| Avraham Herzfeld | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 June 1891 |
| Place of birth | Stavich, Russian Empire |
| Year of aliyah | 1914 |
| Date of death | 30 August 1973 (aged 82) |
| Knessets | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Party | Mapai |
Avraham Herzfeld (Hebrew: אברהם הרצפלד, 5 June 1891 – 30 August 1973) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician.
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Herzfeld was born in Stavich in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) in 1891. He attended a yeshiva and was certified as a rabbi. In 1906 he joined the Socialist Zionists. He was arrested in Vilna in 1910 for revolutionary activities, and was exiled to Siberia. In 1914 he immigrated to Ottoman Palestine and worked as an agricultural laborer in Petah Tikva.[1]
During World War I he was active on behalf of Yishuv members who got arrested by the Ottoman authorities. From 1914 to 1918 he was a member of the Poale Zion party. He was one of the founders of the Ahdut HaAvoda party in 1919 and one of its active members until 1930, when he joined Mapai. In 1920, he was one of the founders of the Histadrut. He was also one of leaders of the Agricultural Association in Palestine.[1]
He headed the settlement department of the Agricultural Association and was involved in the establishment of new settlements for forty years. He was a member of the Jewish National Fund from 1949 to his death.[1] He was known for his habit of bursting into song, sometimes in the middle of his speeches.[2] On the establishment of kibbutz Hatzerim in 1946, he sang a popular song: "This is our fate, / Thus we are commanded, / This is the road, / This our aim, / We have not labored in vain".[3]
In 1949 he was elected to the first Knesset for Mapai and remained an MK until 1965. He was a member of the Knesset's Finance Committee, to which he would refer as the "Finance Commission". After his retirement, he worked for the elderly.[2] In 1972, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his special contribution to society and the State.[1][4] He died in 1973. His house in Holon serves as a museum of the city's history.[5]