A. D. Gordon

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A. D. Gordon bigraphy, stories - Russian-Jewish philosopher, worker, and educator

A. D. Gordon : biography

June 9, 1856 – February 22, 1922

Aaron David Gordon ( 9 June 1856 – 22 February 1922), 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."

Praxis

More than just a theoretician, he insisted on putting this philosophy into practice, and refused to take any clerical position that was offered to him. He was an elderly intellectual of no great physical strength and with no experience doing manual labor, but he took up the hoe and worked in the fields, always focusing on the aesthetics of his work. He served as a model of the pioneering spirit, descending to the people and remaining with them no matter what the consequences were. He experienced the problems faced by the working class, suffering from malaria, poverty, and unemployment. But he did have admirers and followers who turned to him for advice and help.

Gordon had always been a principled individual—even as a young man he refused to allow his parents to pay the customary bribe so that he would be exempted from military service, arguing that if he did not serve, someone else would have to serve instead of him. In the end, he spent six months in the army, but was released when it was discovered that he was not in good enough physical shape. He later refused to accept payment for his articles or the classes he taught, citing the Mishnah that states "Do not turn the Torah into a source of income." At the same time, he did not lapse into dogmatism either. When Rachel the Poet asked his opinion about whether she should go overseas to study, an idea that was anathema to most of the Zionist leadership, he encouraged her to do so.

Childhood

Gordon was the only child of a well-to-do family of Orthodox Jews.http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/zionism-hapoel-hatzair-gordon.htm He was self-educated in both religious and general studies, and spoke several languages.http://www.bookrags.com/biography/aaron-david-gordon/ 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.

Vision

Gordon’s moods alternated between enormous frustration and great hope for the future. He believed that an idealistic new generation of creative Jews would emerge in the Land of Israel, with a high sense of morals, a deep spiritual commitment, and a commitment to their fellow human beings. Toward the end of his life, however, he preferred to isolate himself in Nature. From a letter he wrote to Rachel the Poet, it seems that he grew more and more frustrated with people’s petty squabbles and selfish interests.

Aliyah

Gordon was an early member of the Hibbat Zion movement and made aliyah to Ottoman Palestine in 1904, when he was 48. His wife and daughter immigrated with him, but his son refused to accompany him because of differences in their religious outlooks. Four months after he arrived in the country, his wife became ill and died. Gordon lived in Petah Tikva and Rishon LeZion, before finally settling in the Galilee in 1919. He lived simply and supported himself as a hired agricultural hand, while writing his emerging philosophy at night. Although he participated in the Zionist Congress of 1911, Gordon refused to become involved in any of the Zionist political parties, out of principle.

Founding Hapoel Hatzair

He founded and led Hapoel Hatzair ("The Young Worker"), a non-Marxist, Zionist movement, as opposed to the Poale Zion movement which was more Marxist in orientation and associated with Ber Borochov and Nahum Syrkin.

Views on Jews, labour, and nationhood