LVI.

EXTRACTS FROM AUTOGRAPH AND OTHER LETTERS BETWEEN SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE AND DR. N. M. ADLER

MY hearty thanks are due to my friend Mr. Elkan N. Adler for giving me access to his father’s letters. It may be mentioned that, although Dr. N. M. Adler was never able to visit Palestine, all his three sons went there. Palestinian activity has practically been a tradition of the Adler family. Mr. Elkan Adler originally visited Palestine in 1888, 1895, 1898 and 1901, in connection with the Montefiore work. His first visit was a professional one, undertaken on the instructions of the Council of the Holy Land Relief Fund. Its object was to clear up certain legal difficulties which had arisen on the land at Jerusalem and Jaffa purchased in 1855 by his father and Sir Moses Montefiore out of the funds of the Holy Land Appeal Fund and the Judah Touro Bequest. At that time their only buildings in Jerusalem were the Judah Touro Alms-houses and the Windmill. The vacant land adjoining had been jumped after the death of Sir Moses Montefiore by about three hundred poor and desperate Jews, who claimed that it had been originally intended for the poor, and they were poor.

The journey was successful. The squatters were removed, and their place was taken by industrious settlers, who, through the agency of the building societies, financed by the Sir Moses Montefiore Testimonial Committee, erected hundreds of pleasant little dwellings in the place of the rude, uninhabited shanties which stood there in 1888.

In 1894 Mr. Elkan Adler became a member of the “Water for Jerusalem Committee,” of which Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.M.G., was Chairman and Sir Edmund A. H. L. Lechmere, Bart., M.P., and Sir (then Mr.) Isidore Spielmann, C.M.G., Honorary Secretaries. The Turkish Government and the Jerusalem Municipality had sanctioned the scheme, but bureaucratic dilatoriness prevented its ever maturing. Its object was to secure, under a concession, for purely philanthropic purposes, a modern water supply for Jerusalem from King Solomon’s Pools.

Mr. Adler was also one of the founders of the London _Chovevé Zion_, and as Honorary Solicitor drafted its Constitution, which was settled by the Right Hon. Arthur Cohen, K.C.

* * * * *

“Grosvenor Gate, Park Lane, “London, 28th Hesvan, 5602. “12 November.

“My dear and much esteemed Sir,

“.. . I am most highly gratified, my dear Sir, by the very kind manner in which you have been pleased to notice my feeble exertions in favour of our unfortunate and persecuted Brethren in the East....

“Believe me to be, “With sincere Respect and Esteem, “My dear Sir, “Your obedient Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“The Reverend Doctor N. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c. &c.”

* * * * *

“Alliance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “31 May, 5614.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“... I hope to find the amount of Contributions much increased from your admirable Letter having at last found its way in the hands of the several Seat-holders of each Synagogue, and I am sure if they respond to it with the same liberality as our Christian fellow-subjects have evinced for our suffering Brethren in the Holy Land I am confident you will rejoice at the success which has attended your benevolent exertions....

“I am with great respect and esteem, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“The Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c.”

* * * * *

“East Cliff Lodge, “Ramsgate, “17th August, 5614/1854.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“... I am obliged to you for the information which Mr. Albert Cohn’s letter has afforded me and believe me I am most truly thankful to the God of Israel that my days should have been prolonged to see the welfare of our unfortunate Brethren in Jerusalem cared for by so wealthy and powerful a family as the Barons de Rothschild. May the institutions which they propose diffuse all the advantages we hope for. I will endeavour to write this evening to Lord Clarendon and will take the earliest opportunity to communicate the result after I shall have had an interview with his Lordship. I have requested Mr. Green to forward all the letters to you that have arrived from the Holy Land. I shall take no step regarding the Hospital but with your concurrence. You may rely that there will be no opposition in any way on my part, and I am only too happy to see that Jerusalem is not forsaken....

“Believe me, “With the greatest esteem and respect, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“To the Reverend Doctor Adler, Chief Rabbi.”

* * * * *

“Alliance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “Wednesday Morn, “23 Augt., ’614.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“... I now beg to trouble you with the enclosed letters which Dr. Lowe has written to the Holy Land with a remittance of £1200 divided in the following manner.... I have not thought it proper to send anything to the Portuguese at Jerusalem as they have not yet complied with your request in the mode of distribution or forwarded any particulars whatever. I therefore hope you will be satisfied with the arrangement that this will bring the Portuguese to a sense of the necessity they are under to conform to your instructions, or they will receive no more money from England....

“To the Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”

* * * * *

“Buxton, 15th Septr., 5614/1854.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“... I have felt much vexed at M. Albert Cohn’s having taken the liberty of using your name as well as mine as having deputed him to carry out his schemes in the East....

“Believe me to be, “With great regard and respect, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“The Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c.”

* * * * *

“Alliance Assurance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “Monday Evening, “26 Jany., 5617.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“Having this moment heard from Lady Montefiore that you expressed a desire to Visit the Holy Land, and well knowing the lively interest you have ever evinced in promoting the prosperity of Jerusalem, I beg to assure you that nothing could be more gratifying to my feelings, than to be honored with your Company during our intended Tour. We had fixed in our minds the 10th day of February for our departure, but to enjoy the honor of your Society, we would postpone it to meet your Convenience to any day that would enable us to reach Jerusalem for Passover.

“Hoping to have the gratification of a favorable reply from you.

“Believe me to be, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“To the Reverend Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”

* * * * *

“East Cliff Lodge, “Ramsgate, “14th September, 5619.

“My dear and respected Sir,

“... With respect to the Jaffa farm I hope in a few days to have an opportunity of speaking with you. I think it was your wish that our co-religionists should be employed on it....”

“Believe me with great esteem, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.

“To the Reverend Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”

* * * * *

“To the Rev. Dr. ADLER, Chief Rabbi, etc. etc. “_East Cliff Lodge, Ramsgate, May 15th, 5614‒1854_.

“REVEREND AND RESPECTED SIR,

“For the sake of Zion I cannot remain silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I cannot rest, until the whole house of Israel have been made acquainted with the lamentable condition of those of our brethren who devotedly cling to the soil, sacred to the memory of our patriarchs, prophets and kings.

“Thrice having visited the Holy Land, it was my earnest desire to fully inform myself as to the condition of our brethren there....

“Aware, however, reverend Sir, of your great anxiety for the physical amelioration of our suffering brethren, and how watchfully you note their spiritual welfare, I am induced to put you in possession of the documents and appeals which I have received from the Holy Land, with the assurance that your powerful co-operation, in the shape of a pastoral letter addressed to the Jews of Great Britain and America――or the exercise of the same in any other mode your wisdom may dictate――will, with God’s blessing, not only tend to remove the present appalling misery of our starving brethren in Zion, but spare us the humiliation of its recurrence.

“I have the honour to be, reverend and respected Sir, “Your faithful servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.”

* * * * *

“TO SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE, Bart., etc. etc. “_Office of the Chief Rabbi, London, 18th May, 5614._

“MY DEAR AND ESTEEMED SIR,

“.... Although I should have much preferred that the duty of addressing our co-religionists on behalf of the afflicted had been assumed by yourself, as you would have made a far deeper impression than I can hope to do, from the well-known fact that you have devoted a great portion of your life to the amelioration of the condition of our brethren in Palestine, and this, too, at the risk of much personal suffering and danger, yet, to avoid all delay in the present emergency, I have to-day written a letter to the congregations under my charge, a copy of which I beg to enclose; and I fervently pray that the Lord may strengthen my feeble words, and incline the hearts of our brethren to this good work of charity.

“I am, my dear Sir Moses, “Yours very faithfully, “N. ADLER, Dr.”

* * * * *

“PASTORAL LETTER

“To the Wardens, Members, and Seat-holders of the United Congregations of Great Britain.

“_Office of the Chief Rabbi, London, May 18th, 5614._

“Beloved Brethren,

“... the present condition of our poor brethren scattered through the four cities of Jerusalem, Zaphed, Hebron and Tiberias, is absolutely heart-rending. This is no exaggeration but a stern and dreadful reality. The almost total failure of the last harvest, which raised the price of all the necessaries of life to an unparalleled height; the present war and general political disturbances; the diminution of the usual resources for the poor, especially those derived from Russia, which has hitherto contributed the most, have brought about an awful famine.... While all surrounding nations make that spot the object of their deepest concern, expending vast sums thereon, should we be unmindful of that land with which our past glory and future hope are inseparably connected? ... It may be thought by some that the unfortunate state of the Jewish residents of Palestine might have been brought about ... by their reliance on fixed pensions and casual alms without the exercise of industry, either in agriculture, commerce or other employments;... Why, therefore, continue a life of pauperism, which will endure until the springs of poverty are stopped――and what will be the use of a collection, which can but mitigate the evil for a moment?

“My dear brethren,――Before you accuse the sufferers of indolence, and their leaders of neglect, let us assure you that the people are most anxious to free themselves from the thraldom of dependence; that the Rabbis and the heads of the Congregations have proved to Sir Moses Montefiore, who has been at all times the strenuous advocate of industrial pursuits, the willingness of the people to till the soil, if only it could be done with security. But hitherto the great impediment to agriculture has been not alone the want of pecuniary means, but the want of _protection_ on the part of the Government, it being absolutely impracticable to labour outside the walls of the cities, owing to the depredations of the roving and lawless Bedouins, for whatever the inhabitants sow is speedily seized by others.

“Without, however, alluding to the happy restitution that we anxiously look for, which lies in the hand of the Lord who commandeth us ‘not to stir, neither to awake His love, until He please’――the present war may, by the Divine blessing, bring about a great and beneficial change in the Holy Land. It is more than probable that the Government of the Porte will concede to our brethren in Palestine the right of holding land; and that this right will be placed under secure protection. It will then become the duty of our leading men to organise a proper plan of operations, put themselves into communication with the different Committees abroad, to raise the necessary means, to send men of ability, properly authorised, to Jerusalem, to bring about a unity of action among the different congregations there, to purchase land, to establish farms and factories, and to devote a portion of the money annually collected, as wages to those who will labour therein under the charge of the persons superintending those undertakings. The time for the realisation of such a scheme may not be remote, as the munificent legacy of the philanthropist Judah Touro, New Orleans, was bequeathed for this very purpose, which bequest will have an important bearing on the improvement of the Holy Land.

“... I remain, yours very faithfully, “N. ADLER, Dr., Chief Rabbi.”¹

¹ An Appeal on behalf of the famishing Jews in the Holy Land. _Donations will be thankfully received by_ The Rev. The Chief Rabbi, 4, Crosby Square, and Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., Alliance Assurance Office, Bartholomew Lane. Rev. Aaron Levy Green, Hon. Sec.

London: Printed by Wertheimer and Co., Circus Place, Finsbury Circus.

1854 (8º. 16 _pp. in printed wrapper_), _pp._ 3‒7.

In February, 1855, Dr. Adler and Sir Moses published their first Report enumerating the appropriations of money they had made and the sums set apart for the establishment of institutions designed to relieve distress, and to encourage and promote industry.

In May, 1856, Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore set out on a mission to the Holy Land to organize means for the appropriation of the funds “with a view to the utmost benefit of the supplicants.”

The Trustees resolved to attempt the organization of some industrial scheme, and, says their Second Report, dated 1856: “In a land naturally so fertile as Palestine, offering so prolific a return for industry, but altogether wanting in commercial resources, agriculture must of necessity be the first object of attention, as likely to prove the most powerful auxiliary in bringing about a healthful reaction, by alleviating distress, by promoting industry, and by exciting a feeling of self-reliance.” The Trustees were confirmed in their views by the opinion of experienced agriculturists in the Holy Land, and by the valuable suggestions of munificent donors.

“On the 17th June Sir Moses had an audience with the Sultan, and on the 27th July the first meeting was held with the representatives of _Zapphed_.

“The desirability of cultivating land was discussed at this sitting, and the great probabilities of success in the undertaking were shown by the mention of numerous well-authenticated facts. The views entertained by the Trustees having been confirmed by the best evidence, a Committee of practical agriculturists――men distinguished by their probity, and of acknowledged skill――was, without further delay, appointed to aid in the selection of land, and to advise as to the fitness of the parties to be employed in its cultivation. Assisted by this Committee, Sir Moses selected thirty-five families from the Holy City of _Zapphed_, provided them with means to commence agricultural pursuits, and also secured for them local governors. Some orphan lads were also provided for, by being placed under the care of the Committee, to be trained as agriculturists. A district in the vicinity of _Zapphed_, called the Bokea, having been pointed out as a most desirable spot for agricultural purposes, sufficient means were granted to give employment to fifteen families, to be engaged in the cultivation of that fruitful district; the whole being placed under the supervision of the Agricultural Committee at _Zapphed_. The claims of _Tabaria_ were next considered ... and means afforded to thirty families to enable them to engage in agricultural pursuits. At _Jaffa_ some land, with a house, and well affording an abundant supply of excellent water, was purchased, and a number of our poor co-religionists are already engaged upon such land.” An establishment for weaving was instituted.

“Sir Moses eventually succeeded in purchasing a tract of land to the west of the Holy City, in a most beautiful and salubrious locality, within a few minutes’ walk from the Jaffa and Zion Gates. Here a considerable number of our co-religionists and others at once found employment on the land and in the building of the boundary wall.” A windmill was erected on this site to supersede the expensive method used at Jerusalem for grinding corn.