Gedaliah Bublick (1875—1948) was a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and

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.

Biography

Gedaliah Bublick was born in Grodno,

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

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), the son of Aaron Bublick. He was raised in Białystok where he remained until 1900. He obtained a traditional Jewish education at the

Łomża Łomża (), in English known as Lomza, is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship ...

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

in Poland and later at the famous Mir Yeshiva in Lithuania. In 1900, Bublick went to Paris to help a group of Białystok families trying to gain entry to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

under the

Baron de Hirsch Fund Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth (german: Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth; french: Maurice, baron de Hirsch de Gereuth; 9 December 1831 – 21 April 1896), commonly known as Maurice de Hirsch, was a German Jewish financier and phila ...

. After obtaining the appropriate visas, Bublick joined the group for three years as a

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 ...

teacher for their children. In 1904 Bublick left Argentina for the United States where he began working for the New York Orthodox Yiddish newspaper, ''Yiddishe Tageblatt'' (The Jewish Daily Page). He was a vociferous opponent of

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

and Conservative Judaism. In 1915, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the ''Yiddishe Tageblatt''. As a young man, Bublick drifted away from traditional Jewish life for the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

(Enlightenment) Movement, but eventually returned to religion and became a staunch advocate for

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

. In his book ''Min Hametzar'', he predicted massive intermarriage and detected danger in the Conservative movement. He wrote "It's a battle between Harvard and

Volozhin Valozhyn, Vałožyn or Volozhin ( be, Вало́жын, , russian: Воло́жин, lt, Valažinas, pl, Wołożyn, yi, וואָלאָזשין ''Volozhin''; also written as Wolozin and Wolozhin) is a town in the Minsk Region of Belarus. The pop ...

." A street in the

Ramot Ramot ( he, רָמוֹת, ''lit.'' Heights), also known as Ramot Alon ( he, רמות אלון), is an Israeli settlement and a Jewish neighborhood in the northern part of East Jerusalem. Ramot is one of Jerusalem's so-called " Ring neighborhood ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

is named for Bublick.

Zionist activism

In 1920, Bublick visited Palestine for the first time. Bublick was active in the Jewish community and was one of the founders of the American Jewish Congress. He was elected as a vice-chairman of the American Jewish Congress in May 1920. He served on the executive board of 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 ...

(1919-1926) and the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

. He was a well-known publicist for religious Zionism and was one of the founders of the American Mizrachi and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He traveled to Palestine on many occasions to support Jewish settlement. In 1925, he attended the opening ceremonies of the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

as the representative of the Keren Ha-Yesod.

Published works

*''Mayn Rayze in Eretz Yisroel'' (New York, 1921), *''Min Ha-Metzar'' (From the Depths) (New York, 1923), *''Sach Ha Kol'' (New York, 1927)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bublick, Gedaliah 1875 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Polish Jews People from Grodno Zionist activists Yiddish-language writers