A young Edward Sperling, 1911

Edward J. Sperling (?, 1889 – July 22, 1946), born Ezra Sperling, was a 20th century writer, humourist, and zionist. 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A humorist is an author who specializes in short, humorous articles or essays. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ...

Early life

Ezra Sperling was born in 1889 in a Jewish community in Slutzk, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire. As a boy, he and his family fled Russia to avoid the state-sponsored pogroms, emigrating to the United States, where he changed his name to Edward. His family eventually settled in Sioux City, Iowa. As a boy – and throughout his life – Edward was described as quite, gentle, and fairly introverted, spending most of his time reading or writing. As a result, he took to writing professionally, writing articles for local jewish newspapers. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... SÅ‚ucak or Slutsk (Belarusian: ; Russian: ; Polish: ) is a predominantly jewish town in Belarus, located on the Sluč river, 105 km south of Minsk. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... The Russian word pogrom (погром) refers to a massive violent attack on people with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... Sioux City is a city located in Western Iowa. ... Official language(s) English Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 26th 145,743 km² 320 km 500 km 0. ...

World War One and Aftermath

When World War I broke out in 1918, Edward went to Canada to join the British Army, and ended up enlisting in the Jewish Legion under Joseph Trumpeldor, for whom he would later name his first-born son, Joseph Trumpeldor Sperling (though this was also because Edward's future wife had been friends with Trumpeldor). It is unclear whether Sperling was a zionist before joining the Jewish Legion, or if his experiences under Zionists such as Trumpeldor influenced him to that end, but it is certain that by the time the war was over, he believed very strongly in the Zionist cause. After his discharge from the Jewish Legion, he settled in Palestine, where he married a fellow Russian émigré named Sara Fixman, with whom he had 4 children. He befriended many prominent Zionists, among them future president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Palestine Post/Jerusalem Post founder Gershon Agron, and future prime minister Moshe Shertok. At the request of the Jewish Agency, Edward began working for the British Mandate, rising to the post of director-general of the ministry of trade and industry. He used this post to aid the development of jewish industries and the kibbutzim. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... This article is about the British Army battalions known as the Jewish Legion or Zion Mule Corps, which fought in World War I against the Ottoman Empire. ... Joseph Trumpledor in uniform c. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben--Zvi (November 24, 1884, Poltava, Ukraine - April 23, 1963, Jerusalem, Israel) was a historian, Labor Zionist leader, and the second Israeli president (1952 - 1963). ... The Palestine Post was an English language Zionist newspaper founded on December 1, 1932 by American journalist-turned-newspaper-editor, Gershon Agron in the British mandate of Palestine and subsequently, in Israel. ... The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli newspaper in the English language. ... Gershon Agron (born Agronsky, 1894-1959) was an Israeli press pioneer and onetime mayor of Jerusalem. ... Moshe Sharett (born Moshe Shertok, October 15, 1894 - July 7, 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel (1953-1955), serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurions two terms. ... The Jewish Agency for Israel also known as The Jewish Agency (or sochnut in Hebrew), was previously called the Jewish Agency for Palestine (during the British Mandate of Palestine) is an Israeli organisation that advocates for Israel and is composed mainly, but not entirely, of Jewish people. ... The British Mandate of Palestine was a swathe of territory in the Middle East, formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire, which the League of Nations entrusted to the United Kingdom to administer in the aftermath of World War I as a Mandate Territory. ... Director-general is the professional head of a UK Executive Agency which contains other agencies headed by directors. ... A kibbutz קיבוץ (Hebrew, pl. ...

Writings

While working for the British Mandate, Edward wrote for many newspapers, including the London Jewish Chronicle and the Palestine Illustrated News, often under pseudonyms (most notably "Caisson"). His most successful article, which he wrote for the Illustrated News, was entitled "Barrage". Barrage, which was essentially a collection of humourous aphorisms/one-liners, ran from 1937 to April 1946. The humour expressed is often based on the inconveniences of Palestinian (and later, war-time) life. The Jewish Telegraph is a Jewish Newspaper in Britain. ... A pseudonym or allonym is a name (sometimes legally adopted, sometimes purely fictitious) used by an individual as an alternative to their birth name. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

Excerpts from Barrage:

• "It is feared that the high cost of hair dyes may cause a serious shortage of blondes in the country."
• "Military experts, once skeptical, now give great praise to the Soviet Army. Those Russians have shown that they can make towns faster than anybody else can pronounce them".
• "It is feared that should the python, which escaped the other day from the Tel Aviv Zoo, begin to devour camels, the city will be threatened with a serious meat shortage".

In 1992, Sperling's grandson, David Sperling, compiled a great number of the aphorisms into a book entitled Barrage: Observations from Palestine, 1940 – 1946, which remains as of yet unpublished.

Sperling also wrote art criticisms for the Jewish Chronicle and the Palestine Post (the latter which published his last review on the day of his death), using the initials "Th.F.M.".

Death

On July 22, 1946, Edward Sperling was preparing leave Jerusalem to go to Haifa, and was staying at the King David Hotel. As he left the hotel, he was shot at by IZL men (not knowing he himself was a zionist). He fled back into his office in the hotel, which was subsequently bombed by the IZL. He was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Jerusalem (; Hebrew: Yerushalayim; Arabic: al-Quds, Greek Ιεροσόλυμα), the capital of Israel, is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ... Nickname: Red Haifa Official website: www. ... The King David Hotel, built in Jerusalem with locally quarried pink sandstone, was opened in 1931. ... Irgun poster showing their view of the Land of Israel Irgun (ארגון), shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leumi (ארגון צבאי לאומי, also spelled Irgun Zvai Leumi), Hebrew for National Military Organization, was a paramilitary Zionist group that operated in the British Mandate of Palestine from 1931 to 1948. ... The Mount of Olives (also Mount Olivet, Hebrew: Har HaZeitim הר הזיתים, sometimes Jebel et-Tur, Mount of the Summit, or Jebel ez-Zeitun, Mount of Olives) is a mountain ridge to the east of Jerusalem. ...