Ben-Zion Dinur | |
|---|---|
בן ציון דינור | |
 Dinur in 1951 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1951–1955 | Minister of Education |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1949–1951 | Mapai |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ben-Zion Dinaburg (1884-01-02)2 January 1884 |
| Died | 8 July 1973(1973-07-08) (aged 89) |
Ben-Zion Dinur (Hebrew:בן ציון דינור; January 1884 – 8 July 1973) was aUkrainian-bornIsraeli historian, educator, and politician.[1] He held the position of professor ofJewish history at theHebrew University of Jerusalem and representedMapai in thefirst Knesset, serving as Minister of Education. Dinur was one of the founders ofYad Vashem and a member of theIsrael Academy of Sciences.
TheDinurCenter for Research in Jewish History was named in his honor.
Ben-Zion Dinaburg (later Dinur) was born inKhorol in theRussian Empire (nowPoltava Oblast, Ukraine). He received his education inLithuanian yeshivot. He studied underShimon Shkop in theTelz Yeshiva, and became interested in theHaskalah throughRosh YeshivaEliezer Gordon's polemics. In 1898 he moved to theSlabodka yeshiva and in 1900 he traveled toVilnius and was certified aRabbi. He then went toLyubavichi to witness theChabad-Lubavitch branch ofHasidic Judaism. Between 1902 and 1911 he was engaged in Zionist activism and teaching, which at some point resulted in a brief arrest. In 1910 he married Bilhah Feingold, a teacher who had worked with him in a girls' trade school inPoltava. In 1911, he left his wife and son for two years to attendBerlin University, where he studied underMichael Rostovtzeff andEugen Täubler. He then spent two more years at theUniversity of Bern, where he began his dissertation under Rostovzev, on the Jews in theLand of Israel under theRoman Empire. The break ofWorld War I forced him to move to theUniversity of Petrograd. However, due to theOctober Revolution, he did not receive his PhD. He was a lecturer atOdesa University from 1920 to 1921.[2]
In 1921, heimmigrated to Palestine and from 1923 to 1948 served as a teacher and later as head of the Jewish Teachers' Training College,Jerusalem. In 1936, he was appointed lecturer in modern Jewish history at theHebrew University and became professor in 1948 and professor emeritus in 1952.
Dinur advocated for a global historical approach toJewish history and authored "The History of Israel from Its Early Days to Our Times". He also compiled the monumental work "Israel in the Exile" (1961–1966, originallyYisrael ba-gola),[3] encompassing the history of the Jewish people up to the era of theBlack Death. His pioneering research focused on community life, encompassing family,marriage, household arrangements,Torah andwisdom, beliefs, scholarly perspectives,burial practices, andfestivals. Additionally, Dinur delved into interrelations between Jews, non-Jews,anusim,meshumadim andproselytes. He supplemented his works with responsa, illustrations, photographs, manuscripts, and legal details. Moreover, Dinur explored various Jewish streams, internal disputes, persecutions, religious debates between Jews and Christians, andmessianic movements.
As a historian he described Zionism in thediaspora as "a huge river into which flowed all the smaller streams and tributaries of the Jewish struggle down the ages",[4] and tracing its origins to 1700, when history records a first wave ofPolish Jews emigrating to Jerusalem.[5] He believed "messianic ferment" played a crucial role in Jewish history,[6] and introduced the idea ofmered hagalut ("Revolt of the Diaspora").[7]
His most notable historical works include "Israel in Its Land" and "Israel in Exile". He also authored two autobiographical books detailing his life against the backdrop of his era: "In a Sunken World" and "In Days of War and Revolution".
He was elected to the firstKnesset on theMapai list and served asMinister of Education and Culture in thethird tosixth governments (1951 to 1955), when he was responsible for the 1953 State Education Law, which put an end to the prevailing party "trend" education system.
Dinur, decommissioned the 50 square meter commemorative painting of the first Knesset by School of Paris artistYitzhak Frenkel, and removed the portraits of Israel's first parliamentarians, resulting in the partly finished artwork never being completed.[8][9]
From 1953 to 1959 he was president ofYad Vashem.[10]
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