Aaron David Gordon (Hebrew: אהרן דוד גורדון, born 9 June 1856 in Troyanov, Russian Empire, died 22 February 1922 in Degania Alef, Mandate Palestine), more commonly known as A. D. Gordon, was a Zionist ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the tone for the Zionist movement for many years to come. Influenced by Leo Tolstoy and others, it is said that in effect h...
more
Aaron David Gordon (Hebrew: אהרן דוד גורדון, born 9 June 1856 in Troyanov, Russian Empire, died 22 February 1922 in Degania Alef, Mandate Palestine), more commonly known as A. D. Gordon, was a Zionist ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the tone for the Zionist movement for many years to come. Influenced by Leo Tolstoy and others, it is said that in effect he made a religion of labor. However, he himself wrote in 1920, "Surely in our day it is possible to live without religion."
Gordon was the only child of a well-to-do family of Orthodox Jews. He was self-educated in both religious and general studies, and spoke several languages. For thirty years, he managed an estate, where he proved to be a charismatic educator and community activist. Gordon married his cousin, Faige Tartakov, at a young age and had seven children with her, though only two of them survived.
Gordon was an early member of the...
less
