Laufbahn, Yitshak
LAUFBAHN, YITSHAK
LAUFBAHN, YITSHAK (1888–1948), editor, author, publicist, and translator. Born to a rabbinical family in Dembica, Galicia, Laufbahn had a traditional Jewish education and excelled in biblical studies. A Zionist from his youth, he went to Palestine in 1908, worked for a while in agriculture, then moved to Jerusalem and was an assistant in the newspaper Ha-Ẓevi. From 1914 he edited with Joseph Aharonovitch Ha-Po'el ha-Ẓa'ir and when the latter was banished to Egypt, Laufbahn replaced him as editor. Laufbahn was active both in the organization of the yishuv and in its institutions; he played an important part in Ha-Po'el ha-Ẓa'ir and later in Mapai, the Israel labor party. In 1921 he was sent to Poland to carry out educational work with youth. In Warsaw he edited the Yiddish journal Folk un Land and in Berlin the Arbeters-Folk. In 1923 Laufbahn became editor of Ha-Po'el ha-Ẓa'ir, a position he held until his death.
His works include Anshei Segullah (essays, edited by I. Cohen, 1948); Mivḥar Kitvei Y. Laufbahn (selected writings, edited by N. Tradion, 1954); and he edited Devarim, the selected speeches of Chaim Weizmann (1934).
bibliography:
Kressel, Leksikon, 2 (1967), 222.
[Israel Cohen]