Moshe Gil

Moshe Gil was born in 1921 in Białystok

Moshe Gil was born Moshe Gitler in Białystok, Poland, to a religious and Zionist family. His father owned a textile factory that was destroyed in World War I, and the family moved to Bacău, Romania. There he finished high school and rose to head the Hashomer Hatzair movement in Romania.

During World War II he led the movement underground. He was arrested in 1942 and sentenced to 25 years in prison, and was freed when Romania was liberated in 1944. In prison he taught Hebrew.

In 1945 he moved to the Land of Israel and changed his name to Gil. He was a member of Kibbutz Reshafim in the Beit She'an Valley, worked mainly in the cowshed and studied agriculture at the Ruppin Institute. He and his wife Shoshana had 3 daughters.

In 1965 he began studying at Tel Aviv University, where he earned a master's degree. He completed his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania under Shlomo Dov Goitein, based on documents from the Cairo Genizah. He became a professor at Tel Aviv University, headed its School of Jewish Studies and served as dean of humanities.

His research covered the Jews of Arabia, the Exilarchate, the Radhanite merchants and Palestine under Muslim rule. He kept working after retirement as professor emeritus. He died in January 2014 and was buried at his kibbutz.