26/05/2026
Just published a new article on Aish. This one is about Joseph Trumpeldor, a Zionist pioneer and war hero, most famous for defending Tel Hai (a Jewish town in the Upper Galilee) against Bedouin raiders. His famous last words "tov lamut be'ad artzeinu" – "it is good to die for our country" became the rallying cry of a generation.
But before he was the superhero we know him as, Joseph Trumpeldor served as a Jewish soldier, both under Russian and British command (at different times). In 1905 during the Ruso-Japanese war, he was taken captive and spent one year in a Japanese POW camp.
Rather than break, he decided to lead. In Takaishi, he built the foundations of Jewish communal life including lending institutions, vocational workshops, and cultural programming. It was in Japanese captivity that Trumpeldor built his own Zionist movement (among other Jewish POWs) and reconnected with his own Jewish identity.
If you're interested to learn more, click on the link below and read the article.
Joseph Trumpeldor spent a year in a Japanese POW camp and came out a Zionist legend.
