Israel Leon Grosglik

Israel (Izrael) Leon Grosglik was born into a Hasidic family in Warsaw. He learned Polish on his own and at age eighteen began to write for the Polish-language Jewish newspaper Izraelita. In the early 1870s, Grosglik preached regularly at a progressive synagogue, and began working for the Jewish community board, eventually becoming secretary. Despite his efforts to assimilate, Grosglik remained friendly with the Orthodox community in Warsaw, and advocated for meetings between Hasidic and progressive Jewish youth as a means to promote integration and secular education.