Levin, originally from Svisloch, Belorussia, became involved with Hovevei Zion during his early years. As a devoted follower of Ahad HaAm, he joined the clandestine B'nei Moshe society. As a young man, he and Leo Motzkin created the Russian Jewish Undergraduates' Union during their time at university in Berlin. Throughout his career, he actively disseminated Zionist ideas through speeches and by writing for Hebrew publications like Ha-Shilo'ah, Ha-Zeman, and Ha-Zofeh, as well as Yiddish ones such as Der Yud and Der Fraynd.[1]
He was a captivating orator whose sermons consistently drew large audiences, swiftly earning him recognition and affection within the Zionist circles of Vilna.[4]
At the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, Levin emerged as a prominent opponent of the Uganda Scheme. He also co-founded the League for the Attainment of Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia in 1905 and served on its central board.[5]
In 1906, with the backing of the Lithuanians, Levin was elected to represent the Jewish National List from Vilna in the inaugural Russian Duma. During his tenure, he engaged in legislative discussions and spoke twice about the Bialystok pogrom. Following the dissolution of the first Duma, Levin endorsed the Vyborg Declaration, which urged citizens to engage in civil disobedience.[6]
The voters of the Jewish axis for the first Russian Duma with Shmaryahu Levin (center)- at a meeting with him in Vilnius (1906)
Shortly after the First Duma's dissolution, Levin escaped from Russia for Germany, resided in Berlin, and made several lecture tours around the United States. He was chosen to be a member of the Zionist Executive at the Tenth Zionist Congress (1911). He participated in the activities of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden in Germany and was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Technion, a technical university in Haifa. He encouraged American Jews to support this endeavor.[7] However, together with Ahad Ha-Am and J. Tschlenow, Levin resigned from the Technion board of governors after their proposal to switch to teaching in Hebrew was turned down.[8]
