Before wending her way to Israel, Golda Meir took a circuitous route through Ukraine and the United States. Born Golda Mabovitch in Kyiv to parents Moshe Mabovich and Blume Naiditch, she was named for her Great-Great-Grandmother Golda, who was known for putting salt instead of sugar in her tea as a way of mourning the Jewish diaspora. So, clearly, Golda's Zionist beliefs had deep roots.
In Kyiv, Golda's family lived in poverty and fear due to the near-constant threat of anti-Semitic pogroms, but Moshe eventually scraped together enough money to move his family to the United States, where they settled in Milwaukee, where Golda was enchanted by the "pretty new clothes, soda pop, and ice cream," according to her autobiography.
Although she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class (via Legacy.com), Golda's parents strongly discouraged her from pursuing further education, wanting her instead to find a husband and raise a family. Frustrated by their inability to see things her way, Golda escaped to her sister Sheyna's home in Denver, where she first encountered the Leftist Zionism that would define her career — and, ironically, Morris Meyerson, the man who would become her husband.
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