Daniel Sambursky

Daniel Sambursky (1909-1977) was born in Koenigsberg and studied at the Danzig Conservatory and at the University of Berlin. In 1932 he emigrated to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. While in Berlin, he wrote the music for Shaul Levin’s Zionost play Die einzige Loesung (1931) and in 1933 composed the songs for the Keren Hayesod film The Promised Land. He worked as a music teacher in schools and at teachers’ seminaries, and from 1935 to 1950 also led the weekly community sings at the Histadrut’s Brenner House, and also on radio broadcasts. In 1947, together with M. Bronzaft (later Gorali), he edited the three-volume anthology Sefer Shirim u-Manginot, one of the standard collections of Israeli songs. Many of Sambursky’s own songs have entered the folk repertoire, including Ba’ah Menuhah la-Yage’a, Hakh Patish, and the children’s Chanukah song Ner Dakik.