In the Nineteenth Century

In the Nineteenth Century.

When Napoleon came to Palestine in 1798, the Jews were accused of assisting him, and were threatenedwith death by the Moslems. Led by Mordecai al-Gazi they assembled at the Wailing-Wall for prayer. Napoleon, however, did not come near the city. The condition of the Jews at this time was so bad that the chief rabbi, Yom-tob al-Gazi, went to Europe in their behalf, returning in 1801. He was followed in office by Mordecai Joseph MeyuHas (1802), who was succeeded by Jacob Moses 'Ayish of the Maghreb (1806). In his day lived Zechariah Zamiro and Solomon Isaac MeyuHas. On account of the plague in Safed a number of Jews came thence to Jerusalem, at times clothing themselves as Sephardim in order to escape the hatred of the Mohammedans. Two of them, R. Menahem Mendel and R. Abraham Solomon Zalman, founded the 'Adat Ashkenazim Perushim, consisting of about twenty persons. They had a private synagogue in the house which had been the yeshibah of Hayyim ibn 'Attar, where they worshiped on weekdays. On other days they prayed in the synagogue of the Sephardim, whose cemetery also they used. By the year 1817 they had a yeshibah of their own (see letter in "Jerusalem," v. 112); but they were in continual dread that the taxes left unpaid by former Ashkenazim would be demanded of them, and an attempt was made in 1816 to settle the matter in Constantinople. The chief rabbi of the community in 1807 was Jacob koral; in 1813, Joseph b. Hayyim Hazzan of Smyrna; and in 1822, Yomtob Danon. The position was vacant for a year, when it was filled by Moses Sozin, and in 1826 by Moses Jonah Nabon. In 1825 Syria and Palestine revolted against Turkish rule, and in 1832 the country was taken by Mohammed Ali of Egypt. In 1840 Jerusalem was restored to the Turks. During this time a number of Ashkenazim had come from Russia. Great distress prevailed among the learned men; messengers were sent out to all parts of Europe and to the United States; and the Halukkah was organized. In 1827 Moses Montefiore visited Jerusalem for the first time. Occasional aid came through the European powers; e.g., in 1829, through an Austrian representative, Prokesch Osten, who had been sent from Vienna to look after the Austrian subjects.
(see image) The Great Ashkenazic Synagogue at Jerusalem.(From a photograph.)

Ashkenazim continued to come in large numbers, from Lithuania, White Russia, and other European countries; often whole families arrived, e.g., Shemariah Luria with forty persons. Luria did much for the Ashkenazim; but after a short while he returned to Russia (1834). In order to establish a betha-midrash, Akiba Leeren of Amsterdam gave a certain sum of money to be used for this purpose by Rabbi Isaiah . This was called "Sukkat Shalom," or more popularly "Bet ha-Midrash of R. Isaiah." This produced a split in the Ashkenazic community; but after ten years the Hurbah was victorious. R. Abraham Solomon zoref went to Egypt in order to obtain authority to rebuild the "Hurbat R. Yehudah he-Hasid." He was helped by the Russian and Austrian consuls, and received the necessary permission. The new bet ha-midrash, called "MenaHem ziyyon," or popularly "Bet ha-Midrash ha-Yashen," was inaugurated in 1837.

The same year there was a slight earthquake in Jerusalem, which, however, was very severely felt in Safed and Tiberias. This caused many families to remove from these places to Jerusalem, where the anniversary of the event is still observed. The plague appeared in Jerusalem in 1838 and 1839, as many as fifteen persons dying in one day. England was the first European power to send a consul to Jerusalem (1839); by the year 1844 Austria, Sardinia, Prussia, France, and Russia were similarly represented. The Damascus Affair of 1840, by bringing Crémieux, Albert Cohn, and Montefiore to Palestine, made the wretched condition of the Jerusalem Jews known to their brethren. The idea had arisen among the Ashkenazim and Sephardim of Jerusalem that it was necessary to induce the Jews to till the soil again. Montefiore took up this idea, and was assisted by R. Aryeh b. Jerahmeel, who had taken the place of Menahem Mendel (d. 1847) as head of the Ashkenazic Jews.

(see image) Tower of Antonia, Jerusalem.(From a photograph by Bonfils.)