Scienceחיים הלל בן-ששון

Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson

Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson was an Israeli historian and professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, known for his work on Jews in the Middle Ages.

1914 to 1977Research on medieval Jewish historyEditing the journal ZionResearch on the Jewish Legion

Born: 15 February 1914, Valozhyn
Died: 16 May 1977, Jerusalem
Occupation: historian, university teacher

Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson was born in 1914 in Valozhyn

Ben-Sasson was born in 1914 in Volozhin. His father, Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor HaLevi Darchinsky, taught at the Volozhin Yeshiva, and his mother's father was its deputy head. He was ordained as a rabbi by Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski and was active in the HaHalutz HaMizrachi movement as a youth.

He moved to Eretz Yisrael in 1934 and studied at the Mizrachi Teachers' Seminary. He taught children and youth in Jerusalem and volunteered in Bnei Akiva. He then studied at the Hebrew University under historian Yitzhak Baer and earned his degree in 1944.

On arrival he joined the Haganah and served in Jerusalem. He later helped write and edit the History of the Haganah and researched the Jewish Legion in World War I.

He began teaching at the Hebrew University in 1949 and became a full professor in 1970. He was an editor of the journal Zion and edited the history section of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. He saw the study of history as work that shapes character and improves society. He died in Jerusalem in 1977.

Milestones in Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson's life

1914
Born in Volozhin.
1934
Moved to Eretz Yisrael and joined the Haganah.
1936
Served in the Haganah's religious platoon in Jerusalem's Old City.
1944
Earned his humanities degree at the Hebrew University.
1949
Began teaching at the Hebrew University.
1970
Became a full professor at the Hebrew University.
1977
Died in Jerusalem.

Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson served in the military

He joined the Haganah in 1934 and during the 1936 riots served in its religious platoon in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. He later worked in the Haganah's information office in Jerusalem.