Joseph Massel

Joseph Massel (also Yoysef Mazl, b. near Vilna, Russia, 1850; [Rottenberg, Dan (1986). "Finding Our Fathers: A Guidebook to Jewish Genealogy", Genealogical Publishing Company, ISBN 0806311517, p. 285.] d. Manchester, 1912) [ [http://www.lively-arts.com/travel/2003/0307/manchester_jewish_museum.htm Manchester´s Jewish Museum] , accessed, 9 September, 2007.] was a Zionist activist, writer, Hebrew poet and translator [Sokolow, Nahum (2001). "History of Zionism (1600-1918). Volume 2". Adamant Media Corporation, ISBN 0543968715, p. 350.] who emigrated from Russia to Manchester, England in 1895 where he worked as a printer.

Massel was a pioneer in the promotion of Hebrew as the national language, publishing works by Israel Cohen and Harry Sacher among others. He wrote Hebrew poems and translated English classics into Hebrew, including Milton’s Samon Agonistes, [Sokolow, Nahum (2001). "History of Zionism (1600-1918). Volume 1". Adamant MediaCorporation, ISBN 1421228610, p. 41.] Longfellow’s Judas Maccabaeus and Fitzgerald’s Omar Khayyam. [Bibliothèque nationale (1981)."Catalogue général des livres imprimés de la Bibliothèque nationale", p. 235.] [Singerman, Robert (2002). "Jewish Translation History: A Bibliography of Bibliographies and Studies", John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 9027216509, p.302.] He also spent two years preparing a unique collection of 94 portraits called a Gallery of Hebrew Poets; 1725–1903. [ [http://www.mucjs.org/EXHIBITION/4MASSEL.HTML Joseph Massel] , accessed 9 September, 2007.]

By the time Chaim Weizmann arrived in Manchester in 1904 Massel was living in a small street of the lower end of Cheetham Hill Road ["The Gentleman's Magazine", v.302-303 (1907). Jan-Sep.] (where his Hebrew printing works was based) [Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (1967). "Studia Rosenthaliana", Van Gorcum, p. 99.] across from Red Bank and not far from the Central Synagogue. He was much part of Manchester’s Zionist community and was a vice-president of the Manchester Zionist Association. At that time he was the only person Weizmann knew in Manchester. [Weizmann, Chaim (1949). "Trial and Error: The Autobiography of Chaim Weizmann", Harper, p. 95.]

Massel attended the First Zionist Congress (Basle, 1897) and had probably met Weizmann at the Second Zionist Congress (Basle, 1898). Showing Weizmann hospitality he never forgot, Massel collected him from the train station, put him up for the night and arranged lodgings for him the next day.Rabinowicz, Oskar Kwasnik (1952). "Fifty Years of Zionism". R. Anscombe, p. 61.] Massel also introduced Weizmann to Charles Dreyfus. [Razzūq, Asʻad (1970). "Greater Israel: A Study in Zionist Expansionist Thought". Palestine Liberation Organization, Research Center, p. 120.] Weizmann was later to refer to Massel as a "veritable angel" and described his Friday evening visits to the Massel household as "the highlights of my life".

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