Ben Zion Tavger

Ben Zion Tavger (Russian: Бенцион Аронович Тавгер, Hebrew: בן ציון טבגר‎), August 5, 1930 (Barysaw) - July 22, 1983, was a physicist and an activist for the renewed Jewish community of Hebron.[1]

Early years

Tavger was born in 1930 in the city of Barysaw (now in Belarus). His family then moved to Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) in Russia.[2]

He studied physics at Moscow University and at the University of Gorky, graduating in 1952.

In 1961 Tavger began underground Zionist activities, organizing a group of students who studied Zeev Jabotinsky's books and articles and prepared for immigration to Israel.

In 1968, Tavger was expelled from the University of Gorky and deprived of teaching privileges throughout the region. He was subsequently accepted as a senior researcher at the Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics in Novosibirsk. Here he again led a group of young Zionists.

Immigration to Israel

In May 1972, Tavger immigrated to Israel, arriving at Nazareth Illit absorption center. Yuval Ne'eman, then president of Tel Aviv University, invited to work at the university. Tavger worked at Tel Aviv University until 1974, at the same time trying to set up a science and research institute located in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.

Hebron

In 1974, Tavger left Tel Aviv University and moved to Kiryat Arba. Soon he began to take part in the restoration efforts of historic sites in nearby Hebron.[3]

In 1975, a four-month-old baby, Avraham Nachson, who had died of Sudden infant death syndrome, was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Hebron.[4] Residents of Kiryat Arba began to arrange guard duty at the grave due to frequent vandalizing[5][6] and Tavger volunteered. He began cleaning and restoring the cemetery and the nearby Tomb of Jesse and Ruth.

Tavger was involved in identifying Jewish sites in Hebron destroyed during the Jordanian era,[7] such as cleaning and excavation at the site of the Avraham Avinu Synagogue which had been torn down[8] and its remains used as an animal pen for sheep and goats.[9]

Later years

From 1975, Tavger taught at the Jerusalem College of Technology, where he established a laboratory with Naftali Eisenberg.

Tavger died on July 22, 1983 and is survived by a wife and five sons. The area next to the Avraham Avinu Synagogue in Hebron is called "Kiryat Ben-Zion" in his memory. The street leading to the synagogue was also named after him.

Scientific publications

Magnetic symmetry
  • B. Tavger and V. Zaitsev, JETP (Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics), Vol. 30, p. 564 (1956)[10]
  • B. Tavger. JETP, Vol. 35, p. 467 (1958)
  • B. Tavger, Crystallography, Vol. 3, p. 339 (1958)
  • B. Tavger, Crystallography, Vol. 3, p. 342 (1958)
  • B. Tavger, Crystallography, Vol. 5, p. 667 (1960)
  • B. Tavger, Proceedings of Kalinigrad Pedagogical Inst. Vol. 2 (1956)
  • B. Tavger, Phys. Easy. A, Vol. 116, p. 123 (1986)

Spatial quantization
  • B. Tavger, JETP, Vol. 48, p. 185 (1965)
  • B. Tavger and V. Kogan, Phs. Easy. Vol. 19, p. 353 (1965)
  • B. Tavger and M. Yerukhimov, JETP, Vol. 51, p. 528 (1966)
  • B. Tavger and V. Kresin, Phys. Easy. Vol. 20, p. 595 (1966)
  • B. Tavger and V. Kresin, JETP, Vol. 47, p. 2318 (1966)
  • B. Tavger and V. Demikhovsky, Soviet Physics - "Successes of Physical Sciences", Vol. 96, p. 61 (1968)
  • B. Tavger and V. Sokolov, Soviet Physics, Solid State, Vol. 10 N6, p. 1412 (1968)
  • B. Tavger and I. Goldfarb (Galili), Soviet Physics, Solid State, Vol. 11, p. 1231 (1969)
  • B. Tavger and V. Margulis, JETP, Vol. 31, N2, p. 340 (1970)
  • B. Tavger, V. Molin and others, JETP letter, Vol. 14, p. 215 (1971)
  • B. Tavger, M. Blokh, E. Fishman, Soviet Physics of Metal and Metallography, Vol. 33. N6, p. 1137 (1972)

References
  1. "Тавгер Бенцион". Toldot.ru — Иудаизм и евреи. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  2. "The Physicist Who Changed Hebron". the Jewish Community of Hebron. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  3. "כוחו של יחיד - פרופ' בן-ציון טבגר ובית הכנסת אברהם אבינו בחברון". Vimeo. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  4. Auerbach, Jerold S. (2009-07-16). Hebron Jews: Memory and Conflict in the Land of Israel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6617-0.
  5. "Hebron Cemetery Raided by Arabs on Anniversary of 1929 Riots". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1937-08-05. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  6. "Vandals damage Hebron Jewish cemetery headstone". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  7. Shoked, Noam (2020-03-01). "Design and Contestation in the Jewish Settlement of Hebron, 1967–87". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 79 (1): 82–102. doi:10.1525/jsah.2020.79.1.82. ISSN 0037-9808.
  8. "Repulse Efforts by Jews to Establish Presence in Hebron". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1975-07-30. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  9. "בשבע 68: הפרופסור שהוציא את העז - בגליון השבוע". ערוץ 7 חדשות, פוליטיקה, תרבות, יהדות ועוד (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  10. "Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics". www.jetp.ac.ru. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
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