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In Volkovysk, as an old and prominent Jewish community, that lived a full Jewish life and also felt itself connected to Jewry of all ages, the sentiment toward the Land of Israel was always strong. Even in olden times, the name Eretz Yisrael evoked a deep resonance in the hearts of Volkovysk Jews, who always would respond to the needs of the ancient Jewish Yishuv, and were broadly generous in supporting the old houses of study and Yeshivas in the Land of Israel; in Volkovysk, there was always to be found Jews, who in their older years would liquidate their businesses, and would move to the Land of Israel, to spend their last days in Torah study, performing service in the Holy Land, and not needing to have to show any regrets. Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the son of the Volkovysk Rabbi, Reb Benjamin Diskin, moved to the Land of Israel in the mid-nineteenth century, and founded the renown orphanage that carries his name to this day.

Chaikel Shiff

In that time, fifty-five years ago, it was necessary to be a real idealist, and be full of energy and the pioneering spirit, to make the decision to leave behind a deeply-rooted life, and settle in the Land of Israel, which in those days was very poor and primitive. To get from one point to another, one rode through deserts and over stones on donkeys, and the Jewish population in those days consisted mostly of old, broken people, whose principle striving was for – a burial place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem…

Chaikel Shiff, the son of Tuvia Shiff, came from an important family of balebatim in Volkovysk. He worked with timepieces, but was also well-schooled – who received a good Jewish education in a Yeshiva. Shortly after finishing Yeshiva education, while still a young boy, he decided to settle in the Land of Israel and to make his home there. He put his thoughts into action, and even 55 years ago, he went to the Holy Land, where he became of the very first builders and founders of the modern Yishuv.

Before he left, he married Sarah Tovah Lev, from the little shtetl of Piesk (28km from Volkovysk), who came from a very orthodox home, and was the daughter of one of the important balebatim of Piesk, Moshe Shimon Lev.

In the Land of Israel, Chaikel Shiff initially made a living from his trade of watchmaking. But he did not abandon his Torah study, or miss his Daf Yomi.^[1]

When I came to the Land of Israel in 1910, Chaikel Shiff had his watch business in a corner of Willner's

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furniture store in the center of Jaffa (near the home office of the former Anglo-Palestinian Bank), where he engaged in real estate business, and also owned a vineyard in Rehovot. The former center for Jewish commercial activity was concentrated in the Central Bustros Street in Jaffa, and Willner's furniture store was close to the center. Chaikel Shiff – like most of the other Jews of Jaffa – lived in the Jewish Quarter of Neve Shalom.

The doors of his guest-friendly home were always open to visitors who came to the Land of Israel, and needed protection and help. Foremost, he would receive his own landsleit with much grace, and he offered them assistance in whatever way he could. Understandably, this expanded his circle of friends, which grew and branched out with the passage of time. In the ensuing years, Shiff became a vegetable grower and a substantial merchant. He sub-divided and distributed the entire property of what is now the Montefiore Neighborhood. At that time, young people from Volkovysk and other cities in Poland began to arrive in order to attend the newly founded Hertzeliya Gymnasium. Shiff's house was transformed into a center for these young olim and gymnasium students from Volkovysk, who felt like they were at home there – thanks to the warm relations extended by Chaikel Shiff and his wife.

It is worth mentioning that despite the fact that the Shiffs were of an older generation, their children created a Hebrew [language] atmosphere, and Hebrew was the language of daily discourse.

Also, in their house, one could find out about everything that had transpired in connection with landsleit, because Mottel Epstein (M'shiyakh) about whom I will write later, who loved to stroll around town and gather news, was a member of their household, and he would bring all the news there that he had gathered from around the city.

I recall, that as a young gymnasium student in Tel-Aviv, far from my parents, I really loved spending time at the Shiff home. When I would have to go from my separate room (in the Yemenite Quarter) to the Bustros Street (in Jaffa), to buy something, I would make a detour, over the sands, and stop at the Shiffs, because there, his loving and willing wife would always ply me with good things to eat, and one could meet Volkovysk landsleit and hear news.

The Shiffs always provided Volkovysk landsleit with a small loan of money until funds arrived for them that was sent from Volkovysk.

The Shiffs always invited the Volkovysk young people to their home for the Sabbath and Festivals. I was always at the Shiffs for the Passover Sedorim. Despite the fact that the Gymnasium would arrange very suitable Sedorim for all of the students, and also the teachers and many residents of Tel-Aviv would invite the Gymnasium students to their Sedorim – I selected Shiffs' house from all of these, because there I felt as if I was at the home of my parents.

Later on, Chaikel Shiff became one of the founders of Tel-Aviv, and built his home on Lilienblum Street (on the corner of Herzl Street).

Chaikel Shiff fulfilled the commandments requiring to do what is proper between one man and his friend, in the old-fashioned way – he gave a great deal of charity, he gave out loans, and helped people with whom he dealt. He also took an active role in the construction of the Great Synagogue in Tel-Aviv.

Translator's footnote:

1. The daily page of the Gemara studied by committed Jews. Return

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Sarah Tovah Shiff

She took an active role in the founding of the Free Loan Bank. She was an active member of the B'not Zion and B'not Brit organizations, and using her own resources, she founded a “charitable fund” (under B'not Brit) in her own name: “The Sarah Shiff Charitable Fund.” She also took part in the founding of a trade school for newly arrived immigrants, in order to facilitate their assimilation into the Land.

When in the year 1929, during the unrest,^[1] the HaYarkon organization was founded by Dr. A. Greenberg for the purpose of increasing the availability of vegetable produce to feed the Jewish community, Sarah Shiff stood by this organization and did a great deal of good work for them.

Apart from her multi-branched activity on the community front, Sarah Shiff was also well-known for her good works in “Anonymous Charity.” She never revealed the extent of her support for those in need, and she would quietly give out help to many people and even in old age, when she was mostly confined to a sickbed, she nevertheless continued to manage her welfare work.

In 1945, when I visited the Land of Israel, I went to see this good-hearted elderly lady, Sarah Tovah Shiff, who at that time lived with her daughter, Malka, in Jerusalem. Chaikel Shiff had already passed away years ago, and Sarah Tovah passed away in 1949.

The Shiff children, who received a good Jewish and secular education, are following in their parents' footsteps, and participate in a variety of community and charitable institutions in the Land. The daughter, Malka, is a teacher, and her husband Abraham Tatenbaum is a senior official in the colonial ministry of the English regime. The second daughter, Deborah, also completed the teacher's seminary, and her husband, Joseph Mendelson, is an engineer in Haifa. The third daughter, Chana lives in Tiberias.

Their only son, Moshe Shiff, is an agronomist. For many years he occupied an important post in the Chief Secretariat of the Land of Israel Government in Jerusalem. His wife, Nechama, was from the prominent Jerusalem family, Amdursky, and she distinguished herself through her good works, grace and education. Later on, she died in the childbirth of her first child and left behind an orphaned son and a stricken loving husband.^[2] At the first anniversary of her death, the relatives of both families (Shiff and Amdursky) erected a two story building: Bet Nechama Shiff. The objectives of this institution were to take care of children orphaned under such circumstances, and to provide those things that they required for all of their needs.

I have spent a little more time on the Shiff family here, because as stated previously, it was the first leading edge of the later larger Volkovysk aliyah to the Land of Israel, which began in the year 1909 and continued up to the last few years.

Translator's footnotes:

1. Reference to the Arab riots and massacres. Return
2. The seeming contradiction of leaving an orphaned son when she died giving birth to her ‘first child’ is not resolved here. Return

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The Hertzeliya Gymnasium in Tel-Aviv

As Students in the Herzteliya Gymnasium in Tel-Aviv Right to left:Moshe Einhorn and Yankel Neiman

The First Volkovysk Group in The Land of Israel in the Year 1911 Right to left, first row, bottom: Mottel Epstein (‘Moshiach’), Leizer Golomb, Shmuel Golomb Second row: Yankel Neiman, Jekuthiel Zusmanovich (Yekutieli), Moshe'keh Einhorn, David Golomb Third row: Eliyahu Golomb, Avreml Sukhovolsky, Sholom Bialsky, Jekuthiel Neiman, Moshe Kaplinsky

The First Group From Volkovysk in The Land of Israel in the Year 1913 Right to left, first row, bottom: Leizer Golomb, Lipa Zusmanovich (Yekutieli), Joseph Zusmanovich (Yekutieli) Second row: Avreml Velvelevich, Jekuthiel Neiman, David Golomb, Yitzhak Kaminer, Eliyahu Golomb, Lieber Shereshevsky's son, Zus'keh Berman Third row: Velvelevich, Moshe Kaplinsky, Israel Zusmanovich (Yekutieli), Moshe Einhorn, Mottel Epstein (‘Moshiach’), Yaakov Rabinovich, Avreml Sukhovolsky

A Class at The Hertzeliya Gymnasium in Tel-Aviv with Dr. Joseph Luria

One fine day in Volkovysk, a noteworthy idea was spread about: Eliyahu Golomb, the son of Naphtali Golomb (who lived on the Ostroger Gasse, near David Hubar's house), had left Volkovysk and had gone to the Land of Israel, to study at the newly-founded Gymnasium, Hertzeliya. Eliyahu Golomb was the pioneer who paved the way for other young people from Volkovysk.

Eliyahu Golomb's letters from the Land of Israel awakened an interest among many other residents of Volkovysk to follow in his example. After Eliyahu, his brother Leizer, Zus'keh (Ne'eman) Berman, Yankel Neiman and the writer of these lines – Moshe Einhorn.

At that time, at the beginning of 1910, the Hertzeliya Gymnasium was still in a building opposite the German colony, not far from Bustros Street in Jaffa. I used to take my lunch from Dov Hoz's mother, who has a sort of private lunch table in Neve Shalom, where all the one-time literati, teachers and writers – and among them Y. K. Brenner, and to separate the living, Nissan Turov – used to eat. My gymnasium classmates would eat lunch in different places. We would take our remaining meals together in our so-called “commune.”

At that time, a large area of the sands around Jaffa were cleaned off and leveled. Many houses were constructed on both sides of Herzl Street. The new building for the gymnasium was almost complete, and it was

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supposed to open for the new semester. Every week, new students came to the gymnasium, and in one house in the Yemenite Quarter, between Tel-Aviv and Neve Shalom, the few Volkovysk Gymnasium students lived together: Eliyahu and Leizer Golomb, Yankel Neiman, Zus'keh Berman, and this writer.

Every evening, we would stretch out on the sand and read the letters from home, tell a variety of stories, or listen to Zus'keh Berman's music. Zus'keh loved to play the mandolin. Mostly he would play love songs to his paramour, who had remained behind in Volkovysk.

Tel-Aviv grew up in the space of one year. Two more streets were appended to Herzl Street. The small kiosk on Rothschild Boulevard with its soda water and ice cream was the focal point for the younger generation.

The gymnasium students from Volkovysk largely lived off of the stipends they received from home, and partly from giving hourly lessons in Hebrew to beginning students.

After the summer, the Gymnasium moved over to Tel-Aviv, and classes began in the new building. Together with the gymnasium, Mrs. Hoz's restaurant also moved to Tel-Aviv. At that time, our “commune” dispersed, because its members moved from the Yemenite Quarter either to Tel-Aviv or to Neve Tzedek.

At the end of 1910, the family of Eliyahu Golomb arrived in the Land of Israel. They bought a mill, and settled themselves in the Land. In those times, the families of Benjamin Kalir (they settled in Petakh Tikva), Boruch Zusmanovich the teacher (settled in Jaffa) – his three sons, who today live in Israel use the name “Jekuthiel” – and Eliezer Lieber Shereshevsky (also in Jaffa), came [to the Land]. Later, in the year 1912, the family of Mordechai Chafetz came and settled in Petakh Tikva.

In the summer of 1911, several students at the Hertzeliya Gymnasium, who were from Volkovysk, took a vacation trip to Volkovysk – and their enthusiastic descriptions of their new life that was unfolding in the Land of Israel, impressed many other young and adult people in Volkovysk – to go to the Land of Israel.

In the years 1911-1912 the Volkovysk colony in the Land of Israel grew significantly. Apart form the previously mentioned families, the following came to the Land of Israel: Moshe Kaplinsky, Mottel Epstein (Moshiach), Jekuthiel Neiman, Israel Hubar, Mordechai Chafetz (Zalman Chafetz's son), Zvi Weinstein-Carmeli (Esther the lingerie seller's son), the Velvelevich brothers, Yitzhak Kaminer, Abraham Sukhovolsky, Sholom Bialsky and David Epstein.

Every Shabbos afternoon, Tel-Aviv was visited by many guests. The Sephardim from the Jaffa ghetto, the Ashkenazim from Neve Shalom and Neve Tzedek. Also, colonists from nearby settlements would gather together in Tel-Aviv to observe the great miracle, how the first one hundred percent Jewish city was being built. Herzl Street was full of people. At the same time, the young people from Volkovysk would gather on the sands near Tel-Aviv. We would spend a few hours together, sing Hebrew songs, and then we would form ranks and march off to Herzl Street. Near the gymnasium, we would regroup anew into a single line, hand-in-hand, singing, and all at once, broke into couples.

– Make way, here come the Volkovyskers! – could be heard from our comrades.

The onlookers were not opposed [to what we were doing]. On the contrary. People stopped and watched, making the way clear for us. All of Tel-Aviv knew about us and wondered, how did such a comparatively small city like Volkovysk send such a large number of students [to the Land of Israel].

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When a Festival holiday arrived – Simchat Torah, Purim, Khol HaMoed Passover – many from Volkovysk would get together to keep company at Eliezer Shereshevsky's house. Ever person would contribute a set amount, and Mrs. Shereshevsky would prepare, with the help of several other women, a really fine meal with good dishes, and delicious drinks – and the Volkovyskers made merry. It was sort of a “get-together party” of landsleit from Volkovysk. The author, Yaakov Rabinovich, ז”ל, who was a landsman from Volkovysk, would come to these gatherings from Petakh Tikva.

At this time, I would like to provide a few short character profiles and biographical insights about a number of those from Volkovysk that could be found in Tel-Aviv at that time. I will begin with Eliyahu Golomb.

Eliyahu Golomb

He loved to walk alone by himself – sunk in his own thoughts. When I once encountered him during such a walk on the sands, and asked him where he was headed, he answered me, “I'm thinking.”

He became very friendly in the gymnasium with Moshe Shertok and David Hoz – and it was this small group of three friends that later played such an indescribably important role in the life of the Yishuv, in the Zionist movement, and in the Histadrut.

After spending time at the Gymnasium, Golomb was one of those who organized a small group of students – with him as the leader – that set itself the purpose of leaving the Gymnasium and to go work at [Kibbutz] Bet Shemen. For a variety of reasons, apart from Yitzhak Turner – the group later returned to the Gymnasium.

In 1913, Eliyahu Golomb completed his studies at the gymnasium. There was no higher school of learning in the Land of Israel at that time, and it was necessary to travel abroad to study [at that level]. The world was open – one could travel to Berlin, Paris, or to Switzerland. But a specific, small idealistic group of this first class of graduates of the gymnasium could not easily conclude the appropriateness of the intent – to leave the Land. They continuously conducted heated discussions about what to do. They once carried out a walking discussion for an entire night, and concluded that they should call a meeting at the house of David Hoz, in order to adopt a final decision. At this meeting, in which Ne'eman Berman participated, Eliyahu Golomb came out strongly against those with career ambitions that sought to leave to overseas universities. He underscored that it is the obligation of the first graduating class to set an example to the coming graduates of the Gymnasium, and to show them a path of constructive activity on behalf of the nation and the Land. The activity must be

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comprised of land reclamation and pioneering work, and the mobilization of the masses for aliyah and colonization in the Land of Israel. The objective of the graduates must be: to work amidst the people – and not to study at universities for the fulfilment of personal needs. It was also discussed that the security in the colonies must be entirely in Jewish hands. Because, apart from those Jewish points that were under the aegis of “HaShomer” (the well-known Jewish Guard Organization of those times), there were other places where the security was not entirely in Jewish hands.

Among the two dozen students that had graduated at that time, seven students agreed to the proposed program – and it was these seven men who founded the Histadrut.

Eliyahu Golomb was their leader, the one who showed them the direction, set out the way – who will become a Histadrut activist, who will lead institutions and undertakings, and who is to engage in Haganah activity. Eliyahu was a leader and someone who could show the way in the Israeli Labor movement, and many people undertook work and land reclamation under his influence – joining the camp of Labor in the Land of Israel.

In 1913, Eliyahu Golomb and David Hoz appeared in Degania. At that time, Moshe Barsky and Zaltzman were killed, and a conscription of the workers in the Galilee was arranged, in order that they organize themselves to fight for their lives. The management of that conscription was given over to Eliyahu, for his opinion and direction.

A conflict then arose between HaShomer and prominent circles of the community in the Land of Israel, who demanded that the ranks of the Jewish self-defense forces be expanded. Eliyahu Golomb stood at the head of those who put forth that demand, whose thought was to take the matter of protection and self-defense out of the hands of the few, and put it in the hands of the entire Yishuv. Golomb's demand received a great deal of support – and in the end HaShomer conceded the point and relinquished its brief to an expanded community circle of participants.

Within a one to two year period, Golomb was already running the Haganah on a local basis.

During the years of 1914-1915, he would ride on a white horse, delivering Haganah supplies to various points. All the Arabs knew exactly who it was that rode around on a white horse, and many were concerned that he would become the target of violence for Jamal Pasha (the senior Turkish commander on the front in the Land of Israel, who was superb at promulgating bad decrees against the Yishuv), but the energetic Eliyahu was fearless, and went on with his important work, and continued to ride around alone on his horse over ways that at the time were full of Turkish soldiers.

Eliyahu's activity branched out extensively and broadened itself: he was active in the Jewish Legion; he was one of the founders of Ein-Harod; one of the founders of Knesset Yisrael; a member of the Vaad Leumi; a leading member of the Histadrut; one of the founders of Akhdut HaAvodah; a delegate to Zionist Congresses; he was very active on the issue of aliyah, and traveled all over Europe – Poland, France, Austria, Belgium, England – in order to organize the aliyah, and to call upon the youth to commit themselves not only in an ideological sense in party work, but that they should personally come to the Land of Israel and take an active part in the building up of the Land.

His work in the Haganah strengthened his position as a national leader, that the entire Yishuv valued and respected. He was the mind, the heart and the hand of the Jewish defense force. Eliyahu's deeply held belief in the necessity for the existence of a strong, independent Jewish force, which should stand guard

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over the Yishuv and all interests of the people, gave him the energy to continue with his work for the Haganah, despite all the pitfalls that stood in the way of this grand Jewish undertaking, and despite the tribulations that he had to endure. Eliyahu took part in the pacification of the uprisings that broke out in the Land of Israel at different times – in the years of 1920, 1922, 1929. When in 1936, anti-Jewish riots broke out again – which stretched into 1939 – the Haganah was strengthened and further armed through Eliyahu's initiative. When it came time to colonize a new area in the Land, and were prepared to establish Hanita, – Eliyahu was the organizer of this work. He specified who would become part of the cadre of settlers, and who would be held accountable for carrying out the plan – and he personally went with the people who had to “take control” of the point for the purpose of “Jewish Settlement.”

During the time of the last [sic: Second] World War, Eliyahu participated in the Jewish Brigade. He was, and remained, until his last day, the principal individual who was vested with the entire creation of the Jewish system of defense – indeed, this very same great defense army, that gave the Yishuv the wherewithal to combat its enemies, to secure and consolidate the Jewish positions and emplacements, over the entire Land.

It is worth noting, that even though Eliyahu Golomb was thoroughly immersed in his important work of greater general national significance – he never forgot his home city, Volkovysk, where he was born, and on various occasions demonstrated his ties to Volkovysk and its residents. In this connection, we will provide here several excerpts from the article Son of the City, that Azriel Broshi published in Davar on June 19, 1946:

“After the [First] World War, the first group of halutzim arrived from our town (Volkovysk). We found our landsman, Eliyahu, in the front ranks of those who were realizing the ideal of Socialist-Zionism – and we were very proud of him. And how happy he was, when he saw that his very own landsleit were paving the Haifa-Jeddah highway, smashing rocks in Beit She'An, and building the Sarafand-Lod railroad line.

During he frequent trips abroad, Eliyahu would from time-to-time drop in and visit Volkovysk, and meet with the friends of his youth. He helped a number of them – when they came to the Land of Israel.

A few days before he died a message was given to the secretariat of the organization of his landsleit, that he wished to meet with one of them. I met him at the Vaad HaPoel building of the Histadrut. As was his habit, he placed his good hand on my shoulder, carefully reviewed the list of those landsleit who escaped [the Holocaust], remembering a goodly portion of the names recorded on the list, and in the end, let out a bitter sigh: “Of my friends, not even one remains: where is Tevel Smazanovich, where are you, all my landsleit?”

So I said to him: I remember when you made aliyah to the Land of Israel, Eliyahu! Now we are here by the hundreds – spread out in cities and villages, we have organized ourselves to provide help to those survivors from our town. We chose not to invite you to the initial meeting of our landsleit in Tel-Aviv, because we know the burden of work, meetings, and assemblies that you must attend to, but from time-to-time, we want to keep you advised of our activity. He stopped and thought for a short while, and then said: “It is indeed good that you have the list of the survivors in your pocket. Do you really believe that Lev (the Bialystoker baker) is still alive – he must be an incredibly old man by now?” What a good Jew he is! Joseph Ein is on the list – he was called Yoss'eleh Ein in town. I remember every street and every byway of my town. The fate of the Volkovysk community is no better than that of other Jewish communities in Poland. I beseech you, let me know if added news becomes available about survivors.”

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In the end, it was not possible to fulfill his wish, because, as was said, he died several days later at his home in Tel-Aviv.

His health was bad during the last years of his life. He suffered from high blood pressure. The doctors warned him not to work so hard. But he could not tear himself away from his highly responsible work, and resumed his activity as usual – with assemblies, and meetings lasting late into the night. The doctors also forbade him to drive his own car, because it was too stressful for him. For a short while he had a chauffeur for his automobile, but afterwards, he resumed driving his car by himself, traveling all over the country – going to all points that needed to be visited in the interests of security and defense. This high stress work in the end drained him of his strength, and he died of a heart attack. Thus Eliyahu fell at his post – standing the watch over his Land and its people.

The day of Golomb's funeral (June 11, 1945) was transformed into a national day of mourning. His casket was brought to the main hall of the Vaad HaPoel of the Histadrut. Soldiers, sailors, the women's army corps, and “watchmen” provided an honor guard all night long at the casket. There was an honor guard at the casket from all branches of the Haganah. Thousands of Jews, residents of Tel-Aviv and also representatives from many other places in the Yishuv – participated in this grandiose funeral.

Eliyahu was buried near the graves of David and Rivka Hoz – who were his loyal friends during their lifetime.

In this fashion, a young man from Volkovysk rose to the level of national leadership in the Yishuv.

Zus'keh Berman, or as he was called in Hebrew, Ne'eman, was the leader of our “commune.” We listened to him, because apart from the fact that he was older than all of us, he was also wise, and strong in character. In general, he had unusual skills. Being a diligent student and a good-natured man, everyone loved him: whether by the teachers in the gymnasium, his friends, or his landsleit. Had he lived, he would have contributed greatly to the building of the Land of Israel, and he would have been a crown for his parents, for the gymnasium, and his comrades. Regrettably, death tore him away from us at an early age, during the time of the First World War, when he was a student in Berlin.

Yaakov Rabinovich, the renown Hebrew author, was born in Volkovysk in the year 1875. His father, Rabbi Abraham Aaron, who was a prominent scholar, and compiled a commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud Seder, Zera'im, died at a young age. His grandfather, Rabbi Meir Jonah – who published the book, HaItur, Har HaMoriah, with “Corrections of Errors” and “Thoughts on the Rambam” – was, for a short time (less than a half year) the Rabbi of Brisk, and for most of his years – in the shtetl of Svislucz (Grodno Province). His mother, Chaya Hadassah, was from the Vinogradsky family.

Yaakov Rabinovich received a traditional Jewish upbringing in his home town, in Heder and Yeshiva, and afterwards began to study general subjects. He left the country, and studied at the University of Bern (in Switzerland). Before leaving the country, he spent two years living in Vitebsk, where he was involved with teaching. He began his Zionist activity there. He studied in Switzerland for four years (1900-1904) and lived in Bern and Geneva. His literary activity began in those years. In the year 1904, he moved to the city of

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Odessa, which at that time was the center of the Hibat Tzion movement, and in 1907 he was elected to the committee of the Hovevei Tzion, and he worked in the information bureau of the committee. He visited the Land of Israel twice, and a short time after 1910, he settled there permanently.

His first literary creation was published in the year 1901, and he immediately took a visible place in Hebrew belle lettres, and publicity. His first efforts, – the stories, “Trial” and “Life” – were published in David Frishman's HaDor. He then also published children's stories and legends in Olam Katan. He then began to write for HaShaluakh. Later he contributed to HaZman, and to the Warsaw [publication] HaTzofeh.

In the Land of Israel, he contributed to Hapoel HaTza'ir for all the years that the journal was edited by Joseph Aharonowitz. His articles – which were written in a light and popular style and in a discursive form – had a great influence. Yaakov Rabinovich fought for the practical [brand of] Zionism and for exclusively Jewish workers in all aspects of the transformation [of the land], and he was an opponent of political Zionism during the Wolfson era. He also participated in conferences of HaPoel HaTza'ir. In the years between 1910-1923 he lived in Petakh Tikva, where he acquired his own plot of land and planted a vineyard, but for a wide variety of reasons, his “career” in land reclamation didn't last for any length of time.

In the summer of 1912, he joined with the agronomist, Dr. Eliezer Khaniel (Pickholtz) in founding a Land Reclamation School in Petakh Tikva, and he became a member of the Steering Committee of that organization together with Yeshayahu Shitrit, Peretz Pascal, and Boruch Golomb. In 1923 he moved to Tel-Aviv.

Apart from publicity and stories, he was also creative in critique and poetry. He would sign his poems with the pseudonym M. Zatory. A collection of his poems, titled ‘Stav’ (i.e. the Fall), appeared in 1947. His short stories that appeared in a variety of periodicals – HaShaluakh, HaOlam, HaDor, Hapoel HaTza'ir, Revivim, HaTekufah,

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Gilyonot, Moznaim, Bustena'i, etc. – appeared in book form: A Collection of Short Stories through Tushya-Verlag 1904; Be'en Shoresh (Without Roots) 1914; Or VaEd, 1922; Nodedei Amasay HaShomer (Wanderings of Amasay the Watchman) – in which the author portrays life in the Land of Israel before the First World War; Neve Kayitz (The Summer Place) – in which the life of Zionist youth is portrayed in Russia after the first Russian revolution and the pogroms of October 1905. In 1935, through Neuman-Verlag, his book appeared under the name Hasagot – in which he treats a variety of aspects of the human spirit: philosophy and psychology, biology and sociology, etc. A number of years ago (1945) an historical biblical novel of his appeared through Neuman-Verlag under the name, BeMot Amim (When Nations Fall), in which an epoch is portrayed to which the Tanakh dedicates only very few lines. An entire cohort of Jewish men and women, and neighboring peoples appear before the eyes of the reader, who finds a distinct parallel to our times in the happenings and the heroes of the novel.

Rabinovich also composed dramas, of which one, titled Bet HaKharavot (The House of Destruction) was published in HaOmer and two in Hedim.

He also wrote a bit in Yiddish. Apart from a number of propaganda brochures – which he mostly signed with pseudonyms; Tziyoni Pashut (The Simple Zionist), Tziyoni Proletar (The Proletarian Zionist), etc. – he also published articles in the New York Yiddisher Kempfer.

In 1922, he founded the bi-monthly journal, Hedim, together with his friend the writer, Asher Barash, which distinguished itself with its fine literary and publicity content. This journal appeared for a period of six years. For a period of time, he also contributed to the newspapers, HaDoar HaYom, and HaBoker. In the last years, he was a permanent employee of the daily Hebrew Labor newspaper, Davar, and in the monthly Journal, Gilyonot, which appears in Tel-Aviv under the direction of Yitzhak Lamdan.

In the last years, he also carried out a program of strong propaganda on behalf of practical Zionism – he was an opponent of the division of the Land of Israel – for unity among Jews, and he was a protagonist against extreme class struggle in the Yishuv. At the time when the sharp conflicts came about in the Lands of Israel between the revisionists and the left wing of Zionism, he published in Moznaim and Bustena'i – extensive articles, in w3hich he called the Yishuv to peace and understanding of opposing views.

He also translated various works from French, German and Russian into Hebrew.

As previously mentioned, Rabinovich was active in the Zionist movement even before he came to the Holy Land and he participated as a delegate in a variety of Zionist congresses. He participated in the conference of the Tziyonei Tzion in Vilna (in the year 1925) and in the Zionist conferences in Odessa in the years 1906-1909. He was over the period of many years, a member of the committee of the Agudat HaSofrim (The Writers Organization of the Land of Israel) and a member of the committee of the Hebrew Pen Club. He was, for a number of years, a teacher at the Petakh Tikva Gymnasium, named for Ahad HaAm, and at the evening Gymnasium in Tel-Aviv. He was also a member of the committee of Brit Rishonim (The union of the first Zionists) – from the first day that the union was founded.

On April 5, 1948, the seventy-two year-old Yaakov Rabinovich – one of the most popular and beloved Hebrew writers, and a veteran of the Israeli Hebrew press and publicity – was killed in an automobile accident. It was characteristic, that in such a stormy time, when in the Land of Israel many fell in battle with the enemy, that Rabinovich would be a victim of an ‘ordinary’ misfortune – in the middle of the city, in one of the most populated streets of Tel-Aviv. The death of Yaakov Rabinovich can serve as an epilogue to the drama of his life – to one whose poems and stories are suffused with such sorrow, to the sense of futility that dominates so much of his work – a resignation from one who recognizes the degree to which arbitrary fate rules peoples' lives.

The death of Yaakov Rabinovich elicited an outpouring of great sorrow from the Yishuv. He was interred in the old Tel-Aviv cemetery beside the graves of the greatest Hebrew writers. Among all the people who took part in the funeral, the sorrowful faces of his Volkovysker landsleit in the Land of Israel stood out, who with bent heads and aching hearts escorted their prominent ‘City Son’ to his final rest.

Lieber Shereshevsky was born in Zelva and he was a lumber merchant in Volkovysk. His wife was a sister to Zus'keh Berman. Originally, he came to the Land of Israel as a tourist, but he then settled there. He was skilled and quick-minded. He adapted to the Land quickly, and began to do business – and he was successful. He had a large business in finished clothing on the Bustros Street in Jaffa – and he sold items of clothing to his Volkovysk landsleit at cost, without any margin. His home became the center for the Volkovysk landsleit If one of the Volkovyskers was short of money, he could always count on getting an extension of credit from Shereshevsky, until such time that money was sent from his family in Volkovysk. Lieber Shereshevsky was one of the founders of the Cooperative Banking Organization in the Land of Israel (1929-1939). In the last years, he was Vice President of the Brit Rishonim (a union of the first Zionists in the Land of Israel), a member of Mishpat HaShalom HaElyon (A higher justice court), one of the directors of the Stein Factory (for iron products), and Chairman of the Tel-Aviv bank, Halva'ah VeKhiskun.

Boruch Zusmanovich was one of the most important Hebrew teachers in Volkovysk many years ago. He was active in the field of Hebrew education and in the progressive school movement. He put together a Hebrew

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grammar, and also wrote short stories. In the Land of Israel he became a teacher at the Takhkemoni School of the Mizrachi [movement].

His three sons – Yisrael, Lipa and Joseph – who changed their last names to Yekutieli, were members of our group of Volkovysk Gymnasium students in the Land of Israel.

The oldest son, Yisrael, was a very devoted member, and an ardent Zionist. He emigrated to America even before the First World War, and when I came to America, we became very close. In New York, he worked body and soul for the Zionist movement. After the First World War, he returned to the Land of Israel. In these last years, he lives in Haifa, where he is the director of the Aliyah Section of the Jewish Agency. He is also active there in the Histadrut HaPekidim (Organization of Elected Officials).

The second son, Lipa, is the director of a school in Tel-Aviv. The third son, Joseph, was perennially active in the Maccabi movement, and he was one of the initiators of the Maccabiah competitions in the Land of Israel. He served in the Turkish Army in the years 1917-1918. He edited the Journal, Maccabi from 1924-1929. Since 1931, he is occupied with being the secretary of the swimming division of the HaNoteah Society.

The Brothers, Yankel & Jekuthiel Neiman were the children of Hanokh Neiman (whose father was Aizik Neiman). Yankel Neiman was a friend of mine, and when we were children, in Volkovysk, we studied together in the same Heders. Yankel came to the Land of Israel a couple of months before I did, and when I later got there we lived together, until his brother Jekuthiel arrived. His father Hanokh Neiman was a rich man and dealt in wire mesh metal fencing, and the Neiman brothers would receive quite a bit of money from Volkovysk, more than the other Volkovysk students who studied at the Hertzeliya Gymnasium in those years.

In 1913, both brothers traveled to make a visit to Volkovysk, and Yankel chose to remain there – at the request of his parents – to help with his father's business. Jekuthiel returned to the Land of Israel where he remained until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 – and then returned to Volkovysk. He is now in New York with his family, and runs a large drug store.

Israel Hubar was the eldest son of the renown wealthy Volkovysk magnate, David Hubar. He came to the Land of Israel (in 1913) with the objective of entering the Hertzeliya Gymnasium, but for a variety of reasons, he remained in the country for only a short while, and then went to Paris, and there, after a few months, returned to Volkovysk.

In the time he was in Tel-Aviv, he lived with this writer in one room. He led the “transformation.” He used to prepare and cook the food. All day long, he would assume the role of a woman and homemaker – but at night, he would disappear from the house, in the role of a man… his letters from the Land of Israel to home, made a very strong impression on his father, and kindled his Zionist soul. Israel loved to tell us about his conquests of the fairer sex. He would fondly recall the girls of Slonim, who studied at the Volkovysk Gymnasium. None of us were skeptical of his stories. We believed him. He was a handsome young man, tall, blond, and on top of that, with romantic tendencies – it therefore made sense that he had great appeal to the ‘weaker sex.’

Yitzhak Kaminer – A son of a Volkovysk merchant, who had a clothing business in the market square stores. He was quiet, taciturn, always sunk in thought, and he was admired by everyone for the fierce love that he showed towards the Land of Israel. He studies at the Jerusalem Teacher's Seminary. After that, he settled in Tel-Aviv. He was an elected official of the PIKA Society in the Land of Israel – and is today a real estate agent in Tel-Aviv.

[Page 138]

Moshe Kaplinsky was one of the scholars in our group. He was constantly occupied with study, and when he was done studying, he would read. He was seen as a walking encyclopedia, and it was a pleasure to talk to him. At the end of 1914, he received a letter from Volkovysk asking him to come home as quickly as possible, because his mother was gravely ill. He immediately traveled back home, but did not find his mother alive. He then remained in Volkovysk.

During the time of the First World War, under the German occupation, Moshe Kaplinsky took the position of teacher in a German Volksschule for Jewish children. After that war, he traveled to Russia with the objective of being admitted to the medical faculty at Moscow University. However, he fell ill there with intestinal typhus, and died.

Avreml Velvelevich was the oldest son of Mrs. Velvelevich that owned a paper processing business across the street from Feinzilber's house (at the corner of the Grodno Gasse). He had a phenomenal memory and was a substantial linguist. He even knew Turkish. He was one of the first Esperanto speakers in Volkovysk. He couldn't sit still in one place. He constantly went from place to place, having such a restless nature.

Nachman Moshe Epstein (Moshiach)

When the Jewish Legion was formed he joined the Legion – and immediately after the war remained in the Land of Israel, where he worked himself into a parcel of land in Ra'anana and he has his own farm.

When I visited Israel in 1945 I, naturally, met with Mottel, and to my great satisfaction, saw that Mottle hadn't changed a great deal, and he had remained the same cheerful, lively, laughing and devoted friend. As we both walked by the Tel-Aviv seashore, he constantly reminded me of our wonderful young years together in Tel-Aviv. He brought me to all of the Volkovysk landsleit, and communicated highly relevant details about each and every one of them. He knows all the latest news today – just like before!

Benjamin Kalir

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Benjamin Kalir's three daughters – Chana, Sarah and Rivka – who came with him to the Land of Israel, were very attractive girls. They all quickly adapted themselves, learned Hebrew, which a little at a time eventually became the language of discourse in the house. The oldest daughter Sarah, quickly married a prominent merchant, Shaul Harberg (whose brother, Israel Harberg was a classmate of mine at the Hertzeliya Gymnasium). All the Volkovysk landsleit came to the wedding, and made exceedingly merry.

In those years, the connection between Jaffa and Petakh Tikva was by means of a coach that would take passengers once a day from Jaffa to Petakh Tikva. Such a trip in those days was a big deal. One had to trek for hours in the coach, and often the passengers, begging their indulgence, would have to get down and help push the coach through the sands – because otherwise, the horses would simply refuse to move from their places. The arrival of the coach in Petakh Tikva at nightfall was an “event” that the entire colony looked forward to. The coach would come to a stop near the small Petakh Tikva garden. The postal office was there as well. The residents of Petakh Tikva would wait for the coach, taking a stroll in the garden. The young people were especially curious to see what new faces had arrived from the city. Kalir's house was exactly across from the coach station, near the small garden.

We Volkovysk Gymnasium students, whenever we had the time, would grab a break and go to the Kalir's house in Petakh Tikva, and we felt like we were at home there – eating, drinking, and taking a stroll in the previously mentioned garden, with Kalir's pretty daughters, Rivka and Chana. All the young men from the best and most well-connected families in Petakh Tikva would come and beg us to introduce them to Kalir's daughters.

Rivka Kalir later married Mr. Dukar – a musician in Petakh Tikva. Chana Kalir married Mr. Khupi, who is a high-ranking administrative official in Jerusalem.

One of Benjamin Kalir's sons, Moshe, left for a number of years going to Brazil, and afterwards returned to Israel, where he is active as an agronomist.

A second son, Aharon, is one of the most prominent labor leaders in the land – a member of the Central Land Development Organization, Mercaz Khakla'i and a founder of the Yakhin Society.

Eliezer Kalir, a third son, remained in Volkovysk. He was very active in many Volkovysk charitable organizations – the orphanage, Linat Kholim, the hospital, etc. – and worked extensively on behalf of the Zionist institutions (HeHalutz, etc.). He also occupied a distinguished position in the cultural activities of Volkovysk, and arranged for a variety of lectures by prominent Yiddish authors which he brought to Volkovysk.

He was also one of the founders of the Volkovysker Leben (in 1926), and he frequently published articles there about a variety of subjects – of local and general interest.

His wife was Pay'keh Markus (the daughter of Abraham Eli Markus). After his wife's family (her father and brothers) emigrated to the Land of Israel, he also went to settle there (in 1935) – where he lives to this day in Petakh Tikva.

In his first impressions of the Land of Israel, which he published in the Volkovysker Leben (of May 6, 1938), Eliezer Kalir describes the emotions that dominated him, when he finally met with his own kindred after having been parted from them for so many years, and the thoughts that were awakened within him on arriving in the ancient Jewish Homeland. We will quote a little of this very characteristic “First Impressions:”

[Page 140]

“I am approaching a great and unique privilege, to a dream that has unfolded into reality. I longed for them a full 25 years: for 25 years not seeing my father and mother, brothers and sisters; not seeing them, except perhaps once in a dream. I have already forgotten what they look like, their appearance. I no longer believed that I would once again see them…and now…soon…soon…

I am disoriented. That so many close but unfamiliar people fall upon you… kiss you and weep… kiss you and weep… the father (I understand that this is the father) recites the SheHekheyanu prayer. I weep spasmodically and kiss his hands… Tatinkeh!…Tatinkeh!… (when he emigrated, he took his leave of me, saying: we will see you soon!… and that “soon!” lasted 25 years!…).

– I ask everyone: – who are you? … who is that… and once again we fall upon each other and once again we weep. I took leave of them when they were small, scrawny children – now, grown people stood before me – people of middle age, who if I did not know who they were, I would never have recognized… I remark that my youngest sister, at least whom I think is my youngest sister, – she is still small and somewhat nervous – with an entirely gray head of hair…

– Rivka'leh, I say, Woe is me! You are all gray!…

– It is nothing! – she answers with a smile – it happened a long time ago, when I was young, there was a fever in the valley, in the Galilee!…

My heart is stopped up – the youngest has become the oldest!…

Having now sated myself with everyone – I see a broad-shouldered handsome man with a smiling tanned look, with a full head of hair – he approaches me and laughing, greets me with Sholom Aleichem!…

– And who is this? – I ask

– This is Aharon!…

– Which Aharon?!…

– Our Aharon – Archeh!…

– Your kidding me, – I say, – this is Archeh?!…

In no way do I want to believe this… for a long, long moment, we look into each others' eyes, until we fall into each others' arms … I simply could not imagine that such a man could develop out of that thin, weak Yeshiva student, such a persona, such an appearance, such a bearing, such a figure!… – – –

Only a few minutes in a taxi, and – the entire enchanting city lays before you, with wide streets, wondrous palaces, with a fast pace, impetus, luxury…

A light ecstasy fills you, and pours out over your entire soul… Once again, tears come to your eyes from emotion.

– Greetings to you, Tel-Aviv! The first Jewish city in the entire world, the fragile flower in the dryness of Asia! – – –

[Page 141]

It is late at night, but I cannot fall asleep. The first night in the Land of Israel, the first night in Petakh Tikva. Through the open window comes the constant sound of singing, songs – that are new, unfamiliar to me, energetic, pioneering songs.

Young people, Halutzim promenade about, traversing the streets and singing the entire night, free, unencumbered, like the great white moon over the free starry heavens of the Land of Israel. They sing – because they are young, because they are free, because they are in the Land of Israel.

I look out onto the streets – laughter…laughter….all around, totally around you, like the Song of Songs – his arm around her shoulders, her arm around his waist… (Ah, love is strong in Petakh Tikva!…).

I think: what I shame that I came so late, so old. If only I had come a little sooner, a little younger, I too could have savored the taste of the Land of Israel!…

Slowly, the streets become more quiet, the couples more sparse, I drowse… But I don't get to finish even this first little nap – a yell, an alarm, a mass-hysteria, a wailing!. I jump off my bed, neither alive or dead: – what has happened?!… a fire?!…an attack?!…

– Don't be afraid, don't be afraid – my mother soothes me – it is nothing – those are the jackals howling in the nearby parks! It is said, my mother adds, that they wail over the destruction of the Holy Temple!… – – –

I get calmed down from the howling of the jackals and close my eyes and it seems to me I am ready to drop off to sleep again… suddenly – again strange sounds, just as if you were sawing a tree trunk with a buzz saw, or if you were using an axe to cut into a dried wooden wall.

And what is this concert yet again?… – I cry out in confusion.

– Sleep, sleep! – the residents say, in a calming tone – that's the donkey braying.

Aha, – I say, that is the donkey! … Not a bad voice!… I never imagined that the animal that was to bear the Messiah would have such a dry, hacking cough, such a whooping-cough! … – – –

Ah, Land of Israel – that Holy and Sanctified Land! …

But…. Sustenance! … Bread! …

It is almost a month now that I traverse the streets of Tel-Aviv, knocking on doors, visiting all the bureaus, covering the institutions, looking for work, business – all in vain. My breast pocket is getting thicker and fuller with paper, references, letters of recommendation from one person who knows me to another, and from one important person to another – but as to a meaningful outcome – it is still a long way to go! I am given good hopes, promises, commitments – but there is no salvation…

Oh, you searching, oh, you pleading, oh, the burdens of the Land of Israel! … – – –

But I go around with my head held high, because no matter what it is, or no matter what it will be – The Land of Israel is our Land!

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It would appear that the profound belief in the Land of Israel gave Eliezer Kalir the strength and energy to overcome all these trials and tribulations, which are associated with the ‘burdens of the Land of Israel’ – and in the end, settled properly in the Land, and became employed in a bank. In these last years he has been active in the Israel organization of the Volkovysk landsleit (Irgun Olei Volkovysk) and he is a member of the newly created committee that has the objective of providing help to the [Holocaust] survivors of Volkovysk.

Eliezer Kalir published a book several years ago in the Land of Israel, called The Fathers of the Nazis – in which he portrays the period of the German occupation during the First World War – which was well received by the critics. He recently published a second book, Worlds – which is comprised of a complete range of stories, analyses, portraits of many writers, and other interesting personalities. This book was very beautifully printed and was richly illustrated by the artist, Toshavi.

Mordechai Chafetz

I recall, when during the time I was a student in the Hertzeliya Gymnasium and came to visit Volkovysk in the summer of 1912, I was invited to the Chafetz home, and Mordechai Chafetz asked me to tell them about life in the Land of Israel. I, the young gymnasium student, told them as much as I knew, but when Mordechai Chafetz began to question me about the economic conditions of the Land, I told him that the best thing would be for him to personally come to the Land of Israel and to familiarize himself with these details personally on the spot. He actually took this advice, and several months later he came and bought a large orchard in Petakh Tikva, and also brought his family to the Land of Israel.

Also, his house became a meeting place – along with Kalir's house – for the Volkovysk landsleit who visited Petakh Tikva.

Mordechai Chafetz put down deep roots in the Land, and became an important figure in the life of the colony. He, was for a time, the head of the governing committee of Petakh Tikva and also helped to arrange the security of the colony.

A number of years before the Second World War, when Mordechai Chafetz paid a visit to the United States, in the interest of the Israeli orchard-growers – he was one of the founders and leaders of the society of orange grove owners – I arranged a get-together with the Volkovysk landsleit who were in New York, in his honor, and we spent time together with our beloved guest from the Land of Israel, for whom it was such a pleasure to meet with his friends and acquaintances from our beloved city of Volkovysk.

Mordechai Chafetz passed away in Petakh Tikva in 1945. His father, Zalman Chafetz, passed away in the Land of Israel at the age of 97. Anna Chafetz-Skvirsky, (a sister of Mordechai Chafetz) is a well-known midwife in Petakh Tikva. Mordechai Chafetz's daughter, Dina holds an appointment in the Petakh Tikva Technology Division of the city government. His son, Eliezer, also lives in Petakh Tikva.

[Page 143]

This aliyah of the first Volkovyskers, up to the outbreak of the First World War, was just a beginning. In the period between both World Wars, in the years of 1918-1938, there was an unending stream of emigration from Volkovysk to the Land of Israel. The new immigrants put down roots in the Land, but they did not forget their old home town, and often visited their relatives in Volkovysk in the summertime. Also, many people from Volkovysk would come to the Land of Israel to visit their kinfolk who had settled in the Land, and make plans for the eventuality of how to liquidate their businesses and to establish permanent residence in the Land of Israel.

When after the war in 1945, I visited the Land of Israel, I estimated that to date, there are in the Land approximately five hundred Volkovysk families, of which the majority belong to the organization of Volkovysk olim in the Land of Israel.

The “committee” that directs this “organization” consists of the following members: Eliyahu Shaikevitz, President; Yehuda Novogrudsky (the son of Itcheh Shmuel Jonah's, who had a wine business in Volkovysk), Yitzhak Yehuda'i (the son of Reb Akiva Joseph Yudzhik), Azriel Broshi (Berestovitsky, the son of the Dayan), Shlomo Bereshkovsky, Secretary (his father had an iron goods store in Volkovysk), Shmuel (Mulya) Schein, and Eliezer Kalir.

In 1945, the Volkovysk landsleit in the Land of Israel called together a conclave of all the olim from Volkovysk and its vicinity – in order to establish a relief effort on behalf of the Holocaust survivors on a responsible basis. The organization of Volkovysk olim published bulletins, which contained information about the activities of the Israeli organization of Volkovyskers, and news about those who remained alive.

I am certain that Volkovyskers around the world will be interested to know who the Volkovysk residents are in the Land of Israel, and what they do for a living there. It is technically impossible for me to record this information about all the Volkovysk olim who are found in the Land of Israel; however, I will undertake the effort to tell about a large part of them. My overview is based first and foremost on the information sent to me by the previously mentioned important landsleit from the Land of Israel – Eliezer Kalir, Yitzhak Novogrudsky, Azriel Broshi and Shmuel Einhorn.

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