14 Facts About Nachman Syrkin

Nachman Syrkin was a political theorist, founder of Labor Zionism and a prolific writer in the Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, German and English languages.

Nachum Syrkin was born to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Mogilev, Russian Empire.

Nachman Syrkin was influenced by Hovevei Zion and socialism in his youth and dedicated himself to synthesizing the two concepts.

Nachman Syrkin's daughter Marie was a noted writer, educator and American Zionist activist.

Nachman Syrkin was one of the leaders of the socialist Zionist faction at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 and was an early proponent of the Jewish National Fund.

Nachman Syrkin was the first person to propose that olim to Palestine form collective settlements.

Unlike other socialist thinkers of the time, Nachman Syrkin was comfortable with his Jewish heritage and, although he does not spell it out explicitly in his essay "The Jewish Question and the Jewish Socialist State", it is clear that he had in mind the biblical emphasis on strict social justice, irrespective of wealth, power or privilege.

In "The Jewish Question and the Socialist Jewish State," Nachman Syrkin sought to reconcile his conception of socialism and his strong devotion to Zionism, arguing against what he considered bourgeois Zionists, such as Theodor Herzl, that only the Jewish working class could realize Zionism.

Nachman Syrkin argued against anti-Zionist Jewish socialists that there could be no solution to the Jewish problem without the creation of a Jewish state.

Nachman Syrkin worked to establish socialist Zionist groups throughout Central Europe.

Nachman Syrkin took part at the 1905 Basle Seventh Zionist Congress as a delegate of the new Zionist Socialist Workers Party.

In 1919, Nachman Syrkin was a member of the American Jewish delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference.

Nachman Syrkin was a leading figure in the World Poale Zion conference that year and was given the task of visiting Palestine to develop a plan for kibbutz settlement.

Nachman Syrkin intended to relocate to Palestine, but died of a heart attack in 1924 in New York City.