The man whose clever quiz questions, based mostly on the Hebrew language and Jewish history and culture, were familiar to even passing radio listeners in Israel – and certainly to his thousands of loyal fans – passed away over the Sabbath in his home in Raanana. 

Born in Jerusalem in 1925, Rosen grew up in Rishon LeTzion and began his career working for the British Mandatory radio. Once the State of Israel was established, he hosted shows on Voice of Israel dealing with film, poetry, theater – and mainly quiz shows featuring his original questions and riddles (three books of these questions have been published). 

Among his many shows were “Hoping You’ll Get the Hint,” “Who Knows 20?”, and his most famous and longest-running show, “Chop its Head Off” – in which contestants were given hints to two words and had to guess them; both were spelled the same, except that the first had an extra letter at the beginning. 

Rosen hosted his weekly Saturday night show for many years after he retired, and his final show was held in the past two weeks.

His father Leo Eliezer Rosenblit was known as the “First Pediatrician of Rishon LeTzion,” and his uncle Pinchas Rosen was Israel’s first Minister of Justice. His son Emanuel Rosen is a controversial TV reporter and news personality.