MEYER EDELBOYM (EDELBAUM, IDELBOYM)

MEYER EDELBOYM (EDELBAUM, IDELBOYM) (December 28, 1903-1991)

He was born in Mezritsh (Międzyrzec), Poland.  He studied in religious schools, yeshivas, and the Tachkemoni seminary in Warsaw.  In 1918 he founded Tseire Mizraḥi (Mizrachi youth) in Międzyrzec and later was one of the Mizrachi leaders in Poland.   In 1926 he went to England to study.  In 1935 he was cofounder and chairman of the Association of Torah and Worship in Western Europe.  He also organized and until 1941 led the “Torah and Worship” movement in England.  He participated in a number of Mizrachi world conferences, and he was its representative at Zionist congresses.  He was a member of the administrative council of the Jewish Agency and a candidate-member of the Zionist action committee.  During WWII he took part in the Jewish world congress, mainly in the section on Poland.  He visited Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada on assignment from the Zionist movement.  He debuted in print with a Hassidic story—“Der koyekh fun bronfn” (The power of liquor)—in Antverpener prese (Antwerp press) in 1926, and later he was among the principal contributors to London’s Di tsayt (The times) in which he published stories and also wrote a weekly political article.  He also served as a correspondent for the daily newspapers: Haynt (Today) and Moment (Moment) in Warsaw; Nowy dziennik (New daily) in Cracow; Chwila (Moment) in Lemberg; Dos idishe folk (The Jewish people) in New York; Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper) in Buenos Aires; Haboker (This morning) in Tel Aviv; The London Mercury in London; and Opinion in New York; among others.  In 1944 he also served as editor for a series of issues of The Jewish Horizon in New York.  In book form: The Way to Freedom: A Contribution to the Struggle of the Jews for Their Right to Live as Free Men and a Free People (New York: Bloch Publ. Co., 1943), 284 pp.; and Di yidn-shtot mezritsh, fun ir breyshes biz erev der velt-milkhome (The Jewish city Międzyrzec, from its beginning until the eve of the world war) (Buenos Aires: Międzyrzec Jews in Argentina, 1957), 424 pp., with illustrations.  He also wrote under such pen names as M. Beylenzon.  From 1952 he was a representative of Israel Bonds in a number of countries, and from 1961 he was secretary general of Israel Bonds.

Sources: D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah lechalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 4 (Tel Aviv, 1950), p. 1576; M. Bernshteyn, in Der shpigl (Buenos Aires) (September-October 1957); P. Shteynvaks, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (January 1, 1958); Shteynvaks, in Der amerikaner (New York) (March 14, 1958); Y. Varshavski, in Forverts (New York) (October 5, 1958); Unzer tsayt (New York) (July-August 1958).

Benyomen Elis