Hillel Zeitlin

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Hillel Zeitlin (1871-1942) was a Yiddish-language writer who edited the Yiddish newspaper Moment, among other literary activities. He was born in In the Mohilev District of White Russia to a Chassidic Chabad family and already in his childhood he was recognized for his particularly sharp and analytical mind. When Zeiltin turned 15 , his father died and he decided to become a Hebrew teacher.

His exit from the world of the Yeshiva exposed him to the works of the great scholars of the Enlightenment. He began studying in earnest the works of both Jewish Philosophers (Maimonides, Gersonides, Spinoza etc.) and non-Jewish ones such as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and others.

During this period in his life he began questioning his religious beliefs and eventually drifted toward secularism.

Zeitlin also grew close to the nascent Zionist movement and lent his support to the "Uganda proposal". He was a practical Zionist and his writings took on more urgency after the notorious pogroms in Kishinev and Homel.

After World War I, Zeitlin gradually drifted back toward tradition and began leading an Orthodox lifestyle. The reason(s) for this drastic change in his life is not completely clear but may have had something to do with the suffering of Jews during the war.

At the same time, Zeitlin remained independent and unconventional in his beliefs and actions. He did not—for instance—hesitate to eulogize his former friend, the great writer and thinker, Yosef Haim Brenner who was an ardent secularist.

When the Nazis began liquidating Polish Jewry in 1942, Zeitlin was 71 years old. He was killed by Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto while holding a book of the Zohar and wrapped in a prayer shawl and phylacteries.

His sons Aaron Zeitlin (1898-1973) and Elchonon Zeitlin (1902-1942) were also Yiddish writers.