Israel Shochat
Encyclopedia
Bar-Giora
Bar-Giora was a Jewish self-defense organization of the Second Aliyah, the precursor of Hashomer.- History :On September 28, 1907, a group of Poalei Zion members gathered at Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's unfurnished apartment in Jaffa apartment formed Bar-Giora, a Jewish self-defense organization named for...
" and Hashomer
Hashomer
Hashomer was a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded out of Bar-Giora in April 1909. It ceased to operate after the founding of the Haganah in 1920. The purpose of Hashomer was to provide guard services for Jewish settlements in the Yishuv, freeing Jewish communities from dependence...
, one of the precursors of the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. He was married to Manya Shochat
Manya Shochat
Manya Shochat , née Wilbushewich / Wilbuszewicz, was Russian Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement.-Russia and early days in Palestine:...
.
Biography
Israel Shochat was born in 1886, in Liskova, PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. As a child he had tutors for Hebrew and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. At 18 he was involved in a Jewish defence group and in Poalei Zion. He went to Germany to study agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
but left his studies after only three months and emigrated to Israel with his brother, Eliezer, in 1904. They worked as field hands in the fields and orchirds of Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva known as Em HaMoshavot , is a city in the Center District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv.According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600. The population density is approximately...
. He moved to Rishon leZion to work in the winery. There Israel met Alexander Zaid
Alexander Zaïd
Alexander Zaïd was one of the founders of the Jewish defense organizations Bar Giora and Hashomer, and a prominent figure of the Second Aliyah.-Biography:Zaïd was born in 1886 in Zima, a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia...
and shared with him his radical socialist ideas. Zaid received them enthusiastically and declared "I'm with you, for life or death, let's start as of now!"
In Rishon he suffered the first bout of fever, which was to plague him for the remainder of his life.
Israel moved to Jerusalem to persuade the yeshivot leaders to join the efforts to create a national workforce. His attempts failed. To support himself, he shined shoes at Jaffa Gate.
As a result of ill-health, he was forced to give up manual labour and worked as Israel Belkind
Israel Belkind
Israel Belkind was a Jewish educator, author, writer, historian and founder of the Bilu movement. A pioneer of the First Aliyah, Belkind founded the Biluim, a group of Jewish idealists aspiring to settle in the Land of Israel with the political purpose to redeem Eretz Yisrael and re-establish the...
's assistant.
He became interested in the Circassians living in Palestine, as an example of how a small minority could preserve its identity and pride in an often hostile environment. The key for Shochat was that they cultivated their land and protected it with their own hands.
Along with Israel Giladi, Alexander Zaid
Alexander Zaïd
Alexander Zaïd was one of the founders of the Jewish defense organizations Bar Giora and Hashomer, and a prominent figure of the Second Aliyah.-Biography:Zaïd was born in 1886 in Zima, a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia...
and Mendel Portugali
Mendel Portugali
Mendel Portugali was one of the leading figures in the Second Aliya and a founder of the Hashomer movement.- Biography :Mendel Portugali was born in 1888, in Călărași, Bessarabia, then part of the Russian Empire, actual Republic of Moldova....
, he convinced some of the Jewish farmers to let them help with guarding the fields. It was a modest start.
Israel represented Poalei Zion in the Zionist Congress of 1907, which took place in the Hague. He was his party's first representative from Palestine. He was unable to present his idea to the assembly and in a private conversation, Menahem Ussishkin
Menahem Ussishkin
Menachem Ussishkin was a Russian-born Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund.Avraham Menachem Mendel Ussishkin was born in Dubroŭna in the Belarusian part of the Russian Empire, Ussishkin graduated as a technical engineer from Moscow Technological Institute...
told Israel that he was much too young to succeed in achieving the goal of a national defence. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi was a historian, Labor Zionist leader, the second and longest-serving President of Israel.-Biography:...
, a representative from the USA, was receptive and they travelled back to Palestine together, working along the way.
In 1907, Israel was one of the 10 people who, in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi was a historian, Labor Zionist leader, the second and longest-serving President of Israel.-Biography:...
's Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
apartment, founded "Bar-Giora
Bar-Giora
Bar-Giora was a Jewish self-defense organization of the Second Aliyah, the precursor of Hashomer.- History :On September 28, 1907, a group of Poalei Zion members gathered at Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's unfurnished apartment in Jaffa apartment formed Bar-Giora, a Jewish self-defense organization named for...
", a clandestine organisation which sought to create an armed Jewish force. It took its name from one of the great Jewish rebels
Bar Giora
Bar Giora is a moshav in the Judean Mountains. Located between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 414....
against the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. He was part of the collective at Sejera
Ilaniya
- Bibliography : * ed. Yuval Elazari - Map's Concise Gazetteer of Israel Today MAP - Mapping and Publishing, Tel Aviv, 2003...
and led the watchmen there.
Along with Manya Shochat
Manya Shochat
Manya Shochat , née Wilbushewich / Wilbuszewicz, was Russian Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement.-Russia and early days in Palestine:...
, Israel was one of the founders of Hashomer
Hashomer
Hashomer was a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded out of Bar-Giora in April 1909. It ceased to operate after the founding of the Haganah in 1920. The purpose of Hashomer was to provide guard services for Jewish settlements in the Yishuv, freeing Jewish communities from dependence...
. He also founded the Work Legion, an organization meant to do the same thing for agriculture that Hashomer did for security. Being a Russian national, the Turks exiled him from Palestine to Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
.
After the war, he worked the land in Kfar Giladi
Kfar Giladi
-External links:* * Jewish Agency for Israel*...
, but soon became involved in Gdud HaAvoda
Gdud HaAvoda
G'dud HaʿAvodah VeHaHaganah ʿAl-Shem Yosef Trumpeldor , commonly known as Gdud HaAvoda, was a socialist Zionist work group in Mandate Palestine.The group was established on 8 August 1920, with the three focuses of work, settlement and defence...
and in organizing the defence of the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
.
During the riots of 1921, he took an active part in defending Tel-Aviv and Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
.
In the years 1921-26, Israel was on the Vaad Leumi
Vaad Leumi
The Jewish National Council , also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national institution of the Jewish community within the British Mandate of Palestine.-History:...
. He was also instrumental in forming Hapoel
Hapoel
Hapoel is an Israeli sport association. It was established in 1926 as a union of the Histadrut, and represented the workers class...
.
In the 1930s, after a long conflict with the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
, he retired from political life. He died in 1962 and is buried in Kfar Giladi
Kfar Giladi
-External links:* * Jewish Agency for Israel*...
alongside his wife.
External links
- Israel Shochat Jewish Agency for Israel