![Albert Einstein and others letter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Albert_Einstein_and_others_letter.jpg)
Irma L. Lindheim (1886–1978), born in New York, 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 ...
fund-raiser and educator.
Early life
Lindheim was born Irma Levy in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on December 9, 1886, to a German-Jewish family with roots in the American South.
Her father, Robert Levy, was a business man, and her mother, Mathilda (née Morgenstern) stayed at home and raised Irma and her sisters, Amy and Edna. Though Lindheim would later attend a Jewish seminary, her early life at home was largely devoid of Jewish ritual; the family had Christmas trees in their home and declined to celebrate Jewish holidays.
Irma, refusing to consent to her father's insistence that he choose her husband, married Norvin R. Lindheim in 1907, a young attorney and graduate of
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...
and
Columbia University Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestig ...
. Together, they had five children, and when Irma's father died in 1914, she inherited a small fortune.
Initial Zionist activity
She served as the only Jewish female first lieutenant in the Motor Corps of America during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, starting in 1917.
Around this time, Lindheim, inspired by an Ethical Culture teacher, decided to further educate herself on her
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
. After visiting her husband's cousin in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, where she met American Zionists and Palestinian Jews, she decided to dedicate herself to
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, 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 ...
.
She began to lecture on the subject, and, recognizing her leadership potential,
Henrietta Szold
Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine dedic ...
, head of the cultural division of the
American Zionist Organization, named Lindehim to the chair of New York's Seventh Zionist District. There, she oversaw the creation of a cultural center, the opening of which was attended by prominent Zionist and
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
Justice
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.
Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept ...
.
Though the center was initially successful, a dispute between Brandeis and
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
at the 1921 Zionist Convention led to the closing of the center.
Rabbinical education
![Irma Lindheim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Irma_Lindheim.png)
In 1922 she entered the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, becoming the first woman in the U.S. to attend a Jewish seminary. As the first female student of the Institute, she was relegated to special student status. In 1923, she petitioned the faculty to change her status from that of
special student to a regular student in the rabbinic program; in response, in May of that year they unanimously recommended the admission of women to the Institute on the same basis as men.
However, in 1925, she decided to drop her studies and traveled to Palestine.
First visit to Palestine
During her visit (later described in her book, ''The Immortal Adventure'', published in 1928), Lindehim was able to attend the opening ceremony of
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 ...
and was introduced to
Manya Shohat, who would later become a lifelong friend. Shochat helped Lindheim tour the country, taking her to the kibbutz she called home,
K'far Giladi. After touring the
Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
, Lindheim was newly energized for the Zionist cause.
Hadassah presidency
After a short period of fundraising, Lindheim became the third president of
Hadassah, in 1926.
At the time, the
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...
, then-president
Louis Lipsky
Louis Lipsky (November 30, 1876 – May 27, 1963) was an American Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization of America, magazine editor, and author of books on Jewish culture and politics.
Biography
Louis Lipsky had three sons: David ...
was pressuring Hadassah to give up their autonomy and fold into the ZOA. Lindheim fought against that pressure and eventually succeeded, was re-elected president in 1927, and served as Hadassah's delegate to the
World Zionist Congress
The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו ...
in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
. When she returned, she joined the
Labor Zionist
Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
Poale Zion
Poale Zion (also spelled 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 in about the turn of the 20th century after ...
, prompting the Hadassah board to demand her resignation on the grounds of conflict of interest. Lindheim resigned her post and began to raise funds for
Histadrut
Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...
and
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...
, organizations that defined themselves as further left than Hadassah.
Back to Palestine
In March 1933, Lindheim moved to Palestine with her children (Norvin had died in 1928) and attempted to found a Histadrut-funded clearing house for new immigrants. Finding this unfulfilling, she moved to Kibbutz
Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek ( he, מִשְׁמַר הָעֵמֶק, . "Guard of the Valley") is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of the ...
.
At 47, she was about 25 years older than the average kibbutz member.
During World War II, she was drafted by
Keren Kayemet
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subsequ ...
to solicit funding for Zionist causes in England. She also remained active in prodding Hadassah during this time, petitioning them to increase their work with the Zionist youth movement. Briefly moving back to America, she mounted an unsuccessful congressional campaign as candidate for the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of ...
in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York, in 1948 (when she appeared at rallies for Progressive presidential candidate
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...
and ran with Brooklyn ALP candidate
Lee Pressman
Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group), following hi ...
), sending her back to what was now Israel.
There, she helped to create Kibbutz
Adamit
Adamit ( he, אֲדָמִית) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Galilee in Israel near the border with Lebanon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
Kibbutz A ...
and Kibbutz
Ein HaShofet
Ein HaShofet ( he, עֵין הַשּׁוֹפֵט, ''lit.'' Spring of the Judge) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights region around 25 km southeast of the city of Haifa, close to Yokneam, it falls under the jurisdic ...
. ''Shofet'', which means "judge" in Hebrew, was chosen to honor Louis Brandeis. Dubbed the "grandmother of the kibbutz" by the Israeli press, she moved back to the U.S. in the mid-60's, continuing to write articles and essays for Zionist publications.
In 1962 she published her autobiography ''Parallel Quest: A Search of a Person and a People''.
Lindheim died on April 10, 1978, in Berkeley, California.
Some published works
Lindheim, Irma (1928) ''The Immortal Adventure.'' The Macauley Company
Lindheim, Irma (1962) ''Parallel Quest: A Search of a Person and People''. New York.
References
External links
Guide to the Hadassah Archives on Long-term Depositat the
American Jewish Historical Society
The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and ...
* The personal papers of Irma Lindheim are kept at the
Central Zionist Archivesin Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A274.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindheim, Irma
Zionist activists
Jewish scholars
1886 births
1978 deaths
Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America members
Labor Zionists
Activists from New York City
Jewish American activists
American Zionists
Women rabbinical students