Beba Idelson ( he, בבה אידלסון, 14 October 1895 – 5 December 1975) was a

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 ...

activist and

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 ...

i politician.

Biography

Beba Idelson (née Trakhtenbereg) was born in Ekaterinoslav 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. ...

(now Dnipropetrovsk,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) in 1895. When she was eight, her mother died giving birth to her thirteenth child and at the age of fourteen she lost her father, Yitzhak.Beba Idelson
/ref> Along with her grandmother and brother, she helped to support the family. In 1912, she graduated from high school, and went on to study Economics and Social Sciences at the University in Ukraine. In 1913, shaken by the Beilis trial, she became interested in Zionism and in 1915 she joined the “Youth of Zion” (later to be merged into Hashomer Hatzair). In 1917, she joined the Zionist Socialist Party and married Yisrael Idelson (later

Yisrael Bar-Yehuda Yisrael Bar-Yehuda ( he, ישראל בר-יהודה, 15 November 1895 – 15 May 1965) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. Biography Born Yisrael Idelson in Konotop, in the Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Sum ...

), a senior party member. For their Zionist activism, they were banished to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. That year she also gave birth to the couple's only daughter, Rebecca. In 1924, thanks to an intercession by

Maxim Gorki Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...

's wife, their banishment was converted to deportation to

Eretz Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

Zionist and political activism

Between 1924 and 1926, Idelson was active in the World Union of Socialist Zionists in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, and in 1926 they immigrated to the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

. Yisrael worked for the party and became secretary of the workers of Petah Tikva while Beba worked in agriculture. She later divorced Idelson and married Haim Halperin. From 1927 to 1928 she worked as a statistician for the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

and then joined the

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the perio ...

party. In 1930 she became secretary of the “Council of Working Women” and led several women's organizations. She was a delegate to the

Jewish National Council The Jewish National Council (JNC; he, ועד לאומי, ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within Mandatory Pale ...

and contacted many socialist leaders, arguably including

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in October 1937. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Idelson and Hadassah Samuel from the

Women's International Zionist Organization The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; he, ויצו ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Dias ...

were the prime movers behind the volunteering of Jewish women from the

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...

to the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. A total of 3,200 women served in the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

, and 789 in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

Political career

After the State of Israel was established in 1948, Idelson was a member of the Provisional State Council and headed the Flag and Emblem Committee, which chose the

Emblem of Israel The Emblem of Israel ( he, סמל מדינת ישראל, Sēmel Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ar, شعار دولة إسرائيل, translit=Shiʾeer Dawlat ʾIsrāʾīl) depicts a temple menorah surrounded by an olive branch on each side, with the w ...

. In 1949-1965, Idelson was elected to the first five

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

s for

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

. She was a member of the Constitution, Law and Justice, House, Foreign Affairs & Defense and Labor Committees. She promoted social reforms and women's equality and opposed the religious coercion. She also supported applying the mandatory draft to the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

to women as well as men. In 1960, she was chairwoman of the Histadrut's ninth Committee and was its member until 1965. From 1968 to 1975, Idelson was chairwoman of the World Movement of Pioneer Women. She retired from the Council of Working Women in 1974 and died in 1975.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Idelson, Beba 1895 births 1975 deaths Politicians from Dnipro Women members of the Knesset Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Israeli feminists Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish feminists Jewish socialists Jews from the Russian Empire Ukrainian Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli women's rights activists Mapai politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery 20th-century Israeli women politicians

Biography

Zionist and political activism

Political career

See also

References

External links