Edward J Sperling (1889 – July 22, 1946), born Ezra Sperling, was a 20th-century writer, humourist, and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

Early life

Ezra Sperling was born in 1889 in a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community in

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. As a boy, he and his family fled Russia to avoid the state-sponsored

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

, emigrating to the United States, where he changed his name to Edward. His family eventually settled in

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Iowa. The county seat of Woodbury County, Sioux City is the primar ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. As a boy – and throughout his life – Edward was described as quiet, gentle, and fairly introverted, spending most of his time reading or writing. As a result, he took to writing professionally, writing articles for local Jewish newspapers.

World War One and aftermath

After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

had broken out, Edward went to Canada to join the British Army in 1918, and ended up enlisting in the

Jewish Legion The Jewish Legion was a series of battalions of Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army during the First World War. Some participated in the British conquest of Palestine from the Ottomans. The formation of the battalions had several ...

under

Joseph Trumpeldor Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (, ; , ; November 21, 1880 – March 1, 1920) was a Russian Zionist activist who helped organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to Palestine. He was killed while defending the settlem ...

, for whom he would later name his first-born son, Joseph Trumpeldor Sperling (though this was also because Edward's future wife had been friends with Trumpeldor). It is unclear whether Sperling was a

zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

before joining the Jewish Legion, or if his experiences under Zionists such as Trumpeldor influenced him to that end, but it is certain that by the time the war was over, he believed very strongly in the Zionist cause. After his discharge from the Jewish Legion, he settled in Palestine, where he married a fellow Russian émigré named Sara Fixman, with whom he had 4 children. He befriended many prominent Zionists, among them future president

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving president of Israel. He was 1952 Israeli presidential elec ...

, ''

The Palestine Post ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' founder

Gershon Agron Gershon Harry Agron (; ; 1 November 1959) was an Israeli newspaper editor, politician, and the mayor of West Jerusalem between 1955 and his death in 1959. A Zionism, Zionist from his youth, Agron joined the Jewish Legion and fought in Palestine ...

, and future prime minister Moshe Shertok. At the request of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, Edward began working for the British Mandate, rising to the post of

director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the

Ministry of Trade and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

. He used this post to aid the development of Jewish industries and the

kibbutzim A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, i ...

Writings

While working for the British Mandate, Edward wrote for many newspapers, including the London ''

Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' and the '' Palestine Illustrated News'', often under

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

(most notably "Caisson"). His most successful article, which he wrote for the ''Illustrated News'', was entitled "Barrage". Barrage, which was essentially a collection of humorous aphorisms/one-liners, ran from 1937 to April 1946. The humour expressed is often based on the inconveniences of Palestinian (and later, war-time) life. Excerpts from Barrage: *''"It is feared that the high cost of hair dyes may cause a serious shortage of blondes in the country."'' *''"Military experts, once skeptical, now give great praise to the Soviet Army. Those Russians have shown that they can take towns faster than anybody else can pronounce them".'' *''"It is feared that should the python, which escaped the other day from the Tel Aviv Zoo, begin to devour camels, the city will be threatened with a serious meat shortage".'' In 1992, Sperling's grandson, David Sperling, compiled a great number of the aphorisms into a book entitled ''Barrage: Observations from Palestine, 1940 – 1946'', which remains as yet unpublished. Sperling also wrote art criticisms for the ''Jewish Chronicle'' and the ''Palestine Post'' (the latter which published his last review on the day of his death), using the initials "Th. F.M.".

Death

On July 22, 1946, Edward Sperling died in the

King David Hotel bombing The British administrative headquarters for Mandatory Palestine, housed in the southern wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, were bombed in a terrorist attack on 22 July 1946, by the militant right-wing Zionist underground organization I ...

. Sperling was preparing to leave

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to go to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. As he left his government office at the

King David Hotel The King David Hotel (; ) is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, it was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It ...

, he was shot at by

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

men (not knowing he himself was a Zionist). Wounded, he fled back into his office in the hotel. Shortly afterward, the bombs planted by the Irgun men in the hotel went off. He was among the 91 people killed in the bombing. He was buried on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

in Jerusalem. (See

References

Tugend, Tom. "A grandson's quest." ''The Jerusalem Post'' erusalemJuly 22, 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperling, Edward 1889 births 1946 deaths People from Slutsk People from Slutsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American emigrants to Mandatory Palestine American humorists American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American people murdered abroad American Zionists Belarusian Zionists Mass murder victims Murdered American Jews People murdered in Mandatory Palestine Jewish Legion personnel Immigrants of the Third Aliyah Murder in Jerusalem