Ze'ev (Wolf) Yavetz (Jawitz, Javetz) ( he, זאב יעבץ, 26 September 1847 – 24 January 1924) was a Jewish historian, teacher and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

linguist.

Biography

Ze'ev (Wolf) Yavetz was born in Kolno in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). He published his first historical article in '' HaShahar'', a Hebrew monthly published by

Peretz Smolenskin Peretz (Peter) Smolenskin (; 25 February 1842 – 1 February 1885) was a Russian-born Zionist and Hebrew writer. Biography Peretz Smolenskin was born in Monastyrshchina, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (in present-day Smolensk Oblast, ...

. In 1887, at the age of 40, he

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Ottoman Palestine. He initially worked in a vineyard in the Yehud

moshava A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist im ...

, before being recruited by

Edmond James de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - ''HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield''; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French memb ...

to be headmaster of a school in

Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov ( he, זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב, ''lit.'' "Jacob's Memorial"; often shortened to just ''Zikhron'') is a town in Israel, south of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Carmel mounta ...

. On Tu Bishvat that year he took his students to plant trees in Zikhron Ya'akov.With Tu Bishvat near, a tree grows in Zichron Yaakov
Haaretz, 25 January 2013 This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers Union and later by the Jewish National Fund. Yavetz was a member of the Hebrew Language Committee, and coined several modern Hebrew words, including ''tarbut'' (culture) and ''kvish'' (road). After falling out with Baron Rothschild's administrators he moved to

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

. In 1902, he helped to found the Mizrachi movement and became the editor of its periodical ''HaMizrachi''. In 1903, at a reception for

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...

, he presented the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader with a small

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

scroll in a carved holder as a gift of honor from the Vilna community. Yavetz used the Bible in a new thematic and stylistic manner with the object of reviving ancient ways of life. He has been called a "proto-Orientalist."Orientalism and the Hebrew Imagination, Yaron Peleg
/ref> In his later years he moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he completed his 14-volume history of the Jews entitled ''Toldot Yisrael''. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1924. A moshav 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 ...

Kfar Yavetz Kfar Yavetz ( he, כְּפַר יַעֲבֵץ, ''lit.'' Yavetz Village) is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near Tayibe, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lev HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a population ...

, is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yavetz, Ze'ev Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire 1847 births 1924 deaths People from Kolno Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United Kingdom