| Yehoshua Barzilai | |
| Birth Name: | Yehoshua Eisenstadt |
| Birth Date: | August 20, 1855 |
| Birth Place: | Navahrudak, Belarus |
| Death Date: | May 2, 1918(aged 62) |
| Death Place: | Lausen, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland |
| Occupation: | Founder of B'nei Moshe |
| Known For: | Leader of Hovevei Zion |
Yehoshua Barzilai-Eisenstadt (August 20, 1855 – May 2, 1918[1]) was an early Zionist leader and writer. He was one of the founders of the covert B'nei Moshe organization, and a leader of the Hovevei Zion movement.[2]
Barzillai was born in Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, to a rabbinical family.[3] In Ottoman Palestine he co-founded the organization B'nei Moshe.[4]
He also served as secretary for Hovevei Zion in Jaffa, traveling extensively across the new settlements in the Land of Israel and becoming a key contact for pioneers' inquiries. From 1894 to 1895, he was the head librarian at Beit Ariela.[5]
He was a co-founder of the Rehavia Gymnasium in Jerusalem, Israel's first modern high school.[6]
During World War I, he relocated to Switzerland, where he died in 1918. Seven years later, his remains were interred on the Mount of Olives.[7]