Gershon Zak ( he, גרשון זק, 1913–1989) was the head of the Sea service which became the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

, at that time there was no commander till Paul Shulman came and both Paul Shulman and Zak were in charge, Shulman as commander and Zak as Administrative from

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

.History
Israel Defense Forces: Navy

Biography

Born 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. ...

in 1913, Zak made aliyah to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

, where he joined the Haganah. On 17 March 1948 future Prime Minister

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

(and at the time the leader of the Haganah) gave the order to create a Jewish naval service. He remained as head of the Sea Service that became the Israeli Navy until April 1949 when he resigned in order to pursue a career in teaching. The following year he established the

HaKfar HaYarok HaKfar HaYarok ( he, הכפר הירוק; "The Green Village") is a youth village in Israel, located in southern Ramat HaSharon, along the northern border of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Name Gershon Zak, the founder of the village, called it in 1950 "Gre ...

youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...

. Zak was a member of the executive at

Yad Levi Eshkol Yad Levi Eshkol () is the official non-governmental organization commemorating Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol. The organization was founded in accordance with a government resolution made in 1970. Yad Levi Eshkol is carrying public activities ...

. He was also responsible for renaming HaKfar HaYarok in memory of

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( he, לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik ( he, לוי יצחק שקולניק, links=no), was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israe ...

after his passing.

Awards and honours

In 1986, Zak, together with HaKfar HaYarok, won the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement to education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zak, Gershon 1913 births Ukrainian Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Haganah members Israeli Navy generals Israeli educators 20th-century Israeli Jews Israel Prize in education recipients 1989 deaths

Biography

Awards and honours

See also

References