Nahum Benari
Encyclopedia
Nahum Benari (January 3, 1893 - December 24, 1963) was an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i writer and an intellectual. He is known mainly for promoting many Israeli cultural initiatives, primarily in the 1940s-50s, through his position as a member of the management body of the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...

 (abbreviation for lit. The General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel).

Benari was a prolific writer, who wrote on several subjects in various genres: treatises, pamphlets, plays, and more; about kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

 and Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

 ideals and practices; about the making of ceremonies and festivals for Sabbath, holidays, and memorial days; about philosophy; and about stories and thoughts aroused by the day to day reality of the yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...

 and Israel in its first years. Moreover, he translated books of other authors and edited books and journals. He was a man of creative imagination who could translate ideas and thoughts about culture and education into actions.

Early life in Ukraine

Benari was born Nahum Brodski in 1893, in the Jewish part of the town of Lebedyn
Lebedyn
Lebedyn is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 28,948 . An air base is located nearby.In 1708 the city was a site of ethnic cleansing against Ukrainians during the Executions of Cossacks in Lebedin by the Russian Empire.-See also:...

 in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. His father, Arie Leib, held a senior position at a sugar factory, and his mother, Devora, was a housewife; he was their firstborn of ten children. As an adolescent he was sent to learn in a yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

 (a religious school), but the studies of Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 (religious laws) didn't satisfy his curiosity. He moved from yeshiva to yeshiva across Ukraine until he arrived at Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

, where he attended the yeshiva of Rabbi Chaim Tchernowitz (Rav Tza'ir) and graduated in 1911. Among his teachers in this yeshiva were well-known authors such as Hayim Nahman Bialik and Mendele Mocher Sforim
Mendele Mocher Sforim
Mendele Mocher Sforim , December 21, 1835 = January 2, 1836 , Kapyl — November 25, 1917 = December 8, 1917...

, and there he absorbed Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

 values, which he passed on to his brothers and sisters.

First years in the Land of Israel

In May 1914, a few months before the beginning of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Benari arrived in the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

, then part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. During the first years after making Aliyah
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

, he hired himself out as a farm worker, first at Degania and then at Ilaniya
Ilaniya
- Bibliography : * ed. Yuval Elazari - Map's Concise Gazetteer of Israel Today MAP - Mapping and Publishing, Tel Aviv, 2003...

. In those years he became acquainted with immigrants of the Second Aliyah
Second Aliyah
The Second Aliyah was an important and highly influential aliyah that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 40,000 Jews immigrated into Ottoman Palestine, mostly from the Russian Empire, some from Yemen....

 and Third Aliyah
Third Aliyah
The third Aliyah refers to the third wave of the Jewish immigration to Israel from Europe who came inspired by Zionist motives between the years 1919 and 1923 . A symbol of the start of the third immigration wave is the arrival of the boat "Roselan" in the Jaffa Port on December 19, 1919...

. He wrote the article "HaKabtzanim HaSmechim" (lit. The Happy Beggars) about this period. During this period he also met his first wife, Sonia Dubnov, with whom he had three children.

After the First World War, at the time of the British Mandate for Palestine, he moved with his family to wherever he could find a job: he planted trees on Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...

, served as a court clerk in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

‏, and took on some temporary jobs in Jerusalem. While working as a court clerk he wrote the article "Inyanei Beit Din" (lit. court matters). During this period his brothers and sisters made Aliyah along with their mother; most of them settled in the rural Israeli settlements called Kibbutzim (plural of Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

). In October 1922, after hearing of his father's death, he changed his surname to Benari (Hebrew: בֶּנאֲרִי, lit. lion's son); his brothers and sisters followed him in this act.

Living at Ein Harod

At the beginning of 1925, Benari and his family joined a kibbutz named Ein Harod
Ein Harod
Ein Harod was a kibbutz in Israel. It was located in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. It is notable for being built near the battlefield of Ayn Jalut , a battle of huge macro-historical importance where the Mongols were defeated for the first time, in 1260.-History:The kibbutz was founded by...

. He worked in the fields and in the vineyard. At Ein Harod he was among those who conceived the Kibbutz's way of celebrating Jewish holidays. A main theme in the newly designed festivals and ceremonies was the agricultural year circle. For example, at Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...

 they established a ceremony for the beginning of the harvest, and at Shavuot
Shavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....

 a secular celebration of Bikkurim
Bikkurim (Talmud)
Bikkurim is the eleventh tractate of Seder Zeraim of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. All versions of the Mishnah contain the first three chapters, and some versions contain a fourth....

 (Hebrew: ביכורים, lit. first fruits). Benari also edited the periodical MiBifnim (Hebrew: מבפנים, lit. from the inside). The periodical of the kibbutzim organization HaKibbutz HaMeuchad (lit. the unified kibbutz or united kibbutz
Kibbutz Movement
The Kibbutz Movement is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi.-United Kibbutz Movement:...

), stemmed from Ein Harod's journal. Benari lived in Ein Harod until 1942, and there he met his second wife, Yehudit Mensch, with whom he had one son.

Hechalutz activity

Benari was sent abroad on Hechalutz misions three times. In the years 1927-1929 he was sent by Ein Harod's leadership to Hechalutz center in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. During those two years, he lectured to and talked with young Jews in towns and Chavot Hachshara (lit. training farms), in Poland, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, and The Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. Additionally, he edited Hechalutz's journal called HeAtid (Hebrew: העתיד, lit. The Future). Between 1934-1936 he was sent for the second time by Ein Harod's leadership to the Hechalutz center in Warsaw, this time he also acted as a delegate to the 19th Zionist Congress at Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. In the latter part of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, from October 1944 to January 1945, he went on his third mission. This time he was sent with two other men by Solel Boneh
Solel Boneh
Solel Boneh is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel.-History:Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 during the first conference of the General Histadrut, under the name of Batz , an acronym of Binyan veAvodot Tziburiot . Its first project was to pave...

, a construction company, to join its work teams in the oil refineries in Abadan, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. Benari went as a social consultant, but he actually operated undercover as a Hechalutz emissary to encourage Zionist activity among the Jewish communities in Iran, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

.

Alongside performing missions abroad, Benari was also a pamphleteer of Hechalutz and the Zionist ideology.

Associations for Culture and Education

At the beginning of 1942, Benari left Ein Harod with his family in order to focus on his cultural and educational activities. First he worked for Solel Boneh, but it wasn't long before he joined The Center of Culture and Education of the Histadrut. He was among the founders of Associations for Culture and Education (Hebrew: מפעלי תרבות וחינוך) and ran it for nearly twenty years. In this office he promoted many cultural initiatives by supplying funds and an organizational roof. Among the most eminent associations that were raised under his service were:
  1. Omanut Laam Association (Hebrew: אמנות לעם, lit. culture for the people) - An association, founded as Telem, which connected established theaters with peripheral and rural settlements and workers' committees.
  2. Cinema Department - A department that distributed selected movies, in 16 mm film
    16 mm film
    16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...

    , to all periphery communities and military camps, thus enabling movie screening everywhere.
  3. Artists and intellectuals meetings with workmen - Arranging meetings between all kinds of artists (such as authors, poets, painters, and sculptors) or thinkers and the workmen of different places such as industrial plants, agriculture based communities (kibbutz and moshav
    Moshav
    Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

    ), immigrant camps (Ma'abarot
    Ma'abarot
    The Ma'abarot were refugee absorption camps in Israel in the 1950s. The Ma'abarot were meant to provide accommodation for the large influx of Jewish refugees and new Olim arriving to the newly independent State of Israel, replacing the less habitable immigrant camps or tent cities...

    ), and military camps.
  4. Israeli Institute for Education by Correspondence (Hebrew name (acronym): Mishlav) - An institute that preceded the foundation of the Open University of Israel
    Open University of Israel
    The Open University of Israel is a distance-education university in Israel. , the Open University taught around 39,000 students.The Open University of Israel has more students than any other academic institution in Israel. The administration is based in the city of Ra'anana. Students from all over...

    .
  5. Sifri (Hebrew: ספרי, lit. my book) - A publishing house and a book store.
  6. Folk dancing class - This class gave a stage to choreographers of folk dances who used the folk music of the time. This class established the foundations for widening folk dancing activity in Israel, an activity existing to this day.


Alongside enabling the formation of new cultural establishments, the Associations for Culture and Education, under Benari management, also supported existing foundations such as HaOhel Theater (Hebrew: האהל, lit. The Tent), The Israeli Opera, Inbal Dance Theater
Inbal Dance Theater
Inbal Dance Theater is a dance group operating in Israel. The subject matter and materials the group deals with derive from Jewish tradition and heritage, and from the folklore of the various ethnic groups in Israel – Jewish and non Jewish – such as the Yemenite, Moroccan, Persian and Kurdish...

, and Am Oved
Am Oved
-History:Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief.It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publishing books that would "meet the spiritual needs of the working public." Its most well-known series is "Sifriyah...

 publishing house.

Selected Works - Author

  1. Inyanei Beit Din (lit. court matters), October 1919. An article in "Adama", editor: Yosef Haim Brenner
    Yosef Haim Brenner
    Yosef Haim Brenner was a Russian-born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.-Biography:Brenner was born to a poor Jewish family in Novi Mlini, Russian Empire...

  2. An article in Gam Ze Coach (lit. a kind of strength), 1921. 39 p. - A publication for the foundation of the Histadrut. Additional authors: Y. Tabentkin
    Yitzhak Tabenkin
    -External links:...

    , S. Yavne'eli (Hebrew Wikipedia article on S. Yavne'eli), M. Kushnir, D. Zakai (Hebrew Wikipedia article on D. Zakai), B. Katznelson
    Berl Katznelson
    Berl Katznelson was one the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the workers' movement.-Biography:...

    , S. Lavi.
  3. Pamphlets in Yiddish
    Yiddish language
    Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...

     about Kvutza (Israeli settlement) (Hebrew Wikipedia article on Kvutza (Israeli settlement)), Kibbutz and HeChalutz. About 5 pamphlets, 1928, 1929, 1935. pub. HeChalutz.
  4. Ein Harod, 1931. pub. Amanut, 89 p. - From a series for the youth by JNF
    Jewish National Fund
    The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

  5. LeToldot HaKvutsah VeHaKibbuz (lit. History of Kvutza and Kibbutz), 1934. pub. Hechalutz, booklet 132 p. - was translated into German, English, Italian, Romanian and Czech.
  6. Toldot Tenuat HaPoalim BeErets Yisrael (lit. the history of workers movement in the Land of Israel), 1936. 135 p.
  7. Shabat UMoed (lit. Sabbath and Holidays), 1946. pub. Center of Culture and Education, 51 p. - About the formation of ceremonies and festivals for Sabbath and holidays
  8. HaTsiyonut HaSotsialistit (lit. The socialist Zionism), 1950. pub. Institute for Zionist education Jerusalem, booklet 63 p. - from the series Sidra Tsiyonit Ktana (lit. Zionist small series)
  9. Olamo Shel Adam (lit. Mans' world), 1950, pub. N. Tverski (Hebrew Wikipedia article on N. Tverski), 200 p. - Contemplation and research
  10. Mahazot Ketanim (lit. small plays), 1950. 109 p. - Short plays and sketches
  11. Tuval Kayin (lit. Tubal-cain
    Tubal-cain
    Tubal-cain is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in . He was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Zillah, and the brother of Naamah.-Name:...

    ), 1951 (1950). - A play
  12. Tnuat HaAvoda HaYisraelit (lit. the Israeli labor movement), 1954. pub. Mishlav - A source book for students about the origins, foundation and history of said movement.
  13. Erkhe Ruach VeSifrut (lit. spirit and literature values), 1954. pub. Center of Culture and Education, 248 p. - About authors, books and people
  14. Shivah Asar Maarchonim (lit. 17 sketches), 1954. 148 p.
  15. Eshkolot (lit. assemblage), 1955. pub. M. Neuman, 509 p. - A study on the bible in the Jewish literature through the generations
  16. El HaShemesh (lit. to the sun), 1955. pub. Amichai, 93 p. - Stories for children and childhood memories.
  17. Ohalim BaRuach (lit. tents in the wind), 1955. - A play
  18. Arachim BeTenuat HaAvoda HaYisraelit (lit. Israeli labor movement values), 1959. pub. Urim, booklet 83 p.
  19. Kochvei Lechet (lit. planets), 1961. pub. Amichai, 93 p. - Stories for children.
  20. Netivim (lit. paths), 1967. pub. Associations for Culture and Education, 267 p. - Rules of society and culture
  21. Zichronot Al Emek Yizrael (lit. memories from Jezreel Valley
    Jezreel Valley
    -Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...

    ), booklet 17 p.
  22. Sukkot - Chag HaAsif (lit. Sukkot - harvest time festival). Booklet, 30 p. - Additional authors: Sara Levi-Tanai
    Sara Levi-Tanai
    Sara Levi-Tanai was an Israeli choreographer and song writer. She was the founder and artistic director of the Inbal Dance Theater and recipient of the Israel Prize in dance.- Prizes and awards :...

    , Tuvia Ovadyahu, Gavriela Aran.

Selected Works - Editor

  1. LeSukot (lit. for Sukkot
    Sukkot
    Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...

    ), 1945. 20 p. - Songs for Sukkot
  2. Kinus Gvat, (lit. Gvat convention), July 1945. Booklet 54 p. - during the kibbutz movement division period (Hebrew Wikipedia article on kibbutz movement division period), written in support of Zionist socialists union. Additional editor: Michael Asaf (Hebrew Wikipedia article on Michael Asaf).
  3. LeShabat (lit. for Sabbath), 1947. 42 p.- Songs for Sabbath
  4. Yalkut Yom Tov (lit. holidays collection), 1953. pub. Am Oved, 208 p. - Readings for Sabbath, holidays and memorial days.
  5. Orot (lit. lights), 1954 (1953). pub.Center of Culture and Education, 163 p. - A debate on culture and education.
  6. Mikraot LeShabat (lit. readings for Sabbath), 1954 (1964). pub. M. Neuman - Readings and comments for Sabbath by order of the weekly Torah
    Torah
    Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

     portion (Parashat HaShavua)
  7. Sefer HaYashar (lit. book of righteous), 1959. pub. M. Neuman, volume I 182 p., volume II 337 p. - Torah folktales
  8. Yosef Trumpeldor (lit. Joseph Trumpeldor
    Joseph Trumpeldor
    Joseph Trumpeldor , was an early Zionist activist. He helped organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Zionist national hero...

    ), 1960. with editor A. Cna'ani, 83 p.
  9. Yosef Trumpeldor (lit. Joseph Trumpeldor), 1970. with editor A. Cna'ani, booklet 96 p. - His life and time, pictures and texts for the 50th anniversary of Tel Hai
    Tel Hai
    Tel Hai is the modern name of a settlement in northern Israel, the site of an early battle in the Arab–Israeli conflict, and of a noted monument, tourist attraction, and a college...

     battle.
  10. Language Editor of Omer (Hebrew: אֹמֶר, lit. verbal expression), a vowelized newspaper for newcomers.

External links

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