Abraham Harzfeld

Abraham Harzfeld was born in 1891 in Stavyshche

Harzfeld was born Avraham Postrelko in Stavyshche, in the Russian Empire. His family worked cleaning sheep wool. He studied at yeshivas in Berdychiv and Telz and was ordained as a rabbi.

In 1906 he joined the Socialist Zionists. He was jailed in Vilna and in 1910 was exiled to Siberia, where he worked in fishing and gold mines. He escaped using a passport under the name Abraham Harzfeld and reached the Land of Israel in 1914.

He worked as a farm laborer in Petah Tikva and organized workers. During World War I he aided Jews held by the Ottoman authorities. He helped found Ahdut HaAvoda in 1919 and the Histadrut in 1920, and later became a leader in Mapai.

He headed the settlement department of the Agricultural Association and worked to found new settlements. He sat in the Knesset for Mapai from 1949 to 1965 and served on the Finance Committee. He received the Israel Prize in 1972 and died in 1973.