Page 18 - HaMizrachi Chanukah 2021 - USA

1945 1947
The foundation stone is laid for Mizrachi's central office in Mizrachi opens its first office in Paris
Jerusalem, Beit Meir, named after Rabbi Meir Bar-llan; both
Ashkenazic and Sephardic Chief Rabbis attend the ceremony

Rabbi Maiman

FOUNDING OF THE STATE

David Ben-Gurion signs the Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. Sitting beside him: Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon. (PHOTO: HANS PINN. GPO)
H erzl, Ben-Gurion, Weizmann In 1913, he moved to Palestine to lead the situation. The committee was pre-

- these are the names most
role in determining whether the United
Hebraicized his last name to Maimon
famously associated with Mizrachi in Eretz Yisrael, where he paring a report that would play a critical
the birth of modern Israel. and became the head of Mizrachi's edu- Nations would support the founding of
But this list of founders should also cational system, which ultimately grew a Jewish State. When the delegation met
include a Mizrachi leader, Rabbi Yehuda to include tens of institutions and thou- with the Zionist leadership, Ben-Gurion
Leib Maimon, who played a critical role sands of students. asked Rabbi Maimon to speak to the
during the most awe-inspiring moments committee about the religious founda-
of Israel's birth, imbuing the nascent At the outbreak of World War I, he was tion of Zionism. His speech is a powerful
State of Israel with the Mizrachi spirit imprisoned by the Turkish authorities summary of the Mizrachi world view and
of Torah and faith. and sentenced to death, but was even- was a golden opportunity to explain how
tually freed due to the intervention of religious Jews view the idea of a Jewish
Yehuda Leib Fishman grew up in
American Jewish leaders and brought to state to the nations of the world.
Bessarabia, and after years of study in
the United States. While there, he helped
Lithuanian yeshivot, received rabbinic "There is an insoluble bond between the
organize and strengthen Mizrachi USA
ordination from Rabbi Yechiel Michel People of Israel and its Torah, and there
before returning to Eretz Yisrael at the
Epstein, the author of the Aruch HaShul- is similarly a strong and enduring tie
end of the war.
chan. A Religious Zionist from a young between our people and this land, the
age, he joined Mizrachi from its inception In June 1947, a United Nations Special like of which is not to be found elsewhere.
in 1902, attending Zionist Congresses Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) del- The bond between the people and the
and advocating on its behalf. egation came to Palestine to examine land was maintained throughout the

18 I HAfv11ZRACHI