Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium

Herzliya Hebrew High School
הגימנסיה העברית הרצליה‎
*HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya*
Herzliya Hebrew High School; הגימנסיה העברית הרצליה‎; HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya
	Herzliya Hebrew High School, 1936
Location
	Tel Aviv, Israel
Coordinates	32°5′13.11″N 34°47′5.38″E / 32.0869750°N 34.7848278°E
Information
Established	1905
Principal	Ze'ev Dgannie
Website	gymnasia.co.il

The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (Hebrew: הַגִּימְנַסְיָה הָעִבְרִית הֶרְצְלִיָּה, romanized: HaGimnasya Haivrit Herzliya, also known as Gymnasia Herzliya), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel.

History

The original building

Gymnasia Herzliya was the country's first Hebrew high school,^[1] founded in 1905 in Jaffa, part of the Ottoman Empire in those days. The cornerstone-laying for the school's new building on Herzl Street in the Ahuzat Bayit neighborhood (the nucleus of future Tel Aviv) took place on July 28, 1909. The building was designed by Joseph Barsky, inspired by descriptions of Solomon's Temple.^[2]

The building on Herzl Street was a major Tel Aviv landmark until 1962, when the site was razed for the construction of Shalom Meir Tower. The new tower was the tallest building in Israel those days, representing a significant architectural achievement.

The destruction of the Hebrew High School building sparked widespread recognition of the importance of conserving historical landmarks. The Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel was founded in the 1980s partly in response to the fate of Herzliya Hebrew High School.

The current building

Located today on Jabotinsky Street, it serves as a six-year secondary school. The modern campus is entered through a gate that is reminiscent of the facade of the 1909 building.

Principals

Former principals include Haim Bograshov, Baruch Ben Yehuda and Carmi Yogev. In 1992, former Air Force fighter pilot and Brigadier General Ron Huldai was appointed principal. He implemented many changes and modernizations later adopted by other schools. ^{[citation needed]} After leaving the school, he was elected mayor of Tel Aviv. The current principal is Ze'ev Dgannie.

Notable faculty

Yosef Haim Brenner, writer
Zvi Nishri, physical education pioneer
Shaul Tchernichovsky, poet

Notable alumni

Netiva Ben-Yehuda (1928–2011), Palmach commander, Hebrew scholar, and author
Miriam Bernstein-Cohen (1895–1991), actress
Aron Brand, pediatric cardiologist
Yitzhak Danziger (1916–1977), sculptor
Kosso Eloul (1920–1995), sculptor
Nachum Gutman, (1898–1980), painter, sculptor, and author
Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998 (as of June 2022)
Yair Lapid (born 1963), former Israeli Prime Minister, journalist, author, and politician; former Israeli Minister of Finance and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party
Anat Lelior (born 2000), Olympic surfer
Yaron London (born 1940), media personality, journalist, actor, and songwriter
Amos Luzzatto (1928–2020), physicist
Moshe Many, urologist; President of Tel Aviv University, and President of Ashkelon Academic College.
Aharon Megged (1920–2016), writer
Moshe Menuhin (1893–1983), author
Yuval Neeman (1925–2006), physicist
Elyakum Ostashinski, first mayor of Rishon LeZion
Jacob Sadé (1925–2020), otolaryngologist, medical researcher and academic
Moshe Shamir (1921–2004), author and playwright
Moshe Sharett (1894–1965), second Prime Minister of Israel (1954–55)
Avraham Shlonsky (1900–1973), poet
Giora Spiegel (born 1947), soccer player and coach
Avigdor Stematsky (1908–1989), painter
Yemima Tchernovitz-Avidar (1909–1998), author
Moses Cyrus Weiler (1907–2000), rabbi and founder of Reform Judaism in South Africa
Shemuel Yeivin (1896–1982), archaeologist

References

^ This day in Israel's history: July 28, 1909 Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ Sergey R. Kravtsov, "Reconstruction of the Temple by Charles Chipiez and Its Application in Architecture," Ars Judaica, Vol. 4, 2008