Shmaryahu Levin
Shmaryahu Levin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Shmaryahu Levin Mar 23, 1867 Svisloch', Belarus |
| Died | Jun 9, 1935 |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Other names | Shmarya Levin |
| Occupation(s) | Russian Zionist Leader, Politician |
Shmaryahu Levin (Russian: Шмарьяху Левин; born 1867 in Svislach, Minsk Governorate; died 9 June 1935, Haifa), was a Jewish Zionist activist. He was a member of the first elected Russian Parliament for the Constitutional Democratic Party in 1906.
Biography[edit]
Born in Svisloch, Belorussia, Levin joined Ḥibbat Zion in his youth. He was one of the close adherents of Ahad Ha-Am, becoming a member of the Benei Moshe society. Throughout his career he worked toward spreading Zionist ideas both orally and in the Hebrew press (Ha-Shilo'aḥ, Ha-Zeman, Ha-Ẓofeh) and the Yiddish press (Der Yud, Der Fraynd).[1]
Shmaryahu Levin served as a crown rabbi in the towns of Grodno (1896–97) and Ekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) from 1898 to 1904.[2][3]
At the Sixth Zionist Congress (1903), Levin was among the leaders of the opposition to the Uganda Scheme. He was also among the founders of the League for the Attainment of Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia (established in 1905) and a member of its central board.[4]
In 1906 Levin was chosen to the first Russian Duma as delegate of the Jewish National List in Vilna (with the support of the Lithuanians). He participated in deliberations in the Duma and delivered two speeches on the pogrom in Bialystok. After the first Duma was disbanded, Levin was among the signatories of the Vyborg Declaration, which called for civil disobedience.[5]
Levin left Russia for Germany immediately after the dispersal of the First Duma, then emigrated to America. From 1908 he began advocating for the creation of the Haifa Technion. At the Tenth Zionist Congress (1911), he was elected a member of the Zionist Executive. He took part in the work of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden in Germany and was among the initiators of the establishment of the technical school in Haifa (the Technion); he also influenced American Jews to contribute to this cause.[6]
He was known as an outstanding Yiddish orator.[7]
Zionist activism[edit]
Levin was a representative of the World Zionist Organization and director of the Information Department of Keren Hayesod.[8]
During World War I he lived in the U.S. and directed propaganda work on Zionism and Hebrew culture orally and in writing. Together with Y.D. Berkowitz he edited the weekly Ha-Toren and regularly wrote its editorials. Levin was outstanding as a sharp-witted publicist, and he became particularly famous as a speaker and conversationalist. His speeches were a blend of Jewish heritage and European culture, spiced with Jewish folk wit.[9]
In 1920 Levin participated in the postwar Zionist Conference in London and was entrusted with the propaganda for Keren Hayesod. He was among the founders and directors of the Devir publishing house. In 1924 he settled in Palestine, traveling from time to time in various countries on missions for the Zionist Movement and its funds. He developed ties of friendship with Sir Arthur Wauchope, the high commissioner for Palestine.[10]
Awards and recognition[edit]
Kfar Shmaryahu, an affluent Tel Aviv suburb, is named for him.
References[edit]
- ^ [1], Encyclopedia.Com
- ^ Kaplan Appel, Tamar (3 August 2010). "Crown Rabbi". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300119039. OCLC 170203576. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Slutsky, Yehuda (2007). "Levin, Shmarya". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 12 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. pp. 713–714. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
- ^ [2], Encyclopedia.Com
- ^ [3], Encyclopedia.Com
- ^ [4], Encyclopedia.Com
- ^ Meyer Weisgal...So Far: An Autobiography, Meyer Wolfe Weisgal
- ^ Zionism and Free Enterprise: The Story of Private Entrepreneurs in Citrus Plantations in Palestine, Irit Amit-Cohen
- ^ [5], Encyclopedia.Com
- ^ [6], Encyclopedia.Com
External links[edit]
- Central Zionist Archives Personal papers of Shmaryahu Levin. The notation of the record group is A20.
