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62-554: Yemin Moshe was established in 1892–1894 by the Montefiore Welfare Fund. Located outside Jerusalem's Old City, it was conceived as a solution to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions inside the walls. The Fund was continuing the work done by British Jewish banker Moses Montefiore and the new project was meant to mark the seventh year after the philanthropist's death. The name commemorates Montefiore's first name and

124-483: A Sephardic yeshiva ( Judith Lady Montefiore College ) after the death of his wife in 1862. In the grounds he built the elegant, Regency architecture Montefiore Synagogue and mausoleum modeled on Rachel's Tomb outside Bethlehem . (He also paid for the refurbishment and upkeep of this historic tomb.) Judith was laid to rest there in 1862. Montefiore died in 1885, at age 100 years and 9 months. He had no known children. His principal heir in name, arms and property

186-655: A meeting of the Board on 21 September 2014. In December 2015, the new leadership of the Board distanced itself from the MCB over the latter's alleged links to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood . In 2018, over five hundred British Jews signed a letter from Yachad saying that the Board had "deeply misrepresented" their views after the board criticised Hamas for "repeated violent attempts at mass invasion" but did not call for Israeli restraint or acknowledge that

248-463: A panoramic view of the Old City walls. The Mishkenot Sha'ananim buildings were turned into a cultural center and guesthouse for writers, intellectuals and musicians. 31°46′19″N 35°13′30″E  /  31.772°N 35.225°E  / 31.772; 35.225 Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet , FRS (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885)

310-619: A public affairs committee to address urgent political matters and safeguard the interests of British Jews in the British Isles and the colonies. The two bodies began to meet and united in the 1810s. The joint organization was named the London Committee of Deputies of British Jews. In the mid-19th century, the organisation was headed by Sir Moses Montefiore , the Sephardi lay leader of British Jewry, and Nathan Adler ,

372-586: A sample of each" (a similar anecdote is told of Israel Zangwill ). Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews , commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies , is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established in 1760 by a group of Sephardic Jews ,

434-716: A title perpetuated in Hebrew literature and song. Montefiore commissioned several censuses of the Yishuv, or Jewish community in Palestine: these were conducted in 1839, 1849, 1855, 1866 and 1875, and provided much data about the people. 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). Montefiore played an important role in Ramsgate affairs, and one of

496-624: A verse from the Book of Isaiah ( Isaiah 63:11–12 ). The land was bought in 1855 by Montefiore with money from the estate of Judah Touro and came to be known as Kerem Moshe VeYehudit, Moses and Judith Vineyard, after Montefiore and his wife. Montefiore left an indelible mark on the Jerusalem landscape by building in 1857 the windmill in what later became the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood. The windmill became operational in 1860. The idea behind it

558-399: A water cistern with an iron pump imported from England, a mikveh and a communal oven. Few people were prepared to live there at the time due to its location outside the city walls, in an area open to Bedouin marauders. Only the poor took up the offer, despite the more hygienic and relatively spacious flats, and the foundation even resorted to paying people in order to persuade them. A wall

620-862: Is dedicated to Montefiore. The Montefiore Family Papers were initially deposited in the Montefiore Museum in Judith Lady Montefiore College , Ramsgate , Kent. In 1961 the Montefiore Endowment deposited the papers of Montefiore Family at the Mocatta Library of University College London . The archive spans 24 volumes and 515 items. The papers comprise correspondence, account books, and a private appointment diary. Also included are many testimonials and centenary tributes to Montefiore thanking him for his generosity; these have been digitised. Montefiore

682-520: Is named after Montefiore Medical Center. A branch of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , US, also bears his name. Chicago 's West Side is home to a reform school of higher education, Moses Montefiore Academy , named in honour of him. A number of synagogues were named in honour of Montefiore, including the 1913 Montefiore Institute, now preserved as

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744-746: Is the UK member of the European Jewish Congress. Its offices are co-located with the United Jewish Israel Appeal in Kentish Town . In January 2019, the Jewish Leadership Council reiterated its call for a "unified communal structure" with the Board of Deputies. A previous merger proposal was rejected in 2015 after deputies felt that they would be relegated to second-rate status. In response to

806-596: The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. The current name was adopted in 1913. In the course of its history, some of the major disputes were between Sephardi and Ashkenazi leaders and between religious and lay leaders. The Board became more prominent in British society in the early twentieth century due to its support of refugees, notably leading an ultimately failed campaign against the Aliens Act 1905. However, by

868-766: The City of London . In 1803 he entered the London Stock Exchange , but lost all of his clients' money in 1806 in a fraud perpetrated by Joseph Elkin Daniels. As a result, he probably had to sell or give up his broker's licence. In 1812, Montefiore became a freemason , joining the Moira Lodge, No. 92 of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in London. Between 1810 and 1814 Montefiore was part of

930-583: The European Jewish Congress . The current president is Phil Rosenberg . The Board of Deputies of British Jews was established in London in 1760. Seven deputies were appointed by the elders of the Sephardi congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews to form a standing committee (Portuguese: deputados ) founded to pay homage to George III on his accession to the throne. The Ashkenazi Jewish congregation then followed suit, establishing

992-872: The Little Synagogue on the Prairie . The Montefiore Club was a private social and business association, catering to the Jewish community located in Montreal , Quebec , Canada. In Cleveland, Ohio , a Jewish nursing home is called Montefiore. He was commemorated on two Israeli banknotes. These were the IL 10, which was in circulation from 1970 to 1979, and the IS  1, which was legal tender from 1980 to 1986. The Dolphin's Barn Jewish cemetery in Dublin , Ireland ,

1054-468: The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia. The statement with its slogan 'to export peace rather than import conflict' proved controversial among some on the conservative wing of the Jewish community but was supported by others on the progressive wing and by groups in inter faith circles. The principle of such a statement was approved by a majority of over 75% at

1116-589: The Ohel Moshe neighborhood for Sephardic Jews and the Mazkeret Moshe neighborhood for Ashkenazi Jews , who had distinctly different traditions and languages. 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

1178-613: The Old City of Jerusalem . As President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews , he corresponded with Charles Henry Churchill , the British consul in Damascus , in 1841–42; his contributions are seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism . Queen Victoria's chaplain, Norman Macleod said of Montefiore: "No man living has done so much for his brethren in Palestine as Sir Moses Montefiore". He stated in an interview in

1240-698: The Scottish Parliament and Executive , other communities, and other statutory and official bodies. The intention when it was established was for it to stand in the same relationship to the Scottish Government as the Board of Deputies of British Jews does to the UK Government. Consequently, the council is autonomous in matters devolved by the Scotland Act , such as justice, health and welfare, and community relations, whilst

1302-582: The Standards Board for England , calling on Livingstone to apologise. Livingstone responded by stating "there is no law against 'unnecessary insensitivity' or even 'offensiveness' to journalists harassing you as you try to go home" and that he had a "25-year running battle" with the paper's owners. In 2014, at the height of the Israeli military operation in Gaza , the Board issued a joint statement with

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1364-681: The Torah is read. The visit had been a "spiritual transforming event" for him. In 1831, Montefiore purchased a country estate with twenty-four acres on the East Cliff of the fashionable seaside town of Ramsgate . The property had previously been a country house of Queen Caroline , when she was still Princess of Wales. It was next owned by the Marquess Wellesley , a brother of the Duke of Wellington . Soon afterward, Montefiore purchased

1426-847: The Yishuv . The builders were brought over from England. These activities were part of a broader program to enable the Old Yishuv to become self-supporting in anticipation of the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Montefiore built the Montefiore Windmill in an area that later developed as the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood, to provide cheap flour to poor Jews. He also established a printing press and textile factory, and helped to finance several Bilu agricultural colonies. The Jews of Old Yishuv referred to their patron as " ha-Sar Montefiore" ('The Prince' or simply 'Prince' Montefiore),

1488-687: The 1860s that "Palestine must belong to the Jews". Moses Montefiore was born in Leghorn ( Livorno in Italian), Tuscany , in 1784, to a Sephardic Jewish family based in Great Britain . His grandfather, Moses Vital (Haim) Montefiore, had emigrated from Livorno to London in the 1740s, but retained close contact with the town. It was known for making straw bonnets. Montefiore was born while his parents, Joseph Elias Montefiore and his young wife Rachel,

1550-443: The 1930s, the Board's position had shifted to a more assimilationist position in order to improve the perception of Jews among the non-Jewish British population, including adopting a position of non-Zionism . In 1933, Neville Laski was elected as the Board's President, and called for Jews to give "overriding consideration of duty and loyalty" to the United Kingdom. However, the stances of the Board once again had shifted in 1939 with

1612-642: The Board clashed with the new Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely , and some members of the community over the Board's continued commitment to Palestinian statehood as part of a two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. After Scottish devolution in 1999, the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities was formed to give the Jewish Community of Scotland a single democratically accountable voice in dealings with

1674-478: The Board of Deputies speaks for all Britain's Jews on reserved matters such as foreign affairs and equality legislation. The most historically notable and longest-serving past president was the Victorian-era banker Moses Montefiore , who in the 19th century travelled widely to assist Jewish communities in foreign countries, faced by persecution at the time. A complete list of presidents and interim positions

1736-627: The Empire. In 1836 Montefiore became a governor of Christ's Hospital , the Bluecoat school, after assisting in the case of a distressed man who had appealed to him to help his soon-to-be-widowed wife and son. Montefiore was elected Sheriff of the City of London in 1837. He was knighted in November 1837. After retiring from business, Montefiore devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy . He

1798-462: The Holy Land in 1827, Montefiore became a strictly observant Jew. He traveled with a personal shohet (ritual slaughterer), to ensure that he would have a ready supply of kosher meat. Although Montefiore spent only 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

1860-692: The IDF may have acted disproportionately in killing scores of Palestinians. Liberal Judaism said that "the Board's credibility as the voice of British Jewry depends wholly on its willingness to listen to, hear from and reflect the values of all sections of the community". In July 2018, the Board suspended Roslyn Pine, deputy for Finchley United Synagogue , for six years, following comments she made which were described as Islamophobic , and for admitting to holding anti-Arab views. Writing in The Jewish Chronicle in November 2018 about antisemitism in

1922-546: The Jewish community such as charities and youth groups. Most Haredi synagogues have chosen not to affiliate, although in 2021 the Board received its first Haredi deputy since the 1970s, from a synagogue in Stamford Hill . In 2012, it was noted that nearly two-thirds of the deputies were over 60 years of age. However, in the 21st century, the organisation has seen an influx of younger deputies, including two vice-presidents in their early thirties and Phil Rosenberg, who at

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1984-479: The Labour Party , Marie van der Zyl said, "Over the summer, we showed how we could keep this issue of antisemitism on the front pages day after day, week after week, exacting a severe political and reputational cost for continued failure." In 2019, following Jeremy Corbyn 's decision to resign as leader of the Labour Party, the Board asked candidates for the leadership to sign up to ten pledges in order to "end

2046-525: The Surrey Militia. In 1815, he again bought a broker's licence, and briefly operated a joint venture with his brother Abraham until 1816. He largely closed down his trading activities in 1820. In 1812, Moses Montefiore married Judith Cohen (1784–1862), daughter of Levy Barent Cohen . Her sister, Henriette (or Hannah) (1783–1850), married Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836), for whom Montefiore's firm acted as stockbrokers. Nathan Rothschild headed

2108-706: 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 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 Protestant non-conformists and social reformers in Victorian England . He

2170-554: The age of 38 was elected to succeed van der Zyl as president from 1 June 2024. It serves as the principal reference point for government, the media and wider society. All matters tending to impact on the life of Jews in Britain fall within the Board's remit, including an active interfaith programme. It is the British affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, the world-wide umbrella organisation of Jewish communities and

2232-556: The antisemitism crisis". The pledges included a resolution of outstanding disciplinary cases, lifetime membership bans for some individuals, an independent disciplinary process, full and unconditional adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism , and engagement with the mainstream Jewish community. Most of the candidates for leader or deputy leader signed up unconditionally. In 2020,

2294-610: The board presents itself as a forum for the views of most organisations within the British Jewish community, liaising with the British government on that basis. Notably, while Lord Rothschild was President of the Board of Deputies, the Balfour Declaration was addressed to him and eventually led to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. It is affiliated to the World Jewish Congress and

2356-425: The daughter of Abraham Mocatta , a powerful bullion broker in London, were in the town on a business journey. Moses was close to his aunt, Selina Hannah Laurence ( née Montefiore 1768–1838); a visit to her in 1829 prompted his recollection of the death of his beloved grandmother Esther Hannah Montefiore (1733 – c.  1812 ). Selina lived at Bury Court, St Mary Axe , London, and had anglicised

2418-529: The distress of Jews abroad. He went to the sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1840 to liberate from prison ten Syrian Jews of Damascus arrested for blood libel in a case known as the Damascus affair ; to Rome in 1858 to try to free Jewish youth Edgardo Mortara , who had been seized by the Catholic Church after allegedly being baptised by a Catholic servant; to Russia in 1846 (where he

2480-401: The early 21st century. The Greenhouse and the rest of the estate are now protected as King George VI Memorial Park. A plaque on the Gate House honors Sir Moses. The Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids in Manhattan and the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx are both named after him. Montefiore Square, a small, triangular park in upper Manhattan 's Hamilton Heights neighbourhood,

2542-472: The election as President of Selig Brodetsky , who was described by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as the "foremost Zionist in Great Britain". As of 2024 the Board has continued to hold a Zionist position. The board is led by Phil Rosenberg . The chief executive is Michael Wegier, the former chief executive of the UJIA . He succeeded Gillian Merron , who represented Labour as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1997 to 2010. From 2009 to 2010, she

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2604-495: The family's banking business in Britain , and the two brothers-in-law became business partners. In business, Montefiore was an innovator, investing in the supply of piped gas for street lighting to European cities via the Imperial Continental Gas Association . In 1824 he was among the founding consortium of the Alliance Assurance Company (which later merged with Sun Insurance to form Sun Alliance ). Though somewhat lax in religious observance in his early life, after his visit to

2666-439: The first precursor 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. Montefiore intended Mishkenot Sha’ananim to be a new type of self-sufficient, sanitary settlement where Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews lived together. Later on, Montefiore established adjacent neighborhoods south of Jaffa Road ,

2728-525: The later call, Marie van der Zyl said that "the representative body that speaks for the community must have the legitimacy and accountability that comes from being broad based, democratic and elected." Deputies have in the past noted that, while board honorary officers are accountable to deputies, who themselves are accountable to their constituencies, the Jewish Leadership Council had no such governance structure. However, in March 2020, van de Zyl called in The Jewish Chronicle for "a more permanent unity" between

2790-508: The local ridings still bears his name. In 1845 he served as High Sheriff of Kent . In 1873, the year of his 89th birthday, 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 birthdays in great style, and every local charity (and church) benefited from his philanthropy. At East Cliff Lodge, he established

2852-418: The organisations. The issues which the board states it addresses are: In 2003, the Board, on its website, reproduced an extract from a US State Department report that suggested that the aid organisation Palestinian Relief and Development Fund (Interpal) was helping to fund terrorist organisations. Interpal threatened to sue for libel , whereupon the Board retracted and apologised for its comments. In

2914-408: The region was wracked by an earthquake in 1836. The towns of Safed and Tiberias were particularly damaged, with the few survivors suffering disorder, terror and disease. Moses and Judith launched an ambitious programme of relief in 1837. In 1854 his American friend Judah Touro , also a Sephardic Jew, died after having bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore

2976-448: The same year the Jewish Leadership Council , which says it "brings together the major British Jewish organisations to work for the good of the British Jewish community", was founded. In 2005, after the Mayor of London , Ken Livingstone , compared a Jewish Evening Standard reporter, Oliver Finegold, to a concentration camp guard, the Board, along with the Commission for Racial Equality , filed an ultimately unsuccessful complaint to

3038-414: The surname of her husband Zaccaria Levy (1751–1828) to Laurence following his death. The family returned to Kennington in London, where Montefiore attended school. His family's precarious financial situation prevented Montefiore from completing his schooling and he went out to work to help support the family. After working for a wholesale tea merchant and grocer, he was hired by a counting house in

3100-528: Was Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health at the Department of Health . In 2020, she left her position at the Board when she was appointed a life peer , representing the Labour Party in the House of Lords . Michael Wegier leads a team of professional staff including Director of Public Affairs, Daniel Sugarman (formerly a journalist at The Jewish Chronicle ) . Its membership comprises deputies elected by affiliated individual synagogues, confederations of synagogues, and other organisations within

3162-406: Was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London . Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London , after he achieved success, he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant . He founded Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first Jewish settlement outside

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3224-404: 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 under the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 and abolish slavery in

3286-423: Was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects to encourage the Jews to engage in productive labor. In 1855, he purchased an orchard on the outskirts of Jaffa that offered agricultural training to the Jews. In 1860, he built the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside the old walled city of Jerusalem , which today is known as Mishkenot Sha'ananim . This became

3348-449: Was built around the houses and the access gate was locked at night. The second row of houses of Mishkenot Sha'ananim was built in 1866 when a cholera epidemic was at its height in the Old City. Some people had taken up residence in the new neighborhood during daytime hours, but had so far refused to stay there at night, however now they fully moved in as illness proved to be a greater menace than night robbers. The Yemin Moshe neighbourhood

3410-495: Was built in 1892–1894 on the remaining lands around Mishkenot Sha'ananim. Joseph Sebag Montefiore, Moses Montefiore's nephew, signed the agreements which allowed for the construction project on the Kerem Moshe VeYehudit land. In addition to the windmill, which was built to allow poor Jews to grind their own flour, Montefiore 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

3472-481: Was buried in the mausoleum which he had had built near the Montefiore Synagogue at Ramsgate. 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. It incorporates parts of the original structure, called the Coach House. There are also some outbuildings that survive (including the Gate House). The Italianate Greenhouse has been restored to its former glory in

3534-423: Was hampered by Ottoman restrictions on land sale to non-Muslims. A historical building, now named Confederation House after the World Confederation of United Zionists (see Kalman Sultanik article), standing at the back of the King David Hotel and immediately adjacent to Yemin Moshe proper, houses since 1984 a center for ethnic music and poetry. Yemin Moshe is an upscale neighborhood surrounded by gardens with

3596-428: Was his nephew Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore (1822–1903, born Joseph Sebag), a British banker, stockbroker and politician. Sir Joseph's descendant, British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore (born 1965), revealed that his family believes Sir Moses to have fathered a child late in life with a 16-year-old domestic servant. Philanthropist Leonard Montefiore was a great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore. Sir Moses Montefiore

3658-445: Was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1835 to 1874, a period of 39 years, the longest tenure ever, and member of Bevis Marks Synagogue . As president, he corresponded with the British consul in Damascus, Charles Henry Churchill , in 1841–42; a practice seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism . From retirement until the day he died, Montefiore devoted himself to philanthropy, particularly alleviating

3720-409: Was received by the Tsar) and 1872; to Morocco in 1864, and to Romania in 1867. These missions made him a folk hero of near mythological proportions among the oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe, North Africa , and the Levant . Montefiore received a baronetcy in 1846 in recognition of his services to humanitarian causes on behalf of the Jewish people. He and his wife travelled to Palestine after

3782-434: 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

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3844-411: Was weaning the residents from their reliance on the halukka , or charity. Montefiore believed that a mill could provide them with a source of livelihood, but it was only operative for approximately 19 years. The first housing project, Mishkenot Sha'ananim, consisted of two rows of buildings. Its first houses were completed by 1860 and contained 28 apartments of one-and-a-half rooms. The compound also had

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