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Born: July 14, 1785, Philadelphia; Died: May 22, 1851, New York Mordecai Manuel Noah was a Jewish-American diplomat, playwright, journalist, utopian, and activist. He was born on July 14, 1785 in Philadelphia and was of Portuguese Sephardic descent. His grandfather…

Born: 1789, Gibraltar; Died: 1852, Hebron Yehuda Bibas was a Rabbi and Proto-Zionist. He was born in 1789 in Gibraltar to a Sephardic Jewish family. He was descended from Chaim ibn Attar, an esteemed Rabbi in the Moroccan Jewish community…

Born: 1798, Sarajevo; Died: 1878, Jerusalem Yehuda Alkalai was a Rabbi and Proto-Zionist. He was born in 1798 in Sarajevo. He received a traditional Jewish education in Jerusalem where he was significantly influenced in Kabbalah or Jewish Mysticism.  In 1825,…

Born: September 10, 1860, Mstislavl; Died: December 8, 1941, Riga Simon Dubnow was a Russian Jewish writer, historian, and social philosopher. He was born on September 10, 1860 in Mstislavl. He descended from a long line of Jewish Rabbis and…

Born: 1881, Zolotonosha; Died: 1917, Kiev Dov Ber Borochov was a writer, politician, and Marxist Zionist. He was born in 1881 in Zolotonosha. He did not have a traditional Jewish education, instead graduating from a Russian high school, however he…

Born: July 28, 1932, Hartford; Died: October 8, 2016, Rhinebeck Jacob Neusner was an American academic. He was born on July 28, 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut to a Reform Jewish family. His father worked as a publisher of a weekly…

Born: June 9, 1856, Troyanov; Died: February 22, 1922, Degania A.D. Gordon or Aaron David Gordon was a writer, philosopher, and Zionist. He was born on June 9, 1856 in Troyanov. He worked for over 20 years as a official…

Born: February 8, 1878, Vienna; Died: June 13, 1965, Jerusalem Martin Buber was an Austrian-Jewish philosopher, writer, and Zionist born in Vienna on February 8, 1878. His father was an agriculturalist, and he and his wife were both assimilated Jews….

Nachman Syrkin Born: February 11, 1868, Mogilev; Died: September 6, 1924, New York Nachman Syrkin was a writer, Zionist activist, and founder of Socialist Zionism. Syrkin was born in 1868 in Mogilev. He received a traditional Jewish education. He started…

Leo Pinsker Born: December 13, 1821, Tomaszow; Died: December 21, 1891, Odessa Leo Pinsker also known as Leon Pinsker or Judah Leib Pinsker was born on December 13, 1821 in Tomaszow. Pinsker was a doctor, writer, and Zionist activist and…