Gedaliah Bublick

Gedaliah Bublick (1875 - 1948) was a well know Yiddish writer and Zionist leader.

He was born in Grodno, Russian Empire, the son of Aaron Bublick. He was raised in Białystok where he remained until 1900. He obtained a traditional Jewish education at the Łomża Yeshiva in Poland and later at the famous Mir Yeshiva in Lithuania.

In 1900, Bublick went to Paris to help a group of Białystok families trying to gain entry to Argentina under the Baron de Hirsch Fund. After obtaining the appropriate visas, Bublick joined the group for three years as a Hebrew teacher for their children.

In 1904 Bublick left Argentia for the United States where he began working for the very popular New York Orthodox Yiddish newspaper, "Yiddishe Tageblatt" (The Jewish Daily Page). He quickly became known as a talented and outspoken journalist. He was a vociferous opponent of Reform and Conservative Judaism. In 1915, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the "Yiddishe Tageblatt".

Zionism

In 1920, Bublick visited Palestine for the first time. Bublick was active in the Jewish community and was one of the founders of the American Jewish Congress. He was elected as a vice-chairman of the American Jewish Congress in May, 1920. He served on the executive board of the World Zionist Organization (1919-1926) and the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He was a well known publicist for religious Zionism and was one of the founders of the American Mizrachi and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He traveled to Palestine on many occasions to support Jewish settlement. In 1925, he attended the opening ceremonies of the Hebrew University as the representative of the Keren Ha-Yesod.

Beliefs

As a young man, Bublick drifted away from traditional Jewish life for the Haskalah (Enlightenment) Movement, but becoming convinced of its falsehood, he returned to become a staunch advocate for Orthodox Judaism. In many of his writings in America, he confronted the many issues facing Orthodox Judaism. In his book Min Hametzar, he predicted massive intermarriage and detected danger in the Conservative movement. He wrote "It's a battle between Harvard and Volozhin."

Writings

Mayn Rayze in Eretz Yisroel (New York, 1921), Min Ha-Metzar (From the Depths) (New York, 1923)

References

* Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook, Moshe D. Sherman,
* A Fire in His Soul: Irving M. Bunim, 1901-1980, the Man and His Impact on American Orthodox Jewry.