Saadia Kobashi ( he, סעדיה כובשי; ar, سعديه كوبشي, 1904–1990) was a leader of the

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...

community in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and one of the signatories of the country's

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

Biography

Born in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

, he migrated to Ottoman Palestine in 1909, settling in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. A member of the Jewish National Council and Moetzet HaAm on behalf of the

Yemenite Association The Yemenite Association ( he, הִתְאַחֲדוּת הַתֵּימָנִים, translit. ''Hit'ahdut HaTeimanim'') was a political party in Israel. History The party was founded by Yemenite Jews in 1923. It took part in Israel's first electi ...

, he signed the declaration of independence in 1948 as ''S. Kobashi'', adding ''HaLevi'' at the end (referring to the tribe of

Levi Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and ...

).For this reason we congregated
Iton Tel Aviv, 23 April 2004 After independence, he moved to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and was appointed supervisor of the Religious-Zionist education system. He became headmaster of a religious-Zionist school in

Rosh HaAyin Rosh HaAyin ( he, רֹאשׁ הָעַיִן, lit="fountainhead", , ar, روش هاعين) is a city in the Central District of Israel. To the west of Rosh HaAyin is the fortress of Antipatris and the source of the Yarkon River. To the southea ...

in 1949, where today a street is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobashi, Saadia 1904 births Yemenite Jews Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence Israeli educators 1990 deaths Jewish National Council members Yemenite Association politicians Yemeni emigrants to the Ottoman Empire Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent