#moses montefiore

[gliklofhameln]

Handwritten setter sent to Moses Montefiore by Rabbis Samuel Salant, Isaac Covo, and Isaiah Bardaki, Jerusalem: June 27, 1853

Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), a successful Anglo-Jewish businessman and philanthropist, was one of the most important supporters of Jewish causes throughout the world. Among his many charitable projects, he helped coordinate the distribution of money to needy Jews in the Holy Land, as demonstrated by the present letter.

In 1853, Samuel Myer Isaacs (1804-1878), cantor and acting rabbi of Congregation Shaaray Tefila on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, became treasurer of the North American Relief Society for Indigent Jews in Palestine. When news began to arrive of famine in Palestine that year, Montefiore and British Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1803-1890) sent an appeal to the United States for funds. In response, Isaacs sprang into action, mounting the first national charity campaign in the US on behalf of Jews overseas. Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco responded to Isaacs’ call. While Emanu-El would eventually become affiliated with the Reform movement, it was, at the time, a largely traditional congregation.

This letter written by Samuel Salant (1816-1909), Isaac Covo (1770-1854), and Isaiah Bardaki (1790-1862), some of the most illustrious Ashkenazic and Sephardic rabbis of Jerusalem at the time, constitutes a receipt for the donation made by the members of the synagogue. The rabbis ask that Montefiore convey their thanks to both the congregation and Isaacs and assure him that the monies were distributed properly to needy Jews throughout the land.

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Moses Montefiore - WTF fun fact

[jewishvirtuallibrary-blog]

The Montefiore Windmill in the Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel; 2013. x

The Montefiore windmill and the surrounding neighborhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim were both funded by the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore.  The construction of the mill was part of a program to enable the Jewish community of the region to become self-supporting. Montefiore also built a printing press and a textile factory, and he attempted to acquire land for Jewish cultivation, but was hampered by Ottoman restrictions on land sale to non-Muslims.

Although the mill was not reliable as wind conditions in Jerusalem could not guarantee its continued operation and there were usually no more than 20 days a year with strong enough breezes for it to operate, the mill was used for nearly two decades until the first steam-powered mill was completed in Jerusalem in 1878.

By the late 19th century the mill was abandoned and it was not until the 1930s that it was cosmetically restored.  During the blockade of Jerusalem in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jewish fighters built an observation post at the top of the tower. As a result, British authorities ordered the windmill be blown up but, by chance, the unit tasked with destroying the windmill happened to be from Ramsgate, home to Montefiore's long-time residence. When the soldiers observed the name of their hometown next to Montefiore's on a plaque displayed on the building, they "re-interpreted" their orders and blew up only the observation post at the top of the tower, rather than the entire structure.  The windmill was completely restored in 2012 and today houses a small museum dedicated to the work of Moses Montefiore.

[eretzyisrael]

This was the entry in Moses Montefiore's diary for October 24th, 1827, the occasion of his 43rd birthday. He and his wife Judith had just completed their first ever visit to Jerusalem:

"This day I begin a new era. I fully intend to dedicate much more time to the welfare of the poor, and to attend Synagogue as regularly as possible on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday"

Montefiore was by this time retired from his profession as a banker, having become a philanthropist. He was profoundly changed by this first visit to the ancient city. He had not been a particularly observant Jew beforehand, but upon first seeing Jerusalem in its desolate state at the time, he tore his garments, a traditional Jewish mourning ritual. The visit was the start of a personal connection he cultivated with the Land of Israel that lasted for the rest of his life. He visited 7 times, the last trip in 1875, when he was 91 years old (!)

Montefiore, who was elected Sheriff of London in 1836 and knighted by Queen Victoria the following year, used his growing influence to help suffering Jewish communities around the world. He became heavily involved in cultivating Jewish industry, agriculture and education in Ottoman Palestine, using his own funds and also facilitating significant donations by other wealthy philanthropists.

He established the first Jewish neighborhood outside the walls of Jerusalem, which still exists today as Mishkenot Sha'ananim. His activities greatly strengthened the impoverished Jewish community of the land, and he is often viewed as a forerunner of modern Zionism.

The portrait below is dated to 1870, it is part of the Ephemera Collection at the National Library of Israel, which you can begin to explore: Here

National Library of Israel

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Montefiore Windmill, Jerusalem

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Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Jerusalem

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1/12/14

I love the view from the bridge to the cinematheque.

[cinemaassassin]

VICE NEWS PRESENTS EPISODE SIX OF LAST CHANCE HIGH

VICE NEWS PRESENTS EPISODE SIX OF LAST CHANCE HIGH

The Emmy-nominated Renaud brothers follow the students and administrators of Chicago’s Moses Montefiore Academy, the only remaining institution of its kind in the city

In Last Chance High, the Renaud brothers are granted unprecedented access to the everyday lives of the students and administrators at Montefiore, from the chaotic classrooms in which the students are past the point of expulsion,…

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