SHLOMO LEVKOVITZ LAVI
Biography
FAMOUS PLONSK RESIDENT
Shlomo Levkovitz Lavi, born 6-Oct-1884, Plonsk, died 23-July-1963 in Israel (David Ben-Gurion delivered Shlomo's eulogy)
Shlomo Levkovitz was born in 1884 in Plonsk Poland. His father, Yekutiel Kojfman Levkovitz, was very religious and wanted to educate his eldest, Shlomo, by the ways of the Torah. His grandparents, Sheindle and Moshe Lev Levkovitz, lived close by. His grandfather was a tailor.
When he was a little older he wanted to learn things other then Torah. Being poor this was a problem so he read many magazines he found and thus learned about Zionism. He later followed Rabbi Simcha Issac, a "Chovev Zion" who lectured to the youth on Hertzel's movement. Shlomo joined a Zionist Foundation founded
in Plonsk. Shlomo left the Torah studies for which the neighbors scrutinized his father. At the age of 16 Shlomo joined the Ezra Foundation that advocated dropping Yiddish and speaking Hebrew. This is where he first met David Ben Gurion.
The idea of Aliyah began to burn in his bones with the publishing of Hertzel's book "Medinat Hayehudim" and the upcoming 6th Zionist Congress. Shlomo explained this to his father and notified him of his decision to make Aliyah by the end of the year. He asked his father to get him a passport and lend him 30 Rubles promising to pay back the debt by working in Eretz Israel and saving money. His father refused to give consent and funding. A short time later, one of Shlomo's friends, Meshulam Aloni, stole 300 Rubles from his father and made Aliyah to Eretz Israel. He sent Shlomo letters from the Holy Land. This had a great impact on Shlomo. Finally, Shlomo conspired with three friends, was able to get a forged passport, stole 5 Rubles from his parents and began the journey.
The journey to Eretz Israel took the foursome three weeks traveling by trains and ships via the Warsaw port, Istanbul and Lebanon to Jaffa Port. At every stop and port they
experienced the dangers of theft and robbery but eventually made it safely in 1905 to Eretz Israel under the Turkish Rule.
Shlomo's first stop in Eretz Israel was in Petach Tikva in search of friends that had all ready made it. There he met with pilgrims of the 2nd Aliyah; Aharon David Gordon, Yosef Vitkin, Meir Rotenberg, Alexander Zeid, Zeev Milanski and many more.
One of the first jobs Shlomo found was in a vineyard. He soon experienced the hardships of manual labor, blisters, heat and fatigue, that made many like himself flee back to their home country. Later he found a job in Pascal's orchards in Kfar Saba, on land bought by the Baron Rothchild.
Job hunting again in Petach Tikva, Shlomo raninto all the unemployed immigrants, living in very poor conditions, full of longing for their families in the Diaspora, to where many of them returned. It was here he first conceived the idea of equal sharing of means between all.
Shlomo and seven of his friends moved on to be employed by the Engineer Vilboshevitz in the construction of an oil factory "Shemen" and later a second factory in Haifa.
In 1906 Shlomo returned to Poland for a shortwhile to be drafted to the army. Had he not shown up his parents would have been fined 300 Rubles. Shlomo was drafted and then deserted back to Eretz Israel.
Shlomo was appointed by Dr. Rubin to the management of the agricultural farm in Chulda. One year later he moved to Segera where he worked together with David Ben Gurion. In 1908 Shlomo participated in establishing the "Shomer - Bar Giorah". For a short while he worked in the "Kinneret" group drying the swamps of Emek Hachula.
In 1921, with the end of WWI and the need to make preparations for mass immigration and absorption, Shlomo conceived the idea of the "large group" which was later known as the "Kibbutz." The idea was to organize a group as large as possible, where everyone was responsible for everyone else in a communal manner, and the
group as a whole would decide upon the culture best fitted for it's needs. Shlomo argued this was the only feasible way to settle the country. Hisidea was accepted with enthusiasm. In the 12th Zionist Congress Shlomo argued for funding for the settlement of Ein Charod and was among the founders of Kibbutz Ein Charod.
Shlomo "worked the land" since his Aliyah. He was a member of the Haganah, he enlisted to the British Army in WWII at the age of 60, he was a delegate to the 17th, 18th and 19th Zionist Congresses, a Knesset member in the 1st and 2nd Knessets, a candidate for the 3rd presidency of Israel and the author of several books.