LINDHEIM, IRMA LEVY

LINDHEIM, IRMA LEVY (1886–1978), U.S. Zionist leader. She was born in New York City to a wealthy, assimilated family. She was educated in social work at Columbia University. During World War I she served as an ambulance driver, and in 1919 became president of the Seventh District of the Zionist Organization. She entered the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1922 and was accepted as a candidate for a rabbinical degree, while continuing her studies at Columbia under John Dewey. Irma Lindheim first visited Palestine in 1925 and incorporated her experiences into her book Immortal Adventure (1928). On her return to the U.S. she devoted herself to work with the Jewish National Fund. She became president of Hadassah (1926–28), and simultaneously was national vice president of the ZOA. Attracted by the Halutz philosophy, Irma Lindheim joined the Labor Zionist group in 1930 and helped organize the League for Labor Palestine in 1932. In 1933 she decided to settle in Israel and moved to kibbutz Mishmar ha-Emek. She wrote many articles, and her autobiography, Parallel Quest, was published in 1962. (Gladys Rosen)