Mordechai Borochov

Born in Maišiagala (Polish: Mejszagoła), near Vilna, Mordechai Borochov received a traditional education that included study at the Telz Yeshiva. After yeshiva, he studied at a gymnasium and then at universities in Basel, Bern, and Zurich, obtaining his medical degree in 1910. After two years in Berlin, Borochov immigrated to Palestine, where he was associated with the Herzliya Gymnasium. During World War I, he served in the Ottoman Army. After the war, he worked at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and in 1929 he directed the first school in Mandatory Palestine for students with mental disabilities. Borochov wrote extensively on medicine and human development both in Hebrew scholarly journals and in the Yishuv’s popular press.