View source for B'nei Moshe

{{Short description|Zionist organization}}
{{expand Hebrew|topic=gov|date=April 2023}}
{{distinguish|B'nai Moshe}}
[[File:ברזילאי יהושע ( אייזנשטאט) ( 1855-1918) .-PHG-1023784.png|thumb|100px|[[Yehoshua Barzillai]]]]
[[Image:Ahad Haam.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Ahad Ha'am]]]]
'''B'nei Moshe''' ({{langx|he|בני משה}}, "''Children of [[Moses]]''", variously transliterated as '''Bnai Moshe''', '''Benei Moshe''', '''Bene Mosheh''', etc.) was a [[Zionist]] organization. It was established as a secret organization in [[Odessa]] in 1889 on the day [[Seventh of Adar]], which is considered the day of death and birth of [[Moses]]. While its originator was {{ill|Yehoshua Barzillai|he|יהושע ברזילי}} (Eisenstadt), [[Ahad Ha'am]] was persuaded to take leadership of the organization. Its ideology was described as "[[cultural Zionism]]", as opposed to the political Zionism.<ref>Asael Abelman, [https://mosaicmagazine.com/response/israel-zionism/2016/10/the-failure-of-cultural-zionism/ "The Failure of Cultural Zionism"], ''[[Mosaic Magazine]]'', October 26 2016</ref><ref name=jvl>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benei-moshe-jewish-virtual-library Benei Moshe], [[Jewish Virtual Library]]</ref>
In 1893 its headquarters were moved to [[Jaffa]] and it ceased to be secretive. It was suggested that it become a political party, however, internal controversies and frustration led to its disestablishment in 1897.<ref name=jvl/>
Its membership was about 160 persons. Its major practical achievements include improvements in Hebrew education, in particular, establishing modernized [[heder]]s (''heder metukkan''); helping in establishing the [[Rehovot]] settlement, and establishing a Hebrew publishing house Ahi'asaf in [[Warsaw]], the first one of the kind.<ref name=jvl/> It published the annual ''{{ill|Ahi'asaf Tablet|he|לוח אחיאסף}}'' ({{langx|he|לוח אחיאסף}}) almanac (1893-1904) by a large group of writers and intellectuals, members of B'nei Moshe, from many different fields.<ref>[https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon//99995048.php Ahiasaf]</ref><ref>[https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/safrut/print/2011-09-28/ty-article/0000017f-f648-d044-adff-f7f982900000 שנה טובה למהלך החדש], ''[[Ha'aretz]]'', September 28, 2011</ref>
==Notable members==
*[[Ahad Ha'am]]
*{{ill|Avraham Freidenberg|he|אברהם פריידנברג}}, lawyer, educator, Zionist activist, and literary editor, He headed B'nei Moshe in [[Kremenchuk]] after he was appointed "[[crown rabbi (Russia)|crown rabbi]]" there
*{{ill|Avraham Moshe Bernstein|be|Абрахам Мошэ Бернштэйн}}, ''[[hazzan]]'', choirmeister, composer, musicologist, writer. Member of B'nei Moshe since 1899. His music was popular in B'nei Moshe.<ref>[https://geoffreyshisler.com/biographies-2/avraham-moshe-bernstein/ AVRAHAM MOSHE BERNSTEIN]</ref>
*{{ill|Ben-Avigdor|he|בן אביגדור}} (Abraham Leib Shelkovich), writer, secretary of B'nei Moshe in Warsaw, pioneer of modern Hebrew publishing in Eastern Europe. In particular, he took part in the founding of Ahi'asaf
*{{ill|Haim Margaliot-Kalvarisky|he|חיים מרגליות קלווריסקי}}, agronomist, land purchaser on behalf of the [[Jewish Colonization Association]], secretary of B'nei Moshe in Jaffa
*[[Menachem Ussishkin]]
*[[Yehoshua Barzillai]]
*[[Yehuda Gur]] linguist, educator, writer, and translator. Together with Barzillai, he edited the B'nei Moshe monthly ''Mikhtavim me-Erez Yisrael'' ("Letters from [[Erez Israel]]", 1893–94).
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Zionist organizations]]
[[Category:Zionism in Russia]]
[[Category:Zionism in Ottoman Palestine]]
[[Category:History of Odesa]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1889]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1897]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Odesa]]
[[Category:1889 establishments in Ukraine]]