GISZKALAY (Gush Halav), JÁNOS

GISZKALAY (Gush Halav ), JÁNOS (pseudonym of Dávid Widder ; 1888–1951), Hungarian poet and journalist, and leader of the Hungarian and Transylvanian Zionist movements. Born in Nyitra, Giszkalay worked in Budapest, where he contributed to the Jewish press and, from 1918, edited the Zionist newspaper, Zsidó Szemle. During the "White Terror" which followed the defeat of Béla *Kun in 1918, he wrote justifying a Jewish girl's protest in a school essay against the Hungarian persecution of the Jews. Giszkalay maintained that antisemites had no moral right to demand patriotism of the oppressed Hungarian Jews. This led to an order for his arrest and he fled to Romania, where he joined the staff of Uj Kelet, the Hungarian-language Jewish daily in Kolozsvár (Cluj), Transylvania. Giszkalay's verse betrays the influence of E. Ady, the leading modern Hungarian poet, who was himself greatly influenced by the Bible. Outstanding for their enthusiasm and richness of language, Giszkalay's poems deeply impressed Zionist youth. His best-known poems were Kezét fel az égre, ki férfi ki bátor! ("Whoever is a man, whoever is courageous, let him raise his hand!"); A messiás heroldja ("The Herald of the Messiah"); and Péntek a háboruban ("A Wartime Friday Night"). Anthologies of his poems include Új próféciák ("New Prophecies," 1923). He also wrote a children's story, Vitéz Benája három utja ("Three Journeys of Knight Benayahu," 1928). Giszkalay's Zionist activities encouraged many Hungarian Jews to settle in Ereẓ Israel. In 1941 he immigrated to Palestine, where he worked as a shepherd on kibbutz Ma'agan. Later he moved to Haifa, where he translated his own works into Hebrew.

bibliography:

H. Danzig, in: Davar (April 13, 1951); Magyar Zsidó Lexikon (1929); Száz év zsidó magyar költői (1943), 241, 243.

[Baruch Yaron]