Reuben Alcalay Explained

Reuben Alcalay
Native Name:	ראובן אלקלעי
Native Name Lang:	he
Birth Place:	Jerusalem,
Death Place:	Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation:	Lexicographer, author
Notableworks:	Complete English-Hebrew Dictionary (1961), Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary (1965)

Reuben Alcalay ראובן אלקלעי (also called Reuven; 1907 in Jerusalem – 1976 in Jerusalem) was an Israeli lexicographer^[1] and author of the most comprehensive English-Hebrew-English dictionary, which expanded the dictionaries of Ben-Yehuda (Ben-Yehuda Dictionary), Avraham Even-Shoshan (Even-Shoshan Dictionary), Judah Even Shemuel (Kaufmann), Meir Medan, Harry Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), and Jacob Knaani.

His Complete English-Hebrew Dictionary (1961, 2,150 pages) aimed to contain all the modern Hebrew terms decided upon by the Hebrew Language Academy, and thousands of other new coinages from the Hebrew press literature.^[2] The first edition received a three-page review in the magazine of the American Jewish Congress in 1964.^[3] The companion volume, Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary, (מילון אנגלי עברי שלם) was published in 1965.

The dictionary contains entries and translations without pronunciation or examples. It is numbered by column rather than page.

Notes and References

1. A history and guide to Judaic dictionaries and concordances: Volume 3, Part 1 - Page 91 Shimeon Brisman - 2000 For twenty years he worked for the British Mandatory Government, first as translator, later as director of the Press Bureau and as a press censor. With the establishment of the State of Israel, he edited the publications of the Office."
2. The Israel digest of press and events in Israel and the Middle East: Volumes 4-5 1961 NEW DICTIONARY COMPLETED The fourth and last volume of the Complete English-Hebrew Dictionary, by Mr. Reuben Alcalay, has now been published by Massada, Tel Aviv. The new dictionary contains all the modern Hebrew terms decided upon by the Hebrew Language Academy, and thousands of words coined by the Hebrew press and in literature.
3. Judaism: Volume 13; Volume 13 American Jewish Congress - 1964