DVIR

DVIR, Hebrew publishing house, founded in 1922 in Berlin by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik , Shemaryahu Levin, and yehoshua hana rawnitzki as a successor to the moriah publishing firm of Odessa. Bialik expressed Dvir's program as: "Not just books, but basic books; books bequeathed from generation to generation that provide light for our people." The firm began publishing books in Tel Aviv in 1924. Dvir's publications covered all areas of publishing: reference books, dictionaries, handbooks, anthologies, belles lettres, humanities, sciences, social sciences, art, children's books, and textbooks. Its list included many basic works in Judaica and the classics of modern Hebrew literature. Its Sefer ha-Mo'adim ("Book of Festivals," 9 vols., 1956 on, ed. Y. Lewinsky) contains a wealth of material about each holiday. A new edition of the Mishnah, vocalized by Hanoch Yalon and annotated by Hanokh Albeck, was published in cooperation with Mosad Bialik. Dvir also began publishing the Babylonian Talmud with a Hebrew translation. Authors published by Dvir, in addition to the founders, include shalom aleichem , sholem asch , Yiẓḥak Dov Berkowitz , simon dubnow , isaac leib peretz , moshe smilansky , Benẓion Dinur , and Yeḥezkel Kaufmann . Later Dvir merged with the Zemorah-Bitan Kinneret publishing house. (Israel Soifer)