Tag Archives: British Empire

Jew of the Week: Mordechai Emmanuel Noah

Israel in Buffalo?

Noah had the rank of Major

Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) is considered by many to be America’s first famous Jew. Coming from a blended family of Sephardic-Portuguese and German-Ashkenazi Jews, Noah’s father was one of the main financiers of the American Revolution. Mordecai began his career in trade, then moved into law while living in South Carolina. He made a name for himself as a journalist, writing passionately to drive the American cause and boosting the nation’s morale in the face of war with the British Empire. For his wisdom and eloquence, President Madison appointed him consul to Imperial Russia in 1811, then consul to Tunis in 1813. There he worked to fight against marauding pirates and saved countless Americans captured and enslaved in Morocco. However, in 1815 the anti-Semitic President Monroe repealed Noah’s position. This stirred a massive controversy. Former presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all joined Noah’s side, championing equality for all. Nonetheless, Noah left politics, returning to New York where he founded a variety of newspapers (including the Enquirer). He wrote several popular plays (including the famous She Would be a Soldier), as well as three books. He is a founder of New York University and Mt. Sinai Hospital, and also served as a judge and sheriff of New York. But most intriguing of all is that in 1825 Mordechai Noah bought a massive piece of land near Buffalo to be established as a Jewish state called “Ararat”. Surprisingly, thousands of Christians came out in support to lay the first cornerstone, along with Masons, the New York militia and St. Paul’s Church! Unfortunately, the project failed, and Noah realized a Jewish state could only be established in the Holy Land. To this he dedicated the last years of his life, spearheading the return to Israel long before Herzl and the Zionists.

 

Words of the Week

The progeny of Abraham are likened to the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16), and to the stars of the heavens (Genesis 15:5). For when they fall, they fall as low as dust; when they rise, they rise as high as the stars.
– Midrash

The original marker for the refuge of Ararat

Jew of the Week: Benjamin Disraeli

Prime Minister of the U.K.

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) A descendant of Sephardic Jews from Portugal – which came to Britain by way of Italy – Disraeli was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1874 until 1880. His Conversative Party made great strides for Britain, and it was said he did “more for the working classes in five years than the Liberals have in fifty.” Disraeli was a staunch imperialist, working hard to spread the borders of the British Empire. He purchased the Suez Canal, invaded Afghanistan, and made Queen Victoria the Empress of India. If that’s not impressive enough, he also wrote 18 novels and 8 non-fiction books. Despite being baptized by his father at a young age, Disraeli always identified as a Jew. On one occasion, while debating in Parliament, a fellow MP attacked him with an anti-Semitic remark, to which Disraeli replied: “Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the Right Honourable Gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the Temple of Solomon.”

Words of the Week

A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.
– Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi

Jew of the Week: Ze’ev Jabotinsky

The Ultimate Zionist

Ze’ev Jabotinsky: Zionist Extraordinaire

Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940) Famous for his instrumental role in the establishment of a Jewish state, Jabotinsky first gained fame as a journalist. In Russia, he formed the Jewish Self-Defense Organization to arm Jews to fight back the pogroms, saying it is “better to have a gun and not need it, than to need it and not have it!” Later, he formed the Jewish Legion for the British Army, fighting in several wars, for which he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. A staunch Zionist and freedom fighter, he worked tirelessly for Israel, at one point being arrested and given a 15-year prison term. He also wrote nearly a dozen books. Amazingly, sensing what he called an impending “super-pogrom”, in 1936 Jabotinsky set up an evacuation plan to bring every single Jew from Poland, Hungary and Romania to Israel. All three governments eagerly agreed to the plan. Unfortunately, it was not popular among the Polish Jews. Ultimately, the British vetoed the plan and prevented it from materializing. Today in Israel, there are more streets and parks named after him than any other figure.

Words of the Week

Some people like Jews and some do not; but no thoughtful man can doubt the fact that they are beyond all question the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world.
– Sir Winston Churchill (in an article for the Sunday Herald, February 8, 1920)