Yisrael Bak


Yisrael Bak was a printer, a publisher and public figure in the Old Yishuv in the Land of Israel in the 19th century. He revived Hebrew printing in the Land of Israel after a hiatus of more than two hundred years and established the first Hebrew printing house in Jerusalem.

Early life and emmigration to Safed

Bak was born in Berdichev, then part of the recently formed Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire, in 1797. According to one family tradition, the surname Bak is based on an abbreviation of the Hebrew "Baal Koreh", a position that the father of the family, Rabbi Avraham Bak, held in the synagogue of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Another tradition claims that the origin of the name is an abbreviation of "Ben Kedoshim", as one of the patriarchs of his family was killed for Kiddush Hashem
At the age of 19, he opened a Hebrew printing house, which operated for 9 years. He left Europe in 1831 to avoid the Russian cantonist draft for his son Nissan, and brought a printing press with him when he immigrated to the Land of Israel. He settled in Safed and established a printing house there. Bak was injured during the 1834 looting of Safed and had an enduring limp all his life. His prized printing press was badly damaged. He is said to have also practiced medicine, although he did not study it in an orderly manner, so that when the Egyptian governor of the country, Ibrahim Pasha, fell ill, Bak helped him in his recovery.
With the blessing of the governor, in 1834 Bak established a settlement and farm on Mount Jermak. It was the first settlement established by Jewish immigrants in the modern era. Bak entrusted his son Nissan with the management of the farm in Jermak. For several years, the farm was financially successful, and according to the testimony of missionaries from 1839, about 15 people lived in it.
The earthquake in Safed in 1837 and government change in the Land of Israel in 1840, following the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841), in which Ibrahim Pasha was removed, led to the end of the Jewish settlement in Jermak. Remnants of the buildings and plantations can still be found there today, and it is known as Khirbet Bak. The earthquake also destroyed what was left of Bak's printing house in Safed.

Later years and life in Jerusalem

After the destruction of the agricultural farm in Jermak, and the printing house in Safed, Bak left the Galilee and moved to Jerusalem. Bak continued to be very active in Jewish life in the area, and in 1840 was the first to send a petition to Muhammad Ali, the then ruler of Syria, asking him to intervene in the Damascus Blood Libel and stop the torture of the falsely accused detainees. The following year, in 1841, he established the first Hebrew printing house in Jerusalem, preceded only by the printing house of the Armenian community, founded about a decade earlier. In 1843, Sir Moses Montefiore, who had known Bak in Safed, provided a new printing press called "Moshe and Yehudit", named after Montefiore and his wife Judith.
In Jerusalem, Bak joined the Hasidic community and was active in establishing the Hasidic Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
As the sole printer in Jerusalem, Bak held a monopoly on Hebrew printing in the city. In the early 1860s, this changed, with the establishment of a competing printing house by Yoel Moshe Salomon, Michal HaCohen and, where Ha-Levanon was printed. As a counter to Ha-Levanon, in 1863, Bak began to publish Havazeleth with his son-in-law, Israel Dov Frumkin. It was published for more than forty years.

Literature

  • Me'ir Benayahu, "בית דפוסו של ר ישראל ב"ק בצפת וראשית הדפוס בירושלים"
  • Abraham Ya'ari, "זכרונות ארץ ישראל, כרך א': י', ישוב חקלאי ראשון של עולים בגליל העליון, ר' ישראל ב"ק, 1837–1839."
  • Getzl Karsal, "לקסיקון הספרות העברית בדורות האחרונים, בהוצאת ספרית פועלים 1965–1967"
  • Saev Aner, "סיפורי משפחות, תל אביב: משרד הביטחון - ההוצאה לאור, 1990, עמ' 65–72"
  • Arieh Morgenstern, "'בית הדפוס של ישראל בק בצפת – גילויים חדשים', על ספרים ואנשים 9, 6–7"