“Two Lovers of Zion, Rabb Eber Hirschowitz and Laurence Oliphant” was the title of a lecture delivered to the Israel branch of the Jewish Historical Society of England on Wednesday evening. The speaker was our member (and former President) Eli Friedwald. Eli, who is also the author of The Rabbi’s Suitcase.
Eli has very kindly shared with us the video of this fascinating lecture (the link appears below). Our member, Dr Chaim Sharman, was there and adds the following:
Eli Friedwald gave a most interesting, illustrated talk to the Jewish Historical Society of England, Israel branch, on two "lovers of Zion" in the late 19th century who could not have come from more different backgrounds.Rabbi Eber Hirschowitz was born in Russia and in 1884 was sent to England to start the Chovevei Zion organisation. Laurence Oliphant (pictured, right) was an evangelical Christian, a member of the British Parliament as well as being a mystic, foreign correspondent, and staunch Zionist. His writings included a book, The Land of Gilead, which set out his plans for establishing Jewish farming communities in Israel. Indeed, Oliphant even met the Sadigura Rebbe in order to seek funds for Eretz Yisroel. At his funeral Rabbi Hirschowitz gave a hesped in which he described him as standing on a par with the greatest of Jewish philanthropists.
Pessy Krausz was there too. What impressed her most? Let her tell you:
Of particular interest to me were the enormous efforts of a non-Jew, Lawrence Oliphant, in propounding the vision of Gilead for the Jews, helping poor Jews in the pale of Russia to settle what was then Palestine. Oliphant's work was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the later charismatic figure of Theodore Hertzl.
You can tune into Eli's talk on YouTube here.
