Bilsky, Lillian (Zionist Advocacy)

Bilsky, Lillian (Zionist Advocacy)

The only information provided about Bilsky’s direct, geographical involvement in Israel is her trip to Palestine. She went with her husband Archie and daughter Dorothy. As Bilsky had done tremendous work for the Zionist Community on an international scale such as supporting Israeli immigration, creating income for the Girls’ Domestic and Agricultural Science School in Nahalal, worked with the Hadassah Organization of Canada and countless other organization, it only made sense that she would visit. While her physical presence in Israel was limited, she was an icon and was deeply celebrated by the Israeli and Zionist community.

1927

Person

Israel

Shirley Berman, “BILSKY, LILLIAN (Freiman),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed May 31, 2021, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bilsky_lillian_16E.html.

1885

Mattawa, Ontario, Canada

1940

Montreal, Canada

Social Organizer, Administrator, Philanthropist, Zionist Leader

English; Hebrew

In Israel, Bilsky represented what it meant to be a “proud Jewish woman” Although she was from Canada, her work in Israel entailed her Zionist longing for the cause of Palestine and for the Jewish community in Israel and Palestine. Working to unite the women of Israel through rehabilitation and reconstruction of shared land, Bilsky played a part in countless fundraising and organizations to support Palestine. She was the Canadian chair of the Palestine Emergency Fund in 1929, and then United Palestine Appeal appointed dominion chairperson in 1934. Her religious affiliation to Judaism led her to the belief that a Jewish homeland in Palestine was a matter of life and death, and she was relentless in her fight abroad to support the Zionist community in Israel in any capacity she could.

Quebec Since 1800 (Carleton, HIST 3301A)

Rachel Getz