Yosef Mendelevitch

Yosef Mendelevitch was born in 1947 in Riga

Yosef Mendelevitch was born in Riga, Latvia, on August 3, 1947, to Moshe and Haya Yente Mendelevitch. In 1966 he set up an underground Jewish group that taught Hebrew and Judaism. He also edited an underground newsletter called Iton.

After being refused the right to emigrate, he took part in Operation Wedding on June 15, 1970, a plan to hijack a small plane near Leningrad. The KGB knew of the plan, and the group was arrested before boarding. He was sentenced to 15 years and spent about 11 years in prison, partly under harsh conditions for keeping Jewish law.

In February 1981 he was expelled from the USSR and moved to Israel. He studied at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav and was ordained by Rabbi Avraham Shapira and Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Cohen. He volunteered to serve in the IDF and holds a master's degree in Jewish history.

In Israel he worked for the release of other Prisoners of Zion and met US President Ronald Reagan. In 1988 he founded the Zionist Forum with Natan Sharansky, and in 2004 he helped found the Lander Institute in Jerusalem. He teaches Talmud at Machon Meir, is married to Kati and has 7 children.