Yosef Haim Brenner

Yosef Haim Brenner , alternately Yosef Chaim Brenner , ( 1881 - 1921 ) was a Ukrainian -born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of literature in modern Hebrew. Born to a poor family, Brenner passed his childhood in grinding poverty. In 1902 he was drafted into the Russian army. Two years later, when the Russo-Japanese War broke out, he deserted and was caught. Fortunately for him, he managed to get free of the army through the involvement of the Bund , which he had joined as a youth. In 1906 - 1907 he lived in London, where he edited and published the literary journal Hameorer ("the awakener"). He immigrated to Palestine (then part of the Ottoman Empire ) in 1909 . He worked as a farmer in order to inculcate the Zionist idea into his body. Gordon , he could not support the strain of working the land. He left off to pursue literature and teaching in the prestigious Herzliya secondary school in Tel Aviv . In May 1921 , Brenner was slain in southern Tel Aviv, in the Arab riots against the Jews, known in Israel as me'ora'ot tarpa (the massacres of Hebrew calendar year 5681). The site of his death is now marked by Brenner House, a center for the youth organization of Histadrut , the Israeli trade union congress. The kibbutz Giv'at Brenner was also named for him. Along with Ahad Ha'am , Brenner left his stamp on the cultural and spiritual life of Israeli labor.¹