Borukh Ben-Yehudah (1894-1990) from Marijampolė

A boy named Borukh was born into the Jewish family of Zisel and Jacob Leibovic in Marijampolė, in 1894. There is not much information about the years he spent in Marijampolė, but there is no doubt that he studied here and received a proper religious education. 17-year-old Borukh was one of the forty boys who emigrated to Palestine without their parents in 1911. He got interested in music there and shortly taught local children Hebrew and Jewish traditions. After the World War I, when the political situation settled, Borukh received a scholarship from Baron Rothchild in 1920 and began studying mathematics and physics at the University of Brussels. Boruchui Ben Jehudui skirtas Izraelio pašto ženklasAfter successfully graduating from the university in 1924 where he received a Doctorate in Mathematics Teaching Methods, he returned to his favourite teacher’s work and taught children a variety of subjects: Zionist history, the Talmud and the Bible, even music. He not only gained good education but also had a successful career – soon he became the headmaster of Herclya Gymnasium, one of the most famous schools of Erez Israel (Land of Israel) in Tel Aviv. The young successful teacher and headmaster was socially active, and he founded several Jewish organizations that focused on wide range of activities.

He helped to establish the youth movement Hugim in 1927, later known under another name – Mahanot Olim. A Council of Teachers under the National Jewish Foundation was also established on his initiative. Borukh Ben-Yehudah made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Israeli education system – when the State of Israel was established he became the first director general of the Ministry of Education and Culture. He held this position until 1952. Later, he returned to Herclya gymnasium for the position of headmaster again and devoted himself to pedagogical activities. Although he studied mathematics, he was known as a virtuoso musician and an expert of music theory, as well as a proficient speaker and teacher of the Hebrew language,  and an expert of Holy Scriptures of Judaism. As a person he was quite strict and conservative. A teacher with a wide range of interests wrote several studies that reflect on the significance of Zionism and the establishment of a Jewish education system. However, he also did not forget mathematics. In 1959-1960, he published his two volume book on teaching mathematics in the gymnasiums „Hora’at ha-Matematikah be-Veit ha-Sefer ha-Tikhon“ in Hebrew. Borukh Ben-Yehudah was awarded the Israeli Education Prize for the exceptional life merits for the Israeli education system in 1979. He died in Tel Aviv and was buried in Kirjat Shaul cemetery.