Yechiel Michel Pines ( ) (; 18 September 1824 – 15 March 1913) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

-born

religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, writer, and community leader in the Old Yishuv. Yechiel Michel Pines was born at Ruzhinoy, near

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

. He was the son of Noah Pines and the son-in-law of Shemariah Luria, rabbi of Mogilev. He received both a religious and secular Jewish education, and was mentored by Rabbi Mordechai Gimpel Jaffe, an early leader of Ḥovevei Zion. He later became a merchant, giving lectures at the same time in the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...

of his native town. He was elected delegate to a conference held in London by the association Mazkereth Moshe, for the establishment of charitable institutions in Palestine in commemoration of the name of Sir

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, aft ...

. In 1878 he settled in

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

, at the home of his relative

Yosef Rivlin Yosef Yitzhak "Yoshya" Rivlin ( he, יוסף יצחק "יושעה" ריבלין, 18 December 1836 – 5 September 1896) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar, writer, and community leader in the Old Yishuv of Jerusalem. Scion of a family of Perushim, di ...

, to establish and organize such institutions. At the end of his life, Pines was an instructor in

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

at the Hebrew Teachers' Seminary in Jerusalem.

Legacy

There is a street named after Pines near

Davidka Square Davidka Square ( he, כיכר הדוידקה, ''Kikar HaDavidka'') is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Pines Street in West Jerusalem. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (, Freedom Square). It fea ...

in Jerusalem, as well as streets in

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

Ra'anana Ra'anana ( he, רַעֲנָנָּה, lit. "Fresh") is a city in the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where an important ...

and Petah Tikvah. The Israeli religious moshav Kfar Pines is named after him.

References

1824 births 1913 deaths 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire 19th-century rabbis in Jerusalem Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis People from Pruzhany District {{Rabbi-stub