Roots: Rabbi Yehuda Leib Avida (Zlotnik)

Lily Avida — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:30:37 +0000

Yehuda Laib Zlotnik, (1887, Plock, Poland – 1962, Jerusalem, Israel) was married to Sara Kaliszer, daughter of Abram Iciek Kaliszer and Nekha nee’ Kon from Plock. They had a son, Mordechai who later became the known radio reader of Kol Israel in its preliminary stage, and a daughter, Channa, who lived in Olympia, WA, USA.

He studied Talmud in the Yeshiva of Volozhin, and at the same time pursued secular studies. In 1910 he was ordaine3d rabbi, and at the age of twenty-four he was appointed rabbi in the city of Gombin, Poland. He was founder and organizer of the Mizrachi (Orthodox Zionists) organization in Poland, and its first general secretary. He continued to study modern languages and was well versed in Polish, German and English literature.

Zlotnik’s first literary was a biography in Hebrew of Jesus of Nazareth which was praised by Joseph Klausner; but it was not printed in book form due to the censorship in Czarist Russia. His chief literary contribution, however, was in the field of Jewish folklore and ethnography, on which subjects he wrote several books. Best known is his Beliefs and Superstitions (Yiddish; Warsaw, 1918) which he wrote under the pen-name of Judah Elzet. Also well known is his Kohelet – The Man and the Book (1929). In 1920 Zlotnik went to the United States and, after a short visit, he left for Canada, where he was elected president of the Mizrachi.

He lived in Montreal until 1936, holding several important positions in the Zionist movement, including that of executive director of the Jewish National Fund. During this time he published numerous articles on Jewish subjects in English, in which language he also wrote a series of poems which were praised by literary critics in Canada. From there he was called by the Jewish community in South Africa to head the Jewish Educational Department of that country, a position which he held from 1936 on with great distinction. There he wrote: Bereshith Bamelitzah Haibrith (1938) and Maamarim Misefer Midrash Hamelitzah Haibrit (1939), dealing with Hebrew phraseology; Mahbaroth Mine Kedem (1943), giving fragments of Maimonides’ Hilchoth Berachoth from a newly discovered manuscript.

He changed his name to “AVIDA” when he arrived to Israel. When he came to Israel he became important commentator of the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote tens of Talmudist, Yiddish, folklore and commentary books. His pen-name was “El-Zet”, (Leib Zlotnik).

The street in Jerusalem, where he had his apartment and where he wrote his last books, was changed after his death to “AVIDA Street“.

Written About Him

My Uncle, Rabbi Y. I. Avida

(“El. Zet.” – Yehuda Lajb Zlotnik)

by Ruhama Shnir (Zlotnik)

The article was published in “Davar” 12.11.1962

The writer, a niece of Rabbi Avida, who was brought up in her late father’s house, regards him as a great personality. His life was dedicated to Jewish education and Zionism. He was a well known public speaker whose speeches always made a lasting impression on his audiences. After the First World War he settled in Canada, and later on went to South Africa, where he founded Hebrew schools and a Hebrew Teachers Seminary.

Mrs. Snir met her uncle again after 23 years, when he visited Eretz Israel in the forties. It was then that he decided to come to Israel, but his plans were realized only after the establishment of the State, when he moved to Jerusalem. He was happy to spend the last years of his life in the eternal city.

Rabbi Avida translated “Ecclesiastes” into Yiddish. He was an outstanding intellectual, whose achievements in the sphere of Zionism and Jewish education in many countries were of great importance.

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Avida (Zlotnik)

by Dr. Nechemia Aloni

Article published in “Haaretz” 23.10.1962

Rabbi Y. L. Avida’s life-work spread over many countries: Poland, Canada, South Africa and Israel; and many spheres: Zionist education, the Keren Kayemet, Jewish folklore research and journalism. He wrote three books on legal Talmudic subjects and many articles on Jewish folklore. While in Canada and South Africa he acquired an excellent knowledge of English and French and published several poems in English. He was devoted to Yiddish and a Soviet scholar called him “a rabbi, who is also a Yiddish language scholar”.

Rabbi Avida spent his last years in Jerusalem. He was beloved by all who knew him in the Diaspora and in Israel.

Family Roots Project

Lily Avida — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:20:36 +0000

Daria has a family roots project in school, and once we started receiving the answers from our family, it seemed only logical to add the info into this blog.

You would need to get a user name and password to read the current entries.

Aack! Ascii messup in UTF1 vs. UTF8

Lily Avida — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:33:56 +0000

Here are the replacement Ascii codes:

UTF1	ASCII code	sample
â„¢	™	™
â€™	‘	‘
â€“	—	—

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