Mendel Portugali (1888 – 13 January 1917) was one of the leading figures in the

Second Aliyah The Second Aliyah () was an aliyah (Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews, mostly from Russia, with some from Yemen, immigrated into Ottoman Palestine. The Sec ...

and a founder of the

Hashomer Hashomer (, 'The Watchman') was a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded in April 1909. It was an outgrowth of the Bar-Giora group and was disbanded after the founding of the Haganah in 1920. Hashomer was responsible for guarding Je ...

movement.

Biography

Mendel Portugali was born in 1888 in

Călărași Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county se ...

(Kalarash),

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

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 ...

(now a part of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

). As a boy, he studied in a

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

. In 1899, he attended a school of commerce in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

(Kishinev). Although a good student, he was expelled two years later for his ties with a revolutionary group. On his return home, Mendel decided he wanted to be a

tradesman A tradesperson or tradesman/tradeswoman is a skilled worker that specialises in a particular trade. Tradespeople (tradesmen/women) usually gain their skills through work experience, on-the-job training, an apprenticeship program or formal educ ...

, but his parents were bitterly opposed to the idea, which they considered beneath the family's dignity. He spent his time trying to get the Moldovans to rise up against what he perceived to be an oppressive regime, but they refused to see him as anything but yet another Jewish revolutionary inciting them against the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

. They beat and then arrested him. His house was searched, seditious literature was found and Mendel was sentenced to three years of hard labour in Siberia. He served two of them, before being issued a pardon on the occasion of the birth of

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

's heir, Tsarevich Aleksei. Mendel joined

Poale Zion Poale Zion (, also romanized ''Poalei Tziyon'' or ''Poaley Syjon'', meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th c ...

, worked as a math teacher and learnt farming from his Moldavian neighbours. When the

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, 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 Anti-Jewis ...

of 1905 broke out, Mendel and Israel Giladi were involved in defending the Jewish community of Călărași. During the fighting, he was wounded in the back. Mendel and his brother had to escape across the border, because the police had a warrant for their arrest. He made his way to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, his family joining him later. He married Tova Eylovich and had three sons, one of whom died in infancy. Mendel was one of the founders of " Bar-Giora" and Hashomer. He exerted a restraining influence on some of the rasher members. In Sejera, bad-blood broke out between the members of the collective and one of the managers, who had replaced the Jewish labourers with

fellah A fellah ( ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a local peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". Due to a con ...

en. Several of the workers and watchmen wanted to beat up the manager for that. Mendel prevented them, suggesting that going on strike was a better option all round. He served as one of the three Hashomer chairmen. As such, he was busy recruiting new members and also hiring temporary watchmen during harvests. Although associated with guarding for most of his life, Mendel felt a closer affinity with working the land. In 1917, whilst on duty, he was tossing his gun in the air, which went off, fatally wounding him. He lingered on for a few days in great agony but without complaint, before passing away on 13 January 1917. He is buried alongside his wife, Tova, in the

Kfar Giladi Kfar Giladi () is a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle of northern Israel. Located south of Metula on the Naftali Mountains above the Hula Valley and along the Blue Line (Lebanon), Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee ...

cemetery.

Sources

* "Anshei Hashomer Bechayeihem Ubemotam" (Hashomer members in life and death) Gershon Gera.

External links

Mendel Portugali - A Founder of Hashomer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portugali, Mendel 1888 births 1917 deaths Ashkenazi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Firearm accident victims Moldovan Jews Moldovan Zionists Bessarabian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire