Felman, Aharon Leib

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FELMAN, AHARON LEIB

FELMAN, AHARON LEIB (1867–1893), pioneer in citrus culture in Ereẓ Israel and author of the first Hebrew book on the subject. Felman was born in Mezhirech and in 1884 he settled in Ereẓ Israel with his family. He worked in his father's orchard near Jaffa, learning citrus culture from the Arabs. Felman saw the future of Jewish settlement in Ereẓ Israel in the planting of groves on the Coastal Plain, and to train future settlers he wrote a short book on citrus culture entitled Ma'yan Gannim ("Spring of the Gardens"), printed in Jerusalem in 1891. It is written in the language of the Mishnah and deals with many aspects of citrus culture, from the purchase of land to the planting of trees, their care, and the cure for various diseases. He died in Petaḥ Tikvah.

bibliography:

A. Felman, Ḥaluẓei ha-Pardesanut ha-Ivrit be-Ereẓ Yisrael (19401, 115–7; Tolkowsky, Peri Eẓ Hadar (1966), 253f.

[Avraham Yaari]