Moses Montefiore
Encyclopedia
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, Kt (24 October 1784 - 28 July 1885) was one of the most famous British
Jews of the 19th century. Montefiore was a financier
, banker, philanthropist
and Sheriff of London. He donated large sums of money to promote industry, education and health amongst the Jewish community in Palestine, including the founding of Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first settlement of the New Yishuv. As President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
, his correspondence with the British consul in Damascus Charles Henry Churchill
in 1841-42 is seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism.
in Italian), Italy
in 1784. His grandfather, Moses Vita (Chaim) Montefiore had emigrated from Livorno to London in the 1740s, but retained close contact with the town, then famous for its straw bonnets. Montefiore was born while his parents, Joseph Elias Montefiore and his young wife Rachel, the daughter of Abraham Mocatta
, a powerful bullion broker in London, were in the town on a business journey, their first child.
The family returned to Kennington
in London, where Montefiore went to school and began his career as an apprentice to a firm of grocers and tea merchants. He then entered a counting-house in the City of London, and ultimately became one of the twelve "Jew brokers" licensed by the city. His brother Abraham joined him in the business, and their firm gained a high reputation.
In 1812, Moses Montefiore married Judith Cohen (1784-1862), daughter of Levi Barent Cohen. Her sister, Henriette (or Hannah) (1791-1866), married Nathan Mayer Rothschild
(1777-1836), for whom Montefiore's firm acted as stockbrokers. Nathan Rothschild headed the family's banking business in Britain, and the two brothers-in-law became business partners.
Montefiore retired from his business in 1824, and used his time and fortune for communal and civic responsibilities. Physically imposing at 6 in 3 in (1.91 m), he was elected Sheriff of London in 1837 and served until 1838. He was also knighted
that same year by Queen Victoria
and received a baronet
cy in 1846 in recognition of his services to humanitarian causes on behalf of the Jewish people.
Though somewhat lax in religious observance in his early life, after his first visit to the Holy Land in 1827, he became a strictly observant Jew. He was even in the habit of traveling with a personal shohet (ritual slaughterer), to ensure that he would have a ready supply of kosher meat. His determined opposition played an important role in limiting the growth of the Reform Movement in England.
In 1831 Montefiore purchased a country estate with twenty-four acres on the East Cliff of the then fashionable seaside town of Ramsgate
. The property had previously been a country house of Queen Caroline
, when still Princess of Wales. It had then been owned by the Marquess Wellesley
, a brother of the Duke of Wellington
.
Soon afterwards, Montefiore purchased the adjoining land and commissioned his cousin, architect David Mocatta
, to design a private synagogue, known as the Montefiore synagogue
. It opened with a grand public ceremony in 1833.
Montefiore never had children. He died in 1885, at the age of 100.
After retiring from business in 1824, Montefiore devoted the rest of his exceptionally long life to philanthropy. He was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
from 1835-1874, a period of 39 years, the longest tenure ever, and member of Bevis Marks Synagogue
. As President, his correspondence with the British consul in Damascus Charles Henry Churchill
in 1841-42 is seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism.
In business, he was an innovator, investing in the supply of piped gas for street lighting to European cities via the Imperial Continental Gas Association
. He was among the founding consortium of the Alliance Life Assurance Company, and a Director of the Provincial Bank of Ireland. Highly regarded in the City, he was elected as Sheriff of the City of London in 1836, and knighted by Queen Victoria in 1837.
From retirement until the day he died, he devoted himself to philanthropy and alleviating the distress of Jews all over the world. The details of his journeys overseas are well-documented. He went to the Sultan
of Turkey
in 1840 to liberate from prison ten Syrian Jews of Damascus
arrested after a blood libel; to Rome
in 1858 to try and free the Jewish youth Edgardo Mortara
, baptised by his Catholic nurse and kidnapped by functionaries of the Catholic Church; to Russia
in 1846 and 1872; to Morocco
in 1864 and to Romania
in 1867. It was these missions that made him a folk hero of near mythological proportions among the oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe, North Africa
and the Levant
.
Little is known about his public and political life in general Victorian society. Indicative of his civic and society standing, Montefiore is mentioned in Charles Dickens
' diaries, in the personal papers of George Eliot
, and in James Joyce
’s novel Ulysses
. It is known that he had contacts with non-conformists and social reformers in Victorian England. He was active in public initiatives aimed at alleviating the persecution of minorities in the Middle East and elsewhere, and he worked closely with organisations that campaigned for the abolition
of slavery
. A Government loan raised by the Rothschilds and Montefiore in 1835 enabled the British Government to compensate plantation owners and thus abolish slavery in the Empire.
Montefiore's 100th birthday was celebrated as a national event in his adopted homeland, Britain and by Jews all over the world. His birthdays, activities and death were closely covered in the British press of the time.
Montefiore’s life was also inextricably bound up with the town of Ramsgate
, Kent
, on the southeastern coast of England. In the 1830s he and Judith had bought East Cliff Lodge, a country estate (then) adjacent to the town, very much in the manner of the Victorian Jewish gentry. He played an important role in Ramsgate affairs, and one of the local ridings still bears his name. In 1845 he served as High Sheriff of Kent
In 1873 a local newspaper mistakenly ran his obituary. "Thank God to have been able to hear of the rumour," he wrote to the editor, "and to read an account of the same with my own eyes, without using spectacles."
The town celebrated his 99th and his 100th birthday in great style, and every local charity (and church) benefited from his philanthropy. At East Cliff Lodge he established a Sephardi yeshiva
(Judith Lady Montefiore College) after the death of his wife in 1862. On the grounds he built the elegant, Regency architecture
Montefiore Synagogue
and mausoleum modeled on Rachel's Tomb
outside Bethlehem
(whose refurbishment and upkeep he had paid for). Judith was laid to rest there in 1862, and Montefiore himself was buried there in 1885. In recent years, the site has become a source of controversy as real-estate developers are eyeing it for commercial development.
The final demise of East Cliff Lodge follows an all too familiar pattern. The estate was sold to the Borough of Ramsgate around 1952, and the Lodge was demolished in 1954. All that remains today is a new building housing a firm of architects which incorporates parts of the original structure. Called the Coach House. There are also some outbuildings (including the Gate House) and the Italianate Greenhouse has been restored to its former glory in recent years. The Greenhouse and the rest of the estate has been turned into King George VI Memorial Park. On the Gate House, is a plaque to Sir Moses.
Jewish philanthropy and the Holy Land were at the center of Montefiore's interests. He traveled there by carriage and ship seven times, sometimes accompanied by his wife. He visited for the first time in 1827, followed by visits in 1838, 1849, 1855, 1857, 1866, and 1875. He made his last trip at the age of 91.
In 1854 his friend Judah Touro
, a wealthy American Jew, died having bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects, including building in 1860 the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside of the old walled city of Jerusalem - today known as Mishkenot Sha'ananim. This became the first settlement of the New Yishuv. Living outside the city walls was dangerous at the time, due to lawlessness and bandits. Montefiore offered financial inducement to encourage poor families to move there. Later on, Montefiore established the two Knesset Yisrael neighborhoods, one for Sephardic Jews, one for Ashkenazim, which were even further away.
Montefiore donated large sums of money to promote industry, education and health amongst the Jewish community in Palestine. The project, bearing the hallmarks of nineteenth century artisanal revival, aimed to promote productive enterprise in the Yishuv
. The builders were brought over from England. These activities were part of a broader program to enable the Jews of Palestine to become self supporting in anticipation of the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
Montefiore left an indelible mark on the Jerusalem landscape with the Moses Montefiore Windmill
in Yemin Moshe
, named after him. In addition to the windmill (to provide cheap flour to poor Jews), he built a printing press and textile factory, and helped to finance several agricultural colonies. He also attempted to acquire arable land for Jewish cultivation, but was hampered by Ottoman
restrictions on land sale to non-Muslims.
A major source of information about the Yishuv, or Jewish community in Palestine, during the 19th century is a sequence of censuses commissioned by Montefiore, in 1839, 1849, 1855, 1866 and 1875. The censuses attempted to list every Jew individually, together with some biographical and social information (such as their family structure, place of origin, and degree of poverty).
Although Montefiore only spent a few days in Jerusalem, the 1827 visit changed his life. He resolved to increase his religious observance and to attend synagogue on Shabbat, as well as Mondays and Thursdays when the Torah is read. While his observance of Jewish law was not as strict in his younger years (evidenced by Judith’s descriptions of the meals they enjoyed in inns along the south coast of England on their honeymoon in 1812), from then on, he lived a life of piety and Jewish observance.
The Jews of Palestine referred to their patron as "ha-Sar Montefiore" (Minister Montefiore), a title perpetuated in Hebrew literature and song.
in the Bronx
, New York
is named for him. On the second floor of the East Wing, there is a bust of Montefiore. A branch of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
also bears his name.
A number of synagogues were named in honor of Sir Moses, including the 1913 Montifiore Institute, now preserved as the Little Synagogue on the Prairie
, Moses Montefiore Congregation
in Bloomington, Illinois
, Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah in Baltimore, Maryland and Temple Moses Montefiore in Marshall, Texas
, the first Reform temple in East Texas.
The Montefiore Club
was a private social and business association, catering to the Jewish community, located in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
.
Montefiore was renowned for his quick and sharp wit. A popularly-circulated anecdote, possibly apocryphal, relates that at a dinner party he was once seated next to a nobleman who was known to be an anti-Semite. The nobleman told Montefiore that he had just returned from a trip to Japan
, where "they have neither pigs nor Jews." Montefiore is reported to have responded immediately, "in that case, you and I should go there, so it will have a sample of each" (a similar anecdote is told of Israel Zangwill
.)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Jews of the 19th century. Montefiore was a financier
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, banker, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and Sheriff of London. He donated large sums of money to promote industry, education and health amongst the Jewish community in Palestine, including the founding of Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first settlement of the New Yishuv. As President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
, his correspondence with the British consul in Damascus Charles Henry Churchill
Charles Henry Churchill
Colonel Charles Henry Churchill , also known as "Churchill Bey", was a British officer and diplomat and a British consul in Ottoman Syria who created the first political plan for Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel in the region of Ottoman Palestine.-British Consul in Ottoman Syria:In...
in 1841-42 is seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism.
Biography
Montefiore was born in Leghorn (LivornoLivorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
in Italian), Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1784. His grandfather, Moses Vita (Chaim) Montefiore had emigrated from Livorno to London in the 1740s, but retained close contact with the town, then famous for its straw bonnets. Montefiore was born while his parents, Joseph Elias Montefiore and his young wife Rachel, the daughter of Abraham Mocatta
Mocatta
Mocatta is the name of a prominent Anglo-Jewish family originally from Spain known for philanthropy, leadership and sponsorship of arts and letters, particularly in the United Kingdom...
, a powerful bullion broker in London, were in the town on a business journey, their first child.
The family returned to Kennington
Kennington
Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
in London, where Montefiore went to school and began his career as an apprentice to a firm of grocers and tea merchants. He then entered a counting-house in the City of London, and ultimately became one of the twelve "Jew brokers" licensed by the city. His brother Abraham joined him in the business, and their firm gained a high reputation.
In 1812, Moses Montefiore married Judith Cohen (1784-1862), daughter of Levi Barent Cohen. Her sister, Henriette (or Hannah) (1791-1866), married Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer, Freiherr von Rothschild , known as Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty...
(1777-1836), for whom Montefiore's firm acted as stockbrokers. Nathan Rothschild headed the family's banking business in Britain, and the two brothers-in-law became business partners.
Montefiore retired from his business in 1824, and used his time and fortune for communal and civic responsibilities. Physically imposing at 6 in 3 in (1.91 m), he was elected Sheriff of London in 1837 and served until 1838. He was also knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
that same year by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
and received a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
cy in 1846 in recognition of his services to humanitarian causes on behalf of the Jewish people.
Though somewhat lax in religious observance in his early life, after his first visit to the Holy Land in 1827, he became a strictly observant Jew. He was even in the habit of traveling with a personal shohet (ritual slaughterer), to ensure that he would have a ready supply of kosher meat. His determined opposition played an important role in limiting the growth of the Reform Movement in England.
In 1831 Montefiore purchased a country estate with twenty-four acres on the East Cliff of the then fashionable seaside town of Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
. The property had previously been a country house of Queen Caroline
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
, when still Princess of Wales. It had then been owned by the Marquess Wellesley
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
Richard Colley Wesley, later Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, KG, PC, PC , styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781, was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator....
, a brother of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
.
Soon afterwards, Montefiore purchased the adjoining land and commissioned his cousin, architect David Mocatta
David Mocatta
David Mocatta was a British architect and a member of the Anglo-Jewish Mocatta family.-Biography:Mocatta studied in London from 1821 to 1827 under Sir John Soane and travelled in Italy...
, to design a private synagogue, known as the Montefiore synagogue
Montefiore synagogue
The Montefiore Synagogue was the private synagogue of Sir Moses Montefiore. It is an 1833, Grade II* listed building in Ramsgate, Kent, England.-History:The synagogue was in the European tradition of great men having private chapels on their estates...
. It opened with a grand public ceremony in 1833.
Montefiore never had children. He died in 1885, at the age of 100.
Communal leadership
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
from 1835-1874, a period of 39 years, the longest tenure ever, and member of Bevis Marks Synagogue
Bevis Marks Synagogue
----Bevis Marks Synagogue is located off Bevis Marks, in the City of London. The synagogue, affiliated to London's historic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community, is the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom still in use...
. As President, his correspondence with the British consul in Damascus Charles Henry Churchill
Charles Henry Churchill
Colonel Charles Henry Churchill , also known as "Churchill Bey", was a British officer and diplomat and a British consul in Ottoman Syria who created the first political plan for Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel in the region of Ottoman Palestine.-British Consul in Ottoman Syria:In...
in 1841-42 is seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism.
In business, he was an innovator, investing in the supply of piped gas for street lighting to European cities via the Imperial Continental Gas Association
Imperial Continental Gas Association
Imperial Continental Gas Association plc was a leading British gas utility operating in various cities in Continental Europe . It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
. He was among the founding consortium of the Alliance Life Assurance Company, and a Director of the Provincial Bank of Ireland. Highly regarded in the City, he was elected as Sheriff of the City of London in 1836, and knighted by Queen Victoria in 1837.
From retirement until the day he died, he devoted himself to philanthropy and alleviating the distress of Jews all over the world. The details of his journeys overseas are well-documented. He went to the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1840 to liberate from prison ten Syrian Jews of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
arrested after a blood libel; to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1858 to try and free the Jewish youth Edgardo Mortara
Edgardo Mortara
Edgardo Levi Mortara was a Roman Catholic priest who was born and raised Jewish. Fr. Mortara became the center of an international controversy when he was removed from his Jewish parents by authorities of the Papal States and raised as a Catholic...
, baptised by his Catholic nurse and kidnapped by functionaries of the Catholic Church; to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1846 and 1872; to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
in 1864 and to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in 1867. It was these missions that made him a folk hero of near mythological proportions among the oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
.
Little is known about his public and political life in general Victorian society. Indicative of his civic and society standing, Montefiore is mentioned in Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' diaries, in the personal papers of George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
, and in James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
’s novel Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
. It is known that he had contacts with non-conformists and social reformers in Victorian England. He was active in public initiatives aimed at alleviating the persecution of minorities in the Middle East and elsewhere, and he worked closely with organisations that campaigned for the abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. A Government loan raised by the Rothschilds and Montefiore in 1835 enabled the British Government to compensate plantation owners and thus abolish slavery in the Empire.
Montefiore’s life was also inextricably bound up with the town of Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, on the southeastern coast of England. In the 1830s he and Judith had bought East Cliff Lodge, a country estate (then) adjacent to the town, very much in the manner of the Victorian Jewish gentry. He played an important role in Ramsgate affairs, and one of the local ridings still bears his name. In 1845 he served as High Sheriff of Kent
High Sheriff of Kent
The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...
In 1873 a local newspaper mistakenly ran his obituary. "Thank God to have been able to hear of the rumour," he wrote to the editor, "and to read an account of the same with my own eyes, without using spectacles."
The town celebrated his 99th and his 100th birthday in great style, and every local charity (and church) benefited from his philanthropy. At East Cliff Lodge he established a Sephardi yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
(Judith Lady Montefiore College) after the death of his wife in 1862. On the grounds he built the elegant, Regency architecture
Regency architecture
The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...
Montefiore Synagogue
Montefiore synagogue
The Montefiore Synagogue was the private synagogue of Sir Moses Montefiore. It is an 1833, Grade II* listed building in Ramsgate, Kent, England.-History:The synagogue was in the European tradition of great men having private chapels on their estates...
and mausoleum modeled on Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb , also known as the Dome of Rachel, , is an ancient structure believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch Rachel. It is located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a Palestinian city just south of Jerusalem, in the West Bank...
outside Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
(whose refurbishment and upkeep he had paid for). Judith was laid to rest there in 1862, and Montefiore himself was buried there in 1885. In recent years, the site has become a source of controversy as real-estate developers are eyeing it for commercial development.
The final demise of East Cliff Lodge follows an all too familiar pattern. The estate was sold to the Borough of Ramsgate around 1952, and the Lodge was demolished in 1954. All that remains today is a new building housing a firm of architects which incorporates parts of the original structure. Called the Coach House. There are also some outbuildings (including the Gate House) and the Italianate Greenhouse has been restored to its former glory in recent years. The Greenhouse and the rest of the estate has been turned into King George VI Memorial Park. On the Gate House, is a plaque to Sir Moses.
Philanthropy in the Holy Land
In 1854 his friend Judah Touro
Judah Touro
Judah Touro was an American businessman and philanthropist.-Early life and career:...
, a wealthy American Jew, died having bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects, including building in 1860 the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside of the old walled city of Jerusalem - today known as Mishkenot Sha'ananim. This became the first settlement of the New Yishuv. Living outside the city walls was dangerous at the time, due to lawlessness and bandits. Montefiore offered financial inducement to encourage poor families to move there. Later on, Montefiore established the two Knesset Yisrael neighborhoods, one for Sephardic Jews, one for Ashkenazim, which were even further away.
Montefiore donated large sums of money to promote industry, education and health amongst the Jewish community in Palestine. The project, bearing the hallmarks of nineteenth century artisanal revival, aimed to promote productive enterprise in the Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
. The builders were brought over from England. These activities were part of a broader program to enable the Jews of Palestine to become self supporting in anticipation of the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
Montefiore left an indelible mark on the Jerusalem landscape with the Moses Montefiore Windmill
Moses Montefiore Windmill
The Montefiore Windmill is a landmark windmill in Jerusalem, Israel. Built in the Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood in 1857, which was then in Ottoman-ruled Palestine, it was designed as a flour mill...
in Yemin Moshe
Yemin Moshe
Yemin Moshe " or "Moses' Memorial") is an old neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel, overlooking the Old City.-History:Yemin Moshe was established in 1891 by Moses Montefiore outside Jerusalem's Old City as a solution to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions inside the walls, and eventually named...
, named after him. In addition to the windmill (to provide cheap flour to poor Jews), he built a printing press and textile factory, and helped to finance several agricultural colonies. He also attempted to acquire arable land for Jewish cultivation, but was hampered by Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
restrictions on land sale to non-Muslims.
A major source of information about the Yishuv, or Jewish community in Palestine, during the 19th century is a sequence of censuses commissioned by Montefiore, in 1839, 1849, 1855, 1866 and 1875. The censuses attempted to list every Jew individually, together with some biographical and social information (such as their family structure, place of origin, and degree of poverty).
The Jews of Palestine referred to their patron as "ha-Sar Montefiore" (Minister Montefiore), a title perpetuated in Hebrew literature and song.
Commemoration
The Montefiore Medical CenterMontefiore Medical Center
Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, New York, is the University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The hospital, named for Moses Montefiore, is one of the 50 largest employers in New York State . In 2011, Montefiore Medical Center was ranked as #6 of the 180 New York City...
in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
is named for him. On the second floor of the East Wing, there is a bust of Montefiore. A branch of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
also bears his name.
A number of synagogues were named in honor of Sir Moses, including the 1913 Montifiore Institute, now preserved as the Little Synagogue on the Prairie
Little Synagogue on the Prairie
The Little Synagogue on the Prairie is a small, wooden synagogue originally built in Sibbald, Alberta, justwest of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Originally called the Montefiore Institute, it was built in 1913 or 1916 by the Montefiore colony of Jewish immigrants who had settledin Alberta in...
, Moses Montefiore Congregation
Moses Montefiore Congregation
The Moses Montefiore Congregation is a synagogue in Bloomington, Illinois.Although Jews had arrived in Bloomington by the 1850s, the synagogue was organized in 1884 and named for Sir Moses Montefiore. In 1889 the congregation dedicated a Moorish Revival synagogue building at the southeast corner...
in Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
, Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah in Baltimore, Maryland and Temple Moses Montefiore in Marshall, Texas
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
, the first Reform temple in East Texas.
The Montefiore Club
Montefiore Club
The Montefiore Club was a private social and business association, catering to the Jewish community, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-History:...
was a private social and business association, catering to the Jewish community, located in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Anecdotes
Montefiore was renowned for his quick and sharp wit. A popularly-circulated anecdote, possibly apocryphal, relates that at a dinner party he was once seated next to a nobleman who was known to be an anti-Semite. The nobleman told Montefiore that he had just returned from a trip to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where "they have neither pigs nor Jews." Montefiore is reported to have responded immediately, "in that case, you and I should go there, so it will have a sample of each" (a similar anecdote is told of Israel Zangwill
Israel Zangwill
Israel Zangwill was a British humorist and writer.-Biography:Zangwill was born in London on January 21, 1864 in a family of Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia, to Moses Zangwill from what is now Latvia and Ellen Hannah Marks Zangwill from what is now Poland. He dedicated his life to championing...
.)
See also
- History of the Jews in EnglandHistory of the Jews in EnglandThe history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William I. The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070, although Jews may have lived there since Roman times...
- Mazkeret MosheMazkeret MosheMazkeret Moshe is a neighborhood of Jerusalem founded in 1882 and completed in 1885. Its construction enjoyed financial support from Moses Montefiore's foundation, established in 1874 when Mr. Montefiore, a British-Jewish philanthropist, was 90 years old...
, neighborhood in Jerusalem which bears his name
External links
- Website of the Montefiore Endowment at Ramsgate
- The Sir Moses Montefiore & Lady Judith Montefiore Heritage Site
- Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore: Part 1 Part2 (PDF).
- Photos of Yemin Moshe