Zionist-Cultural Activity · AZR the Editor-Rememberer · From a Primary Source

AZR Edits "The Writings of Yehoshua Barzilai"

A portrait of a Hovevei Zion pioneer by the man who was editor and rememberer of the founding generation

A distinct facet of AZR's Zionist activity was the preservation of memory: editing the writings and writing the portraits of the movement's founders. A prime example is the introduction he wrote to "The Writings of Yehoshua Barzilai" (Jaffa, Tevet 5673/1913), signed "A. Z. Rabinovitz." From a clean primary source (Ben-Yehuda, public domain). primary source, AZR

1 AZR the Editor-Biographer

AZR was the biographer and editor of his generation: he wrote "Keter Torah" (the first biography of Rav Kook), a biography of Brenner, edited the "Yizkor" volume for the fallen, and translated and edited sources. Here, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Barzilai's aliyah (summer 5672/1912), he publishes Barzilai's writings and presents him to readers, "to plant in their hearts love… for the Land of Israel."

2 A Complete Zionist: Against the "Armchair Lovers of Zion"

AZR opens with a sharp distinction between complete devotion and a love of Zion from afar:

"There were many falling stars, who caught fire for a moment, sparkled, and went out. There are 'lovers' who help the idea… so that others may settle in the Land of Israel… but for themselves it is more comfortable to sit abroad and dream about the Land of Israel… Not so R. Yehoshua. His love of Zion is complete." AZR, introduction to "The Writings of Yehoshua Barzilai," Ben-Yehuda read/49821.

And he brings Barzilai's famous words, in which AZR's own whole teaching echoes:

"'Let my sons be gleaners in the fields of their brothers in the Jezreel Valley rather than owners of treasures abroad'… 'I am going up to the Land of Israel; if I find no life there, I will dig myself a grave there.'" Ibid. (from Barzilai's words, as AZR quotes them).

3 The Life of a Pioneer: In Barzilai's Own Words

AZR preserves Barzilai's concise autobiography, containing a record of front-line Zionist activity:

From 1887 to the Congress

Born in Kletsk (5615/1855); went up to the Land of Israel on 22 Sivan 5647 (1887); returned to Russia (5648/1888) and with Ahad Ha'am founded "Bnei Moshe" and the support society for farmers and artisans; founded in Odessa a students' society for the study of Hebrew history; returned to the Land of Israel (5651/1891), and served on the Executive Committee of Hovevei Zion in Jaffa for 13 years (library director, then member and secretary); edited "Beit HaLevi" (letters of "Bnei Moshe" from the Land of Israel, 1894–98); argued at the Ninth Congress in favor of practical work; and helped bring out Ben-Yehuda's dictionary.

Barzilai, AZR notes, accepted no salaried post — "I literally stole the bread from my own mouth and from the mouths of my little ones for travel expenses."

The Crossroads

Two men of "Bnei Moshe," two generations of the same devotion: Barzilai the pioneer and AZR the rememberer. In editing Barzilai's writings, AZR is not merely documenting the past — he is acting as a Zionist: guarding the memory of the founders and passing it on.

Connections: "Bnei Moshe" in "With Hovevei Zion" and "Torah and Craft"; AZR the biographer — "AZR and Brenner," "The Smuggler from Extreme to Extreme" (Keter Torah), "AZR the Translator," "Criticism and Reception"; practical work in "The Pioneer and the Aliyah." Source (public domain): Ben-Yehuda 49821. (Also published in the "Yizkor" book, edited by AZR.)