Joseph Bentwich (; 3 February 1902 – 1982) was a British-Israeli educator.

Biography

Bentwich was born in 1902 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. His father was

Herbert Bentwich Herbert Bentwich (originally Bentwitch; 1856 in Whitechapel – 1932 in Jerusalem) was a British Zionist leader and lawyer. He was an authority on Copyright law of the United Kingdom, copyright law, and owner/editor of the New Law Journal, Law ...

, a lawyer and a leading British

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 ...

and his mother was Suzannah Bentwich (née Solomon). From 1920 to 1923, Bentwich studied at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and, from 1923 to 1924, at an educational institute of

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. In 1924, he settled in

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

. Until 1928, he taught at The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, and at

Hebrew Reali School The Hebrew Reali School of Haifa (), located in Haifa, Israel, is one of the country's oldest private schools.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 ...

. Bentwich was then appointed an inspector of schools for the Mandate Government, and from 1943 to 1948 was an assistant director of the Department of Education.Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971 Edition. Volume 4. pp 555–556 In 1948, following the resignation of

Arthur Biram Arthur Yitzhak Biram (Hebrew: ארתור בירם; August 13, 1878 – June 5, 1967) was a German-born Israeli philosopher, philologist, and educator. He was the founder of the Reali School in Haifa. Biography Arthur Biram was born in Bis ...

, Bentwich was appointed as his replacement as principal of the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, a position he held until 1955. 1955 to 1958, he was a lecturer in education at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. Bentwich was a leader of the Amanah (Covenant) group, established to study and promote new interpretations of Judaism.

Awards

* In 1962, Bentwich was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for education.

Printed works

* ''Education in Israel'', 1965 * ''Yalkut ha-Datot'' (Anthology of Religions), editor, 1964 * ''Yahadut, Mikra'ah'' (Judaism, a Reader), editor, 1967 He also published several textbook for teaching English and mathematics.

Family

Bentwich had ten siblings, seven of whom eventually settled permanently in Israel. His eldest brother,

Norman Bentwich Norman de Mattos Bentwich (28 February 1883 – 8 April 1971) was a British barrister and legal academic. He was the British-appointed attorney-general of Mandatory Palestine and a lifelong Zionist. Biography Early life Norman Bentwich was the ...

, was a leading British lawyer, who also spent much of his professional life Mandate Palestine and Israel. Another sibling was Thelma Yellin, a renowned cellist and active pioneer of the musical life of Mandate Palestine. In 1924, Bentwich married Sarah Yaffe (the daughter of

Hillel Yaffe Hillel Yaffe (; 1864–1936) was a Russian Jewish physician and Zionist leader who immigrated to the Land of Israel in the First Aliyah during the Ottoman Empire. In the early 20th century he was instrumental in curing malaria, which at that tim ...

). They had four children; one of them is Professor Zvi Bentwich, virologist and a world-renowned expert in the treatment of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

; another is Rachel Shavit, whose son is the journalist

Ari Shavit Ari Shavit (; born 16 November 1957) is an Israeli reporter and writer. Shavit was a senior correspondent at the left-of-center Israeli newspaper ''Haaretz'' before he resigned when a pattern of sexual misconduct came to public attention. A se ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentwich, Joseph 1902 births 1982 deaths Date of death missing Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of London British emigrants to Mandatory Palestine British Jews Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel Prize in education recipients 20th-century Israeli Jews Jews from Mandatory Palestine Schoolteachers from London Immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah

Biography

Awards

Printed works

Family

See also

References