BARUCH, ADAM

BARUCH, ADAM (1945– ), Israeli columnist, writer, and editor. Born Baruch Rosenblum in Jerusalem to a rabbinical family of the old Yishuv, Baruch was brought up in Ramat Gan and educated at Midrashiyat Noam Yeshivah High School. He studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later traveled extensively in the U.S. He began his journalistic career in the art section of *Haaretz and in 1971 began writing a personal column in *Yedioth Ahronoth. He edited Mussag, a periodical dealing with art and culture (1974–75) and the monthly magazine Monitin (1978–82). During the 1980s and early 1990s Baruch served as a senior editor at Yedioth Ahronoth and then at *Maariv and was the editor of the business daily *Globes (1992–96). From 1997 he wrote a weekly column in Maariv dealing with a wide range of issues but most notably with modern interpretations of rabbinical law. The column had a wide following in Israel and won him the Avi Hai Prize and the Yeshayahu Leibowitz Prize. The column's popularity also built his image as a spiritual mentor to many Israelis, and he became known as the admor (ḥasidic leader) of the ḥilonim (secular Israelis).

In addition to journalism, Baruch was active in Israeli art and photography. He was the curator of the Israeli exhibition at the international bianale for art in Venice (1988, 1990) and served as president of the Camera Obscura art school in Tel Aviv (1996–2002). Among his books are "Lustig" (1984), a political novel; an appreciation of the sculptor Yeḥi'el Shemi (1988); "He Was a Hero" (1998), a collection of short stories; a series of three books on contemporary Judaism and Jewish law; and "How Are Things at Home" (2004) on Israeli society.

[Anshel Pfeffer (2^nd ed.)]