Metman-Cohen, Yehudah Leib

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METMAN-COHEN, YEHUDAH LEIB

METMAN-COHEN, YEHUDAH LEIB (1869–1939), educator in Ereẓ Israel. Born in Ostiya, a village in Ukraine, Metman-Cohen was ordained as a rabbi. He joined *Benei Moshe, and in 1904 settled in Ereẓ Israel, where he became headmaster of the school in *Rishon le-Zion. In 1906, he founded the first Hebrew high school in Jaffa, the Herzlia Gymnasium with 17 pupils and four teachers, and directed it until 1912; he was its headmaster again during World War i. Metman-Cohen was one of the founders of Tel Aviv (1909) and one of the initiators of Ir Gannim (1913), which eventually became *Ramat Gan. His publications included textbooks on the teaching of technical subjects in Hebrew and works on Hebrew language.

His wife, fania (1874–?), was one of the first teachers at the Hebrew high school in Jaffa and was active in the Women's Federation for Equal Rights.

[Abraham Aharoni]