Baruch Ostrovsky
| Baruch Ostrovsky | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 1st Mayor of Ra'anana | |
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In office 1931–1955 |
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| Succeeded by | Michael Peswig |
| 3rd Mayor of Ra'anana | |
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In office 1957–1959 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Peswig |
| Succeeded by | Michael Peswig |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 10, 1890 Ukraine, Russia |
| Died | July 17, 1960 (aged 69) Israel |
| Spouse(s) | Feiga Ostrovsky |
| Children | Shoshana, Ben-Zion, Ayala |
Baruch Ostrovsky (1890–1960; Hebrew: ברוך אוסטרובסקי), the first mayor of Ra'anana, served as mayor for 28 years. He championed democracy, equality, education and organized Jewish labor.
Baruch Ostrovsky was born in Ukraine, in the town of Rogachov, in 1890. In early childhood, receiving a traditional education, he already demonstrated a craving for higher education and Zionism. In 1912 he immigrated to Palestine alone, laboring with the pioneers of the Second Aliyah and joining the HaShomer organization. A year later, he departed for the U.S. with the intention of marrying his fiancée, who had by then arrived there from Ukraine. The political situation—the outbreak of World War I—obstructed his plans to return at once with his family.
In 1913 he took part in the founding of Ahuza Alef in New York, an organization dedicated to the purchase of lands and the establishment of a Hebrew settlement, to be inhabited by Jews tilling their own soil.
While in the US, Ostrovsky earned his living teaching a wide variety of subjects, including Hebrew, history, Bible, as well as Yiddish. He became a renowned and respected educational figure, as director and inspector of schools as well as principal of the teacher's seminary of the Workmen's Circle Jewish educational system. Contemporaneously with his educational work, Ostrovsky was active in the Zionist Movement's labor organization, Poale Zion, with the leaders David Ben-Gurion, Ber Borochov and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. He directed and published the Youth Organizations' journal.
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