Ze'ev (Wolf) Yavetz (Jawitz, Javetz) (, 26 September 1847 – 24 January 1924) was a Jewish historian, teacher and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

linguist.

Biography

Ze'ev (Wolf) Yavetz was born in

Kolno Kolno is a town in northeastern Poland, located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, about northeast of Warsaw. It is the seat of Kolno County, and the seat of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Kolno, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Gmin ...

in the

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 ...

(today in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). He published his first historical article in '' HaShahar'', a Hebrew monthly published by Peretz Smolenskin. In 1887, at the age of 40, he

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to Ottoman

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 ...

. He initially worked in a vineyard in the Yehud

moshava A moshava (, plural: ''moshavot'' , ''colony'' or ''village'') was a form of agricultural Jewish settlement in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine (now Israel), established by the members of the Old Yishuv beginning in the late 1870s ...

, before being recruited by

Edmond James de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Jewish settlement in Palestine, his large donations lent significant support to ...

to be headmaster of a school in

Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov () often shortened to just Zikhron, is a local council (Israel), town in northern Israel, south of the city of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Mount Carmel, Carmel mountain range over ...

. On

Tu Bishvat Tu BiShvat () is a Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. It is also called ''Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot'' (), literally " New Year to the Trees". In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awa ...

that year he took his students to plant trees in Zikhron Ya'akov.With Tu Bishvat near, a tree grows in Zichron Yaakov
Haaretz, 25 January 2013 This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers Union and later by the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

. Yavetz was a member of the

Hebrew Language Committee The Academy of the Hebrew Language (, ''ha-akademyah la-lashon ha-ivrit'') was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on the Hebrew language in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem of Givat Ram cam ...

, and coined several modern Hebrew words, including ''tarbut'' (culture) and ''kvish'' (road). After falling out with Baron Rothschild's administrators he moved to

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. In 1902, he helped to found the Mizrachi movement and became the editor of its periodical ''HaMizrachi''. In 1903, at a reception for

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

, he presented the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

leader with a small

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

scroll in a carved holder as a gift of honor from the Vilna community. Yavetz used the Bible in a new thematic and stylistic manner with the object of reviving ancient ways of life. He has been called a "proto-Orientalist."Orientalism and the Hebrew Imagination, Yaron Peleg
/ref> In his later years he moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he completed his 14-volume history of the Jews entitled ''Toldot Yisrael''. He died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1924. A

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Kfar Yavetz Kfar Yavetz () is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near the Arab city of Tayibe, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lev HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was founded o ...

, is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yavetz, Ze'ev Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire 1847 births 1924 deaths People from Kolno Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United Kingdom Immigrants of the First Aliyah Linguists of Hebrew 19th-century Polish Jews 20th-century Polish Jews