Nathan Mileikowsky
| Nathan Mileikowsky | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 15, 1879 Kreva, Russian Empire (Modern Belarus) |
| Died | January 4, 1935 (aged 55) Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Mileikowsky (née Lurie) |
| Children | Benzion, Elisha, Miri, Hovav, Saadya, Ezra, Mati, Amos, Zacharia |
Rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky (August 15, 1879 – February 4, 1935) was a Zionist rabbi, educator, writer and political activist. Mileikowsky's grandson is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mileikowsky was born in 1879 in Kreva, Russian Empire (today located in Belarus), which at that time was part of the Pale of Settlement region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed. Mileikowsky's father, Zvi, made a living from leasing an agricultural estate in a nearby village. At the age of 10 Mileikowsky was sent to the Volozhin yeshiva, where he spent eight years and was ordained.
Already while Mileikowsky attended yeshiva he began to make speeches and lectures and was in contact with the Zionist activist Yehuda Zvi Ibzarov who encouraged him to engage in this field. At the age of 20 Mileikowsky began promoting Zionism in the Siberia region, following a request to do so by the Zionist leader Yechiel Chlenov. In the following years Mileikowsky continued to engage in Zionist promotion and in addition gave speeches against the "Bund" movement and against other socialist Jewish anti-Zionist movements. During the sixth Zionist Congress Mileikowsky was among the opponents of the Uganda Programme, despite belonging to the Theodor Herzl camp.
In 1908 Mileikowsky moved to Poland and became the director of the Hebrew Gymnasium of Mordechai Yaakov Krinsky in Warsaw, while continuing to promoting Zionism in Poland. He went through hundreds of towns and was considered one of the most popular Zionist speakers. In 1912 Mileikowsky moved to Łódź, and served as a Maggid in the Zionist synagogue "Beth Jacob". He used to deliver his sermons in Hebrew, an uncommon practice at that time. In 1913 the Hebrew newspaper Ha-Tsefirah reported about a major event held in Lodz organized by the members of the Mizrachi movement. The report mentioned also the "excellent speech" made by Rabbi Mileikowsky, which was carried partly in Hebrew and partly in Yiddish. According to his son, Benzion Netanyahu, the Mileikowsky family was one of the few families in the world who spoke Hebrew at that time. In 1914 Mileikowsky was appointed rabbi of the city Rivne, but following World War I he remained with his family in Lodz.
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