MARGOSHES, SAMUEL

MARGOSHES, SAMUEL (1887–1968), Yiddish journalist, editor, and Zionist leader. Born in Galicia, he early joined the Zionist movement, and immigrated to the United States in 1905. From the Jewish Theological Seminary he received his rabbinical degree in 1910 and later a doctorate in Hebrew literature. From Columbia University he received his doctorate in philosophy. After engaging in various communal, educational, and relief activities before, during, and after World War i, he began his long association with the New York Yiddish daily The Day in 1922. He served as editor (1926–42), English columnist, and commentator on Jewish events.

Margoshes espoused the causes both of Zionism and of Diaspora Jewry. For him the survival and growth of the Jewish people everywhere were of prime importance. The strengthening of the State of Israel, while a necessary means to achieve this objective, was for him not an end in itself. Hence, he emphasized the need for Yiddish as well as Hebrew, and the building of an American center of Judaism as well as the Israel center, both interdependent and influencing each other's development, economically, politically, and spiritually. As vice president of the Zionist Organization of America, he participated in World Zionist congresses and served on the Zionist General Council for many years.

bibliography:

Rejzen, Leksikon, 2 (1927), 326–8; lnyl, 5 (1963), 487–90; S. Kahan, Meksikaner Viderklangen (1951), 176–9.

[Sol Liptzin]