Yishuv haYashan

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Jews of the Old Yishuv in 1895
Jews of the Old Yishuv in 1895

Yishuv haYashan (He: יישוב הישן) (Old Yishuv) is the name given to the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine. Most members of the Old Yishuv lived in the four "holy cities," Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron. The term was coined to distinguish between the old-time residents of Eretz Yisrael and the Zionist newcomers, described as the New Yishuv.

Contents

[edit] Foundation

[edit] The Rishonim

Aliyah to Israel and settlement
Pre-Zionist Aliyah
Prior to the founding of Israel
After the founding of Israel
Related topics

Jewish history • Jewish diaspora • History of the Jews in the Land of Israel • Yishuv • History of Zionism (Timeline) • Revival of Hebrew language • Religious Zionism • Haredim and Zionism • Anti-Zionism
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The public aliyah of 300 members headed by Tosafists from England and France in 1211 struggled very hard in the new country, as there was no financial support and no prospect of making a living. The vast majority of the settlers were simply wiped out by the Crusaders who arrived in 1219, and the few survivors were allowed to live only in Acre (עַכּוֹ, Akko). There are no known descendents, indicating that if there were any survivors, they blended with the original Jewish residents, who are called Mustarabim or Maghrebim, but more precisely Murishkes.

Also Maimonides undertook a journey from Spain, via Morocco and Egypt, with the goal of settling in Israel, but was finally forced to turn back, and remained in Egypt where there was an established Jewish community (kehilla). Finally, Nahmanides arrived in 1267 and succeeded in settling in Acre. In the year 1488, when Rabbi Ovadiya from Bertinoro successfully reached the Holy Land, more people already considered it possible to live in Eretz Yisroel.

[edit] The Exile from Spain

In 1492, when the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain, some took it as a call from heaven to return to their homeland, Israel. Confronted as they were with seeking a new residence, they found it reasonable to head for the country of the Prophets.

By the beginning of the 16th century an abundance of notable and scholarly rabbis was already residing in the so-called "city of the mystics", Safed. Among those Sephardic rabbis, were Rabbi Yakov bi Rav, Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, Rabbi Yosef Karo, and the Arizal. At this time there was a small community in Jerusalem headed by Rabbi Levi ibn Haviv also known as the Mahralbach; the only known Ashkenazic rabbi in that time was Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz who also lived in Jerusalem for a short time.

[edit] Rabbi Yehuda he-Hasid

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Although not all of the smaller aliyahs were successful, nothing compares to the suppress[clarify] which was the result of an aliyah in year 1700, in which more than 1500 members participated. The aliyah was initiated by an Ashkenazic Hasid from Shedlitz, Poland who agitated for returning to Eretz Yisroel to redeem its soil.

While many of the passengers didn’t survive the seasickness and travel conditions, the rest were subject to a long and dreaded hassle. When they reached the Holy Land, they went immediately to Jerusalem, where they built a vast complex of buildings, including a synagogue and all community needs. This was not accomplished without paying huge bribes to the local Arabic municipality, which drained the money they had brought. Even worse, they were forced to take private loans from wealthy Arabs at high rates of interest, which they were unable to repay.

After only a few days in Israel, their leader, Rabbi Yehuda he-Hasid, suddenly died. This severely affected the newcomers, and cut them off from contacts in the diaspora, so that pledged sums of money never arrived. After twenty years passed, the lenders come to the conclusion that there was no hope of seeing their money again, so they completely destroyed the buildings involved and expelled the members from Jerusalem to their ultimate death.

After that, no Ashkenazic Jew was able to enter the holy city for nearly a century, as he would be captured for the debt of Rabbi Yehuda he-Hasid.

[edit] The Hasidim and Perushim

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The next aliyah, in the 18th century, could be called a double aliyah. It was Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and Rabbi Avraham of Kaliski from the students of the Magid of Mezritch who initiated a group of Hasidim in 1777, and the disciples of the Vilna Gaon who undertook the aliyah in 1780. Most of them settled in Safed or Tiberias, but a small number were able to enter Jerusalem and rebuild the ruins of the Hurvat Yehudah He-Hasid (destroyed synagogue of Judah He-Hasid).

[edit] The Earthquake in Safed

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Finally, the earthquake of 1836 destroyed Safed, killed thousands of its residents, and contributed to the reconstitution of Jerusalem as the main base for the Yishuv haYashan.

According to Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Uheli, the Yismach Moshe, a disciple of the Chozeh from Lublin and great Hasidic leader,[1] those incidents were signs that major aliyahs are not according to God's will. The argument was that God is not pleased with human efforts to reconstitute Eretz Yisroel, even if not in the form of a state, until the coming of Moshiach.[2]

[edit] Finances

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Main articles: Kollel; Halukka
Most of the settlers made aliyah only when elderly, when the financial costs are not too high, after having saved every penny over a lifetime in order to fund retirement expenses. However this was not the case with all, and even those who brought some money with them did not imagine how much would be needed. This was especially so when an Arabic Pasha would get a tip about some money, and would order the individual's arrest, demanding the highest possible bribe to set him free.

In light of this it became important for the settlers to organize, and they founded a central support organization, called a kollel. The plan was that every place of origin would collect money through Pushka fundraising and similar means, to support their community members in the Holy Land.

[edit] The Fight for Existence

[edit] Hovevei Zion

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Even though the initial and basic intentions of the Hovevei Zion group were similar, they were different, mainly in practical manners. The latter included a materialistic goal of developing the country through farming and workshops, which were not to the taste of the Yishuv haYashan. This was in addition to more radical ideas as to renewing the ritual of korbanoth at the ruins of the Holy Temple, and buying up large amounts of land from the Turkish government in order to establish a Jewish state.

The plans of Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Kalischer of Thorn were very controversial,[3] and even his colleague and biggest supporter Rabbi Eliyah Gutmacher of Greiditz later discontinued his support.[4] In the end, the remnants of the group joined the Zionism movement of Theodor Herzl, whose intentions, plans and actions constituted a real threat for Jewish religion.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • (1726) Shaali Shelom Yerushalaim. Berlin: private. 
  • Blau, Moshe (1968). Al Chomothecha Yerushalaim על חומותיך ירושלים. 
  • Sofer, Yoseph Moshe (1980,2003). Moro DeAroh Yisroel מרא דארעא ישראל (in Hebrew). 
  • Rosoph, David (2002). V'Zeh Shaar Hashomaim וזה שער השמים (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: private. 
  1. ^ Letter to his son-in-law at the end of the fourth volume of Yismach Moshe
  2. ^ According to Talmud Kesuboth 111b
  3. ^ HaLevanon 8 – no 21
  4. ^ Introduction to Hidushei Rabbeinu Elijah Gutmacher miGreiditz and Moro deAroh Yisroel volume 2 pp. 5-7, based on letter by Kalischer to Gutmacher in Kisvei haRav Kalischer, Jerusalem 1947 pages 520, 255 and 260.