Kalman Kahana
Encyclopedia
Kalman Kahana was a long-serving Israel
i politician and journalist, and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence.
He was the brother of Yitzhak Kahan
, former President
of the Supreme Court of Israel
.
now in modern-day Ukraine
. He studied Philosophy, Semitic Languages, History and Pedagogy at Berlin University
and Würzburg University
, eventually gaining a PhD in Philosophy
. He also graduated as a Rabbi
from the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
of Berlin, and was also head of the Haredi Students Organization in the city, as well as being a member of the Young Aguda.
Kalman immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1938, settling in the Kibbutz
of Hafetz Haim
. After immigrating, he became editor of the Sha'arim newspaper.
, and also sat on the central committee of the international organisation. Eventually he became president of the federation.
His position as head of the largest Ultra-orthodox
workers union meant that he became a member of Provisional State Council
, and was one of the people to sign Israel's declaration of independence.
Kahana was elected to the first Knesset
as a member of the United Religious Front
, an alliance of Agudat Israel
, the political wing of Agudat Israel Workers, Mizrachi
and Hapoel HaMizrachi
.
For the 1951 elections
, Agudat Israel Workers stood as an independent party, gaining two seats. Kahana headed the faction in the Knesset, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education and Culture when the party joined David Ben-Gurion
's coalition government. The party was involved in bringing down the third government
when it disagreed with Ben-Gurion over the need for strengthening religious education. Despite not being a coalition partner in the fourth
, fifth
and sixth governments
, Kahana retained his Deputy Ministerial position.
Prior to the 1955 elections
, Agudat Israel Workers merged with Agudat Israel to form the Religious Torah Front
. Kahana was elected to the Knesset
on the new list. The parties also ran together in the 1959 elections
, but split during the Knesset session.
Agudat Israel Workers ran independently in the 1961
, 1965
and 1969 elections
, with Kahana retaining his seat as head of the party each time. He also regained his position as Deputy Minister of Education and Culture after the 1961 and 1965 elections.
The Religious Torah Front was reformed before the 1973 elections
, with Kahana winning election on its list, but split again during the session. Agudat Israel Workers won only one seat in the 1977 elections
, and he entered the Knesset alone.
However, the party failed to cross the electoral threshold
in the 1981 elections
, and Kahana lost his Knesset seat. He retired from politics and died ten years later.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i politician and journalist, and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence.
He was the brother of Yitzhak Kahan
Yitzhak Kahan
Yitzhak Kahan was President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1982 until 1983. He was the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut also known as the Kahan Commission, which was established to investigate the Sabra and Shatila massacre.Born in Brody,...
, former President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Supreme Court of Israel
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
.
Background
Kalman was born in Galicia, an area of the Austro-Hungarian EmpireAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
now in modern-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. He studied Philosophy, Semitic Languages, History and Pedagogy at Berlin University
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and Würzburg University
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
, eventually gaining a PhD in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He also graduated as a Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
from the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Azriel Hildesheimer for the training of rabbis in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.-History:...
of Berlin, and was also head of the Haredi Students Organization in the city, as well as being a member of the Young Aguda.
Kalman immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1938, settling in the Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
of Hafetz Haim
Hafetz Haim
Hafetz Haim is a religious kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In 2006, it had a population of 450....
. After immigrating, he became editor of the Sha'arim newspaper.
Political career
Kalman soon became involved in politics, becoming a member of the secretariat of the Executive Committee of Agudat Israel WorkersAgudat Israel Workers
Poalei Agudat Yisrael was a political party in Poland, and is a minor political party and settlement movement in Israel. It is also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym .-History:...
, and also sat on the central committee of the international organisation. Eventually he became president of the federation.
His position as head of the largest Ultra-orthodox
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
workers union meant that he became a member of Provisional State Council
Provisional State Council
The Provisional State Council was the temporary legislature of Israel from shortly before independence until the election of the first Knesset in January 1949...
, and was one of the people to sign Israel's declaration of independence.
Kahana was elected to the first Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1949
Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset...
as a member of the United Religious Front
United Religious Front
The United Religious Front was a political alliance of the four major religious parties in Israel, as well as the Union of Religious Independents, formed to fight the 1949 elections.-History:...
, an alliance of Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, the political wing of Agudat Israel Workers, Mizrachi
Mizrachi (political party)
Mizrachi was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day National Religious Party.-History:The Mizrachi movement was founded in 1902 in Vilnius as a religious Zionist organisation. It also had a trade union, Hapoel HaMizrachi, started in 1921...
and Hapoel HaMizrachi
Hapoel HaMizrachi
Hapoel HaMizrachi |Mizrachi]] Workers) was a political party and settlement movement in Israel and is one of the predecessors of the National Religious Party.-History:...
.
For the 1951 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1951
Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%.-Results:¹ Rostam Bastuni, Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up the Left Faction. Bastuni later returned to Mapam whilst Berman and Sneh joined Maki. Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz left...
, Agudat Israel Workers stood as an independent party, gaining two seats. Kahana headed the faction in the Knesset, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education and Culture when the party joined David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
's coalition government. The party was involved in bringing down the third government
Third government of Israel
The third government of Israel was formed by David Ben Gurion on 8 October 1951, more than two months after the elections. His Mapai party formed a coalition with Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael, Poalei Agudat Yisrael and the three Israeli Arab parties, the Democratic List for Israeli...
when it disagreed with Ben-Gurion over the need for strengthening religious education. Despite not being a coalition partner in the fourth
Fourth government of Israel
The fourth government of Israel was formed by David Ben-Gurion during the second Knesset on 24 December 1952. Ben-Gurion dropped the ultra-orthodox parties Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael from his coalition and replaced them with the General Zionists and the Progressive Party, who formed...
, fifth
Fifth government of Israel
The fifth government of Israel was formed by Moshe Sharett during the second Knesset on 26 January 1954, and was the first government not led by David Ben-Gurion. Sharett kept the same coalition partners as during the fourth government, i.e...
and sixth governments
Sixth government of Israel
The sixth government of Israel was formed by Moshe Sharett during the second Knesset on 29 June 1955. Sharett dropped the General Zionists and the Progressive Party from his coalition, which included Mapai, Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, the Democratic List for Israeli Arabs, Progress and Work and...
, Kahana retained his Deputy Ministerial position.
Prior to the 1955 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1955
Elections for the third Knesset were held in Israel on 26 July 1955. Voter turnout was 82.8%.-Results:Mapai retained its plurality in the Knesset, although its share of the vote dropped by 5.1 and its share of seats dropped from 47 to 40...
, Agudat Israel Workers merged with Agudat Israel to form the Religious Torah Front
Religious Torah Front
The Religious Torah Front was a political alliance in Israel composed of Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael.-History:The Religious Torah Front was formed when the Ultra-orthodox parties Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael decided to fight the 1955 elections on a joint list.In the...
. Kahana was elected to the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
on the new list. The parties also ran together in the 1959 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1959
Elections for the fourth Knesset were held in Israel on 3 November 1959. Voter turnout was 81.5%.-Results:¹ The General Zionists and the Progressive Party merged to form the Liberal Party....
, but split during the Knesset session.
Agudat Israel Workers ran independently in the 1961
Israeli legislative election, 1961
Elections for the fifth Knesset were held in Israel on 15 August 1961. Voter turnout was 81.6%.-Results:¹ Eight MKs broke away from Mapai to establish Rafi² Herut and the Liberal Party merged to form Gahal...
, 1965
Israeli legislative election, 1965
Elections for the sixth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1965. Voter turnout was 85.9%.-Background:Prior to the elections, two major alliances were formed; Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda united to form the Alignment, whilst Herut and the Liberal Party had formed the Gahal alliance towards the end...
and 1969 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1969
Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969. Voter turnout was 81.7%.-Results:¹ Meir Avizohar defected from the National List to the Alignment² Avner Shaki left the National Religious Party and remained a single MK...
, with Kahana retaining his seat as head of the party each time. He also regained his position as Deputy Minister of Education and Culture after the 1961 and 1965 elections.
The Religious Torah Front was reformed before the 1973 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1973
The Elections for the eighth Knesset were held on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 78.6%.-Results:1 Aryeh Eliav left the Alignment and merged with Ratz to form Ya'ad - Civil Rights Movement...
, with Kahana winning election on its list, but split again during the session. Agudat Israel Workers won only one seat in the 1977 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1977
The Elections for the ninth Knesset were held on 17 May 1977. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right-wing, led by Likud, won the election, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignment and its predecessor, Mapai...
, and he entered the Knesset alone.
However, the party failed to cross the electoral threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
in the 1981 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1981
Elections for the tenth Knesset were held in Israel on 30 June 1981. Despite last minute polls suggesting a victory for Shimon Peres's Alignment, Menachem Begin's Likud won by just one seat...
, and Kahana lost his Knesset seat. He retired from politics and died ten years later.