Almanac for the Year 5675

Born in Safed to a rabbinic family, Eliezer Ya‘akov Podhorzer received a traditional education. In 1887, he traveled on a fundraising mission to towns in Galicia, Austro-Hungary, and stayed for a time in Vienna, where he met with community leaders. Upon his return to Safed, Podhorzer purchased land in the nearby small village of Meron and helped to establish a yeshiva and synagogue there. As a pharmacist and head of a medical clinic, Podhorzer, along with visitors from London, advocated for the construction of a new hospital to serve Safed—advocacy that eventually reached Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, who agreed to fund the project. Podhorzer died in Safed.