers and principals and opposition politician Isaac Herzog.[9] Sales of the book surged in the aftermath of the ban.[10]

Rabinyan appeared on reality TV show MasterChef VIP in 2015.[11]

In 2000, and again in 2002, Rabinyan was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.

Books

  • Yes, Yes, Yes (poetry), 1991 [כן, כן, כן Ken, Ken, Ken], ISBN 978-965-411-0358
  • Persian Brides (novel), 1995 [סמטת השקדיות בעומריג'אן Simtat Ha-Shkediyot Be-Oumrijan], translated into English, 1998, ISBN 978-080-761-4303
  • Our Weddings (Strand of a Thousand Pearls) (novel), 1999 [החתונות שלנו Ha-Chatunot Shelanu], translated into English, 2001, ISBN 978-037-550-8110
  • And Where Was I? (picture book), 2006 אז איפה הייתי אני Az Eifo Hayiti Ani?]
  • All the Rivers (novel), 2014 [גדר חיה Gader Chaya] ISBN 978-965-132-4581
  • The Homes Swap (picture book), 2018 חתולה וארנבון מחליפים בתים HaHatul Ve-Arnav Machlifim Batim] ISBN 978-965-13-2691-2
  • The She-Cloud (picture book), 2019 [העננה רננה Ha-Anana Ranana] ISBN 978-965-13-2795-7
  • Nine Singing Lessons (novel), 2025 [שיעורים בפיתוח קול Shiurim Ba-Pituach Kol] ISBN 978-965-580-068-5

References

  1. ^ a b "Dorit Rabinyan". Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  2. ^ a b Lazareva, Inna (December 31, 2015). "Officials ban book depicting love story between Israeli and Palestinian from Israeli classrooms". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  3. ^ Rabinyan, Dorit. "The Day Israel Banned My Book From Schools". TIME. Archived from the original on 2025-04-25. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  4. ^ "רביניאן דורית | - עם עובד הוצאת ספרים". www.am-oved.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  5. ^ "Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize Winners, 1996 - 2000 inclusive". Jewish Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  6. ^ "The exile's return". The Guardian. April 2, 2004. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  7. ^ Kershner, Isabel (2023-10-15). "Israelis Gird for a Deeper War Amid a Crisis of Trust in the Government". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  8. ^ "Israel is clamping down on Jewish terrorists". The Economist. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  9. ^ Kershner, Isabel (2015-12-31). "Jewish-Arab Love Story Excluded From Israeli Classrooms". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  10. ^ Izikovich, Gili (January 7, 2016). "Demand for "Borderlife" Surges in Israel After Novel Is Banned From Schools". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  11. ^ תעודת הזהות של דורית רביניאן - mako, 2015-01-30, retrieved 2023-10-28
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