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Yankev-Meyer Zalkind (1875 - 1937) was a Jewish Orthodox rabbi, an anarcho-communist and a close friend of Rudolf Rocker.
Life
Yankev was born in the Russian Empire to a family of famous merchants and rabbis. He was a highly successful student and went on to study linguistics and philosophy in Germany, France and Switzerland and became able to speak over 20 languages.[1]
After graduating, Yank left for Britain and served as rabbi of Cardiff, Wales and was an active Zionist. In 1913 he formed a London Estate and began buying land in Israel with the hopes of setting up Jewish communities in the area.[2]
During World War I he underwent a spiritual transformation and began to advocate for anarchism. In 1916 he left Israel in order to go to London as a peace campaigner. He befriended Rudolf Rocker in this time and began to advocate for the creation of an anarchist society in the Levant which could shelter the world's refugees.[3]
He also became a prominent hebrew-language writer, writing Jewish childrens books and attempted to translate the Talmud into Yiddish.[4] He also argued rigorously that the logical conclusion of the teachers of the Talmud was anarchism.[5] He moved back to Israel in 1933 and died in Haifa in 1937.[6]