In late July 1934, the largest newspaper in Mandatory Palestine, "Haaretz," published an intriguing note. A new repatriate from the USSR, neurologist Pinchas Feldman, shared a curious telegram he received from Odessa. It read, "We mourn the death of H.N.," written by Odessans who signed even more mysteriously as "Family." For readers, journalists provided an explanation: "H.N." referred to the recently deceased Jewish national poet Hayim Nachman Bialik, and "Family" denoted Zionist activists remaining in Soviet Ukraine. From the newspaper report, it became clear: Zionism in the USSR had not perished, but Zionists operated underground, constantly risking their freedom and lives.

Dr. Pinchas Feldman was also a member of the Odessa "family," but he managed not only to escape to Eretz Israel but also to rise triumphantly in Zion. He was the man who secretly brought the remains of one of the founders of the Zionist movement from the Soviet Union - Yehuda Leib Pinsker. Pinsker's publication of the book "Autoemancipation" in 1882 attracted widespread attention among European and Russian Jews, leading to the emergence of the "Hovevei Zion" movement advocating for the creation of a Jewish state.

Pinchas Meirovich Feldman also belonged to the old guard of Zionists. He was born on the seventh day of Passover in 1890 in the town of Nova Ushitsa, in Ukrainian Podolia. The Feldman family home stood behind the synagogue courtyard, between a ravine and Postal Street. His father, Reb Meir Dov Feldman, was a Boyan Hasid and a well-known public figure in Nova Ushitsa. Pinchas's mother, Bat-Sheva Isaakovna, from the Masis family, managed a fabric store and looked after a large family: three daughters and four sons. Despite their devotion to Hasidic tradition, the Feldmans actively supported the secular education of their children. In the shtetl, they were also known as ideological Zionists, supporters of the "Hovevei Zion" movement, whose home practically served as the headquarters of Eretz Israel patriots.

In his childhood, Pinchas attended the cheder and then the first Jewish school in Nova Ushitsa, founded by his father. When he was still a teenager, his parents moved to Odessa. There, Pinchas continued his education in a gymnasium, which he graduated from with a gold medal.

Odessa resembled a boiling cauldron. This city was not only a center of commerce but also of political life. The Zionists in the capital of southern Ukraine had one of the strongest organizations, which couldn't help but inspire young Pinchas and his family. As a high school student and later as a university student, Pinchas Meirovich was a member of Zionist youth circles, participated in theoretical debates with youth from the Bund. In his free time, he could be found at the club of the "Tarbut" society, which promoted Hebrew.

After receiving his high school diploma, the young man was admitted to the medical faculty of Odessa University. Despite choosing such a practical specialty as medicine, Pinchas showed a clear inclination towards literature and journalism. Even as a student, he frequented the homes of renowned publicists and politicians, developing a close friendship with Menachem Ussishkin, an ideologue of Jewish settlement in Palestine and one of the leaders of the "Hovevei Zion" movement.

The first of the Feldmans to head to Zion was Yehoshua, the younger brother of Pinchas Meirovich. In 1910, he embarked alone to study at the "Herzliya" gymnasium in Jaffa. In his letters home, Yehoshua instilled enthusiasm in his siblings for the resettlement in Eretz Israel, but with the outbreak of the Civil War, their plans for early immigration began to fade.

When under Kerensky the Jews were granted the right to be elected to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, Pinchas Feldman decided to run for election in his hometown of Nova Ushitsa on behalf of the Zionists. "Place ballot number two in the box!" the Zionists urged from posters hung around the city - they were second on the list. However, the free political life in the country ended as unexpectedly as it had begun. Battles were erupting in Ukraine.

Throughout the Civil War years, which he spent in Odessa, Pinchas Meirovich harbored hope that sooner or later he would be able to leave for Eretz Israel. His wife, Berta Shmuelevna Drut, whom he met during his medical studies, fully supported him in this. In 1923, a son, Shaul, was born to the couple.

In 1926, almost all the Feldmans left for Palestine, changing their surname to the Hebrew Bitan upon arrival. The very last to depart was the eldest brother, Yechiel, who left the USSR in 1930.

Although Pinchas Meirovich, utilizing all his connections, managed to help his relatives emigrate, he himself struggled to repatriate for a long time. Feldman and his wife had to establish their "own Palestine" in Odessa. Managing the neurological department at the Jewish hospital, Pinchas Meirovich turned his home into a place frequented by Jewish educators, Hebrew writers, and former members of Jewish political parties and organizations. It was an underground Zionist committee in Odessa, connected with similar groups in Moscow, Leningrad, and Tbilisi.

In the conditions of Bolshevik dictatorship, such actions were extremely dangerous. Pinchas Meirovich remembered how his young son Shaul, whom he had been teaching Hebrew since kindergarten, once said, "Dad, if you don't stop pressuring me to learn this foreign language, I'll report you to the GPU! You're teaching me counter-revolutionary language!" The boy just wanted to go play with his friends in the yard, not to pore over Hebrew grammar and vocabulary, but such incidents could easily lead to tragedy.

However, even in these conditions, underground activists continued to operate. One day, the Odessa Zionist committee learned that a family of dedicated Zionists was in exile, without work, and suffering from severe hunger. The activists faced the question of how to quickly raise funds under constant surveillance by the secret police. Fortunately, a well-known cantor named Pinchuk was performing in Odessa at that time, having sent his entire family to Palestine. Without hesitation, Dr. Feldman went with another member of the underground to the "London" hotel and asked the cantor to contribute to the cause. The cantor fearlessly agreed and immediately offered to donate all the proceeds from one of his concerts to help the needy. In turn, Pinchas Meirovich became an "agent" distributing tickets among his acquaintances, friends, and numerous patients. The concert was a great success, and the funds raised were enough not only to help the starving family but also other victims of repression.

Soon, the Odessa Zionists were presented with a much more significant task. In July 1932, underground activists learned that the city authorities of Odessa had decided to demolish the old Jewish cemetery, which included the grave of Yehuda Leib Pinsker, the father of Zionism. All existing tombstones were to be destroyed, and the cemetery leveled to the ground. The Zionists decided to take action. Pinchas Meirovich became the executive leader of the mission, with his wife as his right hand, and another prominent Odessa Zionist, Yakov Landasman, providing assistance.

The activists began to seek the transfer of Pinsker's remains to a new cemetery through legal means. Within a few days, signatures were collected among the Jewish professorship in support of a petition to the government. The explanations in the petition were entirely Soviet: Pinsker, they argued, was a military doctor who worked among the poor, providing unpaid assistance to the working class. The main petitioners were Pinchas Feldman and his wife, listed in the petition as "relatives of Pinsker." In reality, they were kindred spirits in their beliefs but not by blood.

To everyone's joy, permission was granted. Pinsker's body was placed in a lead coffin and reburied. Even the monument from the grave of the Zionist leader was successfully relocated to the new location.

This success was followed by another: the family of Pinchas Meirovich was allowed to reunite with their relatives in Palestine. The spouses began counting the days until their departure from Odessa. However, they did not want to leave the USSR empty-handed. They couldn't bring their friends from the Zionist committee with them, but attempting to bring the body of one of its contemporary prophets to the homeland was entirely possible. Understanding the importance of the gift they could present to the people of Israel, the Feldmans decided to take the risk.

The doctor wrote a statement requesting the exhumation of the body of "his relative," whose remains he wanted to take with him when leaving the Soviet Union. The bureaucrats accepted the application without many questions and almost immediately gave their approval. However, after obtaining the signature, a terrible bureaucratic hassle ensued, with Feldman having to run from one institution to another. As a result, the initial permission was annulled. Unfortunately, the official who had helped Feldman was arrested for some administrative offenses. There were moments when Pinchas Meirovich wanted to give up, but his wife, Berta Shmuelevna, showed extraordinary resilience and continued knocking on various doors.