YISRAEL-DOV FRUMKIN

YISRAEL-DOV FRUMKIN (October 29, 1850-May 10, 1914)

            The father of Avrom and Gad Frumkin, he was born in Dubrovna, Mogilev Province, Byelorussia, into a Hassidic Chabad family.  In 1860 he made aliya to the land of Israel with his parents and settled in Jerusalem.  His father hired for him special tutors and teachers of French, English, and German.  At age fifteen he was married to the daughter of R. Yisrael Bak, pioneer of the printing business in Israel.  In late 1870, his father-in-law revived the publication of the Hebrew-language periodical Haḥavatselet (The daffodil), and he (Yisrael-Dov) helped to edit it.  In 1874 he became its sole editor.  In 1877 he and Mikhl Hakohen published in Jerusalem the first Yiddish newspaper in the land of Israel, Di roze (The rose)—its full title was: Ḥavatselet di roze, a yidisher familyen blatt, far ale oyeve-tsien (Daffodil, the rose, a Yiddish family newspaper, for all lovers of Zion), “Jerusalem, to appear for the time being twice each month.  Published by Yisroel Dov Frumkin, Mikhl Hakoyen, Jerusalem, first year, number 1, Iyar 2 [= April 15], Trl”z [1877].”  Frumkin was an energetic community leader.  He struggled to create a healthy life in the land of Israel.  He founded the association “Tiferet Yerushalayim” (Glory of Jerusalem), aimed at improving the lives of the poor and to keep them away from the missionaries.  He contributed to Perets Smolenskin’s Hashaḥar (The dawn) in Vienna.  He also translated many items from Dr. Meir Lehman’s fictional writings.  He died in Jerusalem.

Sources: B. Koralnik, in Tsukunft (New York) (March 1928), p. 169; Y. Sh. Shpiglman, in Forverts (New York) (July 17, 1932); “Luaḥ zikaron” (Calendar for remembrance), Hadoar (New York) (November 29, 1935); M. Unger, in the anthology Lekavod dem 250stn yoyvl fun der yidishe prese (In honor of the 250^th anniversary of the Yiddish press) (New York, 1937), pp. 165-67; M. Kosover, in Lekavod dem 250stn yoyvl fun der yidishe prese, p. 213; D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah lechalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 1 (Tel Aviv, 1947), pp. 489-90; G. Kressel, Mivḥar kitve yisroel dov frumkin (Selected works of Yisrael-Dov Frumkin) (Jerusalem, 1953/1954); Y. Evri, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (August 8, 1955).

Yankev Kahan