The First Hebrew Science Fiction Book

Elhanan Leib Lewinsky wrote the first sci-fi book in Hebrew in 1892 called Journey to the Land of Israel in the Year 5800. Find out how much of his futuristic vision came true. Would Lewinsky love Levinsky market in Tel Aviv which is named after him? Will Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives get an astronomical observatory as described in his book? Find out as we go back to the future and learn about the man who pre-dated Theodor Herzl’s Altneuland in envisioning a utopian Hebrew-speaking independent Jewish State.

Thank you to tour guide Rachel Lazar who specializes in Tel Aviv tours.

Elhanan Leib Lewinsky. National Library of Israel collection.

Mural on a store in Levinsky Market, Tel Aviv by artist Swan. Credit: Dror Hadadi

Levinsky Hebrew postcard. National Library of Israel Collection.

Levinsky Market, Tel Aviv, 2024. Credit: Ben Bresky

A synagogue on Levinsky (sometimes spelled Levinski) street in Tel Aviv’s Florentine neighborhood. Credit: Ben Bresky, 2024.

One of the many stalls in Levinsky market, unchanged for generations. Credit: Ben Bresky, 2024

Would the Levinsky of the 1890s enjoy Levinsky Borekas in 2024? I think he would. Credit: Ben Bresky.

NOTES:

• Rachel Lazar tours

• Elḥanan Leib Lewinsky biography - YIVO Encyclopedia of

  Jews in Eastern Europe

• A Trip to the Land of Israel in 2040 - excerpts in English

• Journey to the Land of Israel in 5800 - full text, Hebrew

• Elhanan Leib Lewinsky (1857-1910) - National Library archives

• Writings of A.L. Levinski - Hebrew