David Remez was born as Moshe David Drakin in 1886 in present-day Belarus. As a boy he studied Talmud with his grandfather and then attended a traditional cheder. In 1905, he was drafted into the Tsar’s army, but was soon dismissed for being an only child. He then moved to Constantinople, Turkey, to study law, and it was there that he met and befriended David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, both of whom – years later – added their names to the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Write your name with ,
Remez moved to Palestine in 1913 as a newly-married man and began working the land in Be’er Tuvaya, Karkur and Zichron Ya’akov. But his career as a farmer did not last long. By 1921, he was already head of the national construction company, Soleil Bon, and – in that capacity – bought land and started affordable housing projects.
Under the tutelage of Burl Katznelson, he served as general secretary of the all-powerful Histadrut workers’ union for nearly a decade and was instrumental in establishing many of its subsidiaries, such as the Zim Shipping Company, the Mashbir Department Store, and the still-thriving M Oved Publishing House. In 1945, he was elected as chairman of the Jewish national council, Vad Halleumi, and although – according to some historical accounts – he voted against Ben-Gurion’s proposal to declare a state on May 14, 1948, nevertheless He proudly signed the declaration, and was named the country’s first transport minister.
He was a lover of the Hebrew language, and coined many new words, such as muvtal (unemployed), vetek (seniority), tchabura (transportation), mimtza (archaeological find) and dachpur (bulldozer).
In 1951, while serving as Minister of Education and Culture, Remez died at the age of sixty-four, making him the first of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. At a memorial meeting of the Mapai party, future Prime Minister Moshe Sharett praised his linguistic skills and unique brevity. “He walked in his secular life,” Sharrett said in his eulogy, “like a priest through the temple of language.”
is the end song havrit hchdasha (Lyrics and Music – Omri Glickman, Arrangement – Piloni), performed by HaTikvah 6. (Licensed by Israel Story via Acum)
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