There is a popular impression that Zionism is the creation of Ashkenazi Jews, with Theodore Herzl spearheading the movement. The truth is that two generations before Herzl there was a Sephardic Bosnian Chacham (Sephardic Rabbi) named Yehuda ben Shlomo Alqalai (1798-1878) whose advocacy and detailed plans for a Jewish State in Palestine was a precursor to Herzls movement. Tonight, 4 Tishrei, marks his Yahrzeit. ChachamYehuda Alqalai was born to a Sephardic family in Sarajevo, Bosnia. He came to Israel with his parents at the age of 11. He studied in Jerusalem under different rabbis and came under the influence of the Kabbalah movement. At a very young age he was ordained as a rabbi by Chacham Eliezer Pappo, the author of Pele Yoetz (Wonderous Adviser). In 1825, he left Israel to serve the Sephardic community of Zemlin (in present day Serbia), as rabbi, cantor and teacher. Two events, one in 1839 and one in 1840, were turning points in Chacham Alqalais life. In 1839 he met Chacham Yehuda Bibas (chief rabbi of the island of Corfu, Greece) who inspired him and shared with him his enthusiastic ideas about the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. Then, in 1840, the Jewish world was shocked by the Damascus blood libel, accusing some 10 Jews of murdering a Christian cleric in Damascus and using his blood for ritual purposes. In Europe, the affair led to a formidable backlash against Jews, the greatest in years. Jews found themselves completely unprepared for the tribulations they suffered. They thought that the world had outgrown such attacks, especially the Western world. Chacham Alqalai was greatly upset by the Damascus affair and produced the work Minchat Yehuda in 1843. The book calls for adoption of Hebrew as a national language, purchase of land in Palestine, development of agriculture to form the basis for absorption of new immigrants, and encouragement of national unity. He also called for the establishment of a bank to finance the emigration of the Jews and for settlement societies and other practical steps, Chacham Alqalai was opposed to reform Judaism but attempted to end the sectarian splits because he understood the importance of unity. Chacham Alqalai was not quite a Zionist in the modern sense and should not be understood as a direct father of Zionist ideas. He believed that the coming of the Messiah would be hastened by return of the Jews to the land of Israel and their settlement there. He wrote numerous books and pamphlets to promote the idea of settlement in the land of Israel, but got little recognition and support. His first works were in Ladino (a Spanish dialect spoken by Sephardim) rather than Hebrew and did not get beyond the small European Sephardic community. His most detailed proposals came in 1857 in his book Goral la-Adonai (A Lot for the Lord), published in Vienna. It is a treatise on the restoration of Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and gives methods and practical plans for the settling of Jews in Palestine. After a discussion of the Messianic problem, in which he shows considerable knowledge of the older writers, Chacham Alqalai suggests the formation of a joint-stock company, such as a steamship or railroad trust, whose endeavor it should be to induce the sultan to cede Palestine to the Jews as a tributary country, on a plan similar to that on which the Danube principalities were governed. To this suggestion are appended the commendations of numerous Jewish scholars of various schools of thought. Most of his work was done after his 60th year, when it appeared that there might be more of an audience for his views. Nonetheless, his approach was rejected entirely by the more orthodox rabbis who feared any innovation and a trip through western Europe and England failed to get much support from Jews. At the age of 73, Rabbi Yehuda Alqalai travelled to Palestine to determine the possibilities for settlement there, an arduous journey at his age. More remarkably, he came to live in the land of Israel with his wife at the age of 76, in 1874. He lived in Jaffo for four years until his death. He was buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Theodore Herzls paternal grandfather, Simon Loeb Herzl, reportedly attended the Chacham Alqalais synagogue in Zemlin and the two frequently visited each other. Simon Loeb Herzl had his hands on one of the first copies of Chacham Alqalais 1857 work. It may be a stretch, but perhaps we may conclude that Herzls own implementation of modem Zionism was influenced by that relationship. Chacam Alqalais ideas came some fifty years too early. Pictured are Chacham Alqalai and his wife Ester in Vienna, 1874, just before immigrating to Palestine and Chacham Alqalai honored on an Israeli Postage stamp. geni/people/Rabbi-Yehuda-Judah-Alkalai/6000000010772471214?through=6000000010772233719 (Posted by Edna Kalka Grossman)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:15:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015