Rachel Maccabi (November 10, 1915 – October 12, 2003) was a Palmach woman and Israeli writer born in Egypt.
Rachel Maccabi | |
|---|---|
רחל מכבי | |
 Rachel Maccabi, 1955 | |
| Born | Mari-Louis Green November 10, 1915 |
| Died | October 12, 2003 (aged 87) |
| Burial place | Kibbutz Hatzor |
| Citizenship | Israel |
| Notable work | My Egypt |
| Title | Writer |
| Spouse | Maccabi Motzri-Mani |
Biography
editRachel Maccabi was born in 1915 as "Mari-Louis Green" in Alexandria, Egypt,[1] into a prosperous Zionist family. Her upbringing was deeply influenced by the Zionist movement, which advocated for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.[2]
Her father, Felix Green, was a wealthy businessman, a senior member of the Jewish community, and one of the leaders of the local Zionist movement. Her mother, Janine, was the daughter of Baron Félix de Mensache. In her youth, she studied at a French gymnasium in her hometown of Alexandria. After finishing high school, she studied law.
She was active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. Beginning in 1925, she made several visits to Mandatory Palestine and fell in love with the land. Because of that, she decided to immigrate. Later, she published her impressions of her initial visits to the Land of Israel in her book "My Egypt."[1]
During one of her visits to Palestine, she met Maccabi Motzri-Mani, the son of the Egyptian Zionist activists Albert and Matilda (Mazel) Motzri. In 1935, they married. She later changed her name to Rachel (inspired by Rachel Bluwstein) and lived with Maccabi in Moshav Tel Tzur (today Even Yehuda). In 1937, their eldest son. Oded. was born.
In 1945, her father, Felix Green, was murdered in Alexandria by robbers who broke into his house.
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, her husband was appointed to the Harel Brigade (a reserve brigade of the Israel Defense Forces). He was mortally wounded in an ambush in Dayr Ayyub, and two days later, he died of his wounds. After Maccabi's death, Rachel changed her last name to Maccabi and decided to continue on his path. She enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces and served as the secretary of Yigal Alon.
Personal life
editRachel lived in Israel all her life, specifically in Kibbutz Hatzor. She dedicated herself to writing memoirs and she published five books. Her works tell the story of her youth in Alexandria, her life in Mandatory Israel, the events of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, her early years of service in the IDF, and her life in the kibbutz.
Rachel died on October 12, 2003, and was buried in her kibbutz.
References
edit- ^ a b herstreet (2017-05-03). "רחל מכבי (1915–2003)". רחוב משלה (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-06-22.
- ^ Rosen, Ilana (2015-09-01). "The War Memoirs of Rachel Maccabi". CLCWeb – Comparative Literature and Culture. 17 (3): 1–7. doi:10.7771/1481-4374.2633. ISSN 1481-4374.