Pines, Yechiel Michel

  General Notes:

Rabbi, author, early religious Zionist, one of the founders of the Miz rachi movement, and promoter of Hebrew as a spoken language. He studi ed under Rabbi Mordecai Gimpel Jaffe, and also received a general educ ation which included foreign languages and science. He moved to Eret z Yisrael in 1878 representing the London based Moses Montefiore Testi monial Fund [Mazkeret Moshe]. He helped out a goup of early settlere s from Russia (the Biluim) when they were ready to give up, by purchas ing a tract of land for them, which they called Gedera. He establishe d several Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Together with Eliezer Be n Yehuda he established the organization Tehiyyat Israel [the Israel R enaissance Society] which, among other things, sought to promote Hevre w as a spoken language for everyday life.

Pines was a master of Hebrew style and wrote many articles. His wirit ings include: Yaldei Ruchi (1872) on the position of Israel among th e nations; Ha-Hayyim ve ha-Yahadut (1873) on the relation of Judaism t o the times; Torat Mishpete Togarma (1887) which he wrote together wit h David Yellin; and Avodat ha-Adamah (1891) on agriculture in Eretz Is rael. His sons-in-law David Yellin and Jofef Meyuhas edited his colle cted writings in 1934-1939. A settlement (moshav) in the Sharon plai n founded in 1933 - Kfar Pines - is named after him.

Yechiel married Chaya Tzipora (Tzipa) Luria, daughter of Shemariah Luria and Hana Mina Rivlin. (Chaya Tzipora (Tzipa) Luria was born in 1844 in Mogilev, Belarus and died on Apr 4, 1918 in Jerusalem, Israel.)