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Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial Hero
Humanitarian, philanthropist, and campaigner for Jewish emancipation on a grand scale, Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885) was the preeminent Jewish figure of the nineteenth century—and one of the first truly global celebrities. His story, told here in full for the first time, is a remarkable and illuminating tale of diplomacy and adventure. Abigail Green's sweeping biography follows Montefiore through the realms of court and ghetto, tsar and sultan, synagogue and stock exchange. Interweaving the public triumph of Montefiore's foreign missions with the private tragedy of his childless marriage, this book brings the diversity of nineteenth-century Jewry brilliantly to life—from London to Jerusalem, Rome to St. Petersburg, Morocco to Istanbul. Here we see the origins of Zionism and the rise of international Jewish consciousness, the faltering birth of international human rights, and the making of the modern Middle East. With the globalization and mobilization of religious identities now at the top of the political agenda, Montefiore's life story is relevant as never before. Mining materials from eleven countries in nine languages, Green's masterly biography bridges the East-West divide in modern Jewish history, presenting the transformation of Jewish life in Europe, the Middle East, and the New World as part of a single global phenomenon. As it reestablishes Montefiore's status as a major historical player, it also restores a significant chapter to the history of our modern world.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 10, 2016
Sir Moses Montefiore is probably remembered only amongst Jews today, but even those who do know of him probably don’t appreciate just how prominent a figure he was in his own lifetime. I certainly didn’t – until I read this book. I’d learned about Sir Montefiore from Rabbi Berel Wein’s lectures on the Jewish world in the 1850’s and on Rabbi Shmuel Salant, which was enough to whet my appetite for more. This 400+ page biography looked pretty intimidating when I took it out of the library, but Rabbi Wein’s portrayal was so glowing, I was willing to slog through.
Yes, the book was a slog – not all of it, but much of it. As another GR reviewer said, it’s more history than biography, and while that’s inevitable with a subject who engaged with history, it didn’t always make for easy reading. Thanks to Rabbi Wein, I have a good background in Jewish history, so it wasn’t all new to me. I think a beginner would have a much harder time.
For those who don’t know, Sir Moses Montefiore was one of the leading philanthropists of his day. He was born in the Italian state of Livorno, but moved to England with his family as a young man. He had business and marriage ties to the wealthy Rothschild family and eventually amassed a sizable fortune of his own. Knighted by Queen Victoria, he was very much an English gentleman, but he also had a Yiddishe hartz and would not, for example, Anglicize his name. He clung to our people in more significant ways than that, not just in distributing charity all over the world, but by acting as a diplomat for Jews in countries where they were oppressed, namely Damascus in the blood libel of 1840, Rome in the kidnapping of Edgardo Morata, Russia, Romania, Morocco, and of course, the Holy Land. In an age when so many Jews, including the Rothschilds, were assimilating and denying their Jewishness, he wore his as a badge of honor and used all his assets – financial and personal – to help Jews individually and institutionally.
He was not always successful, which is a point that would probably be glossed over in a frum book. Nor is this a hagiographic biography; it definitely shows his feet of clay. It even addresses the “well-documented rumors” of his illegitimate children, which I do not believe. If such a well-researched book as this can tell us nothing to prove the rumors and makes two points to disprove them, then that’s all they are: rumors. The strongest proof is Sir Montefiore’s own writings anyway. The direct quotes are so full of passion for Torah and Yiddishkeit, I simply cannot believe that their author would ever stoop so low as to cheat on his own wife. The allegation itself would be enough to invalidate the book in the frum world. I say there is too much else to be learned from it to ignore it.
One major disappointment for me was how little was said about Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the rabbinic half to Sir Montefiore’s charitable giving in Jerusalem. The book does acknowledge that the two were very close, but it didn’t give much detail. For that, you need Rabbi Wein’s lectures, “Builders of Jerusalem”.
Despite the above faults, this is probably the most thorough biography available on Sir Montefiore. Read it alongside Rabbi Wein’s lectures. It will give you a picture of one of the greatest Jewish heroes of all time.
Yes, the book was a slog – not all of it, but much of it. As another GR reviewer said, it’s more history than biography, and while that’s inevitable with a subject who engaged with history, it didn’t always make for easy reading. Thanks to Rabbi Wein, I have a good background in Jewish history, so it wasn’t all new to me. I think a beginner would have a much harder time.
For those who don’t know, Sir Moses Montefiore was one of the leading philanthropists of his day. He was born in the Italian state of Livorno, but moved to England with his family as a young man. He had business and marriage ties to the wealthy Rothschild family and eventually amassed a sizable fortune of his own. Knighted by Queen Victoria, he was very much an English gentleman, but he also had a Yiddishe hartz and would not, for example, Anglicize his name. He clung to our people in more significant ways than that, not just in distributing charity all over the world, but by acting as a diplomat for Jews in countries where they were oppressed, namely Damascus in the blood libel of 1840, Rome in the kidnapping of Edgardo Morata, Russia, Romania, Morocco, and of course, the Holy Land. In an age when so many Jews, including the Rothschilds, were assimilating and denying their Jewishness, he wore his as a badge of honor and used all his assets – financial and personal – to help Jews individually and institutionally.
He was not always successful, which is a point that would probably be glossed over in a frum book. Nor is this a hagiographic biography; it definitely shows his feet of clay. It even addresses the “well-documented rumors” of his illegitimate children, which I do not believe. If such a well-researched book as this can tell us nothing to prove the rumors and makes two points to disprove them, then that’s all they are: rumors. The strongest proof is Sir Montefiore’s own writings anyway. The direct quotes are so full of passion for Torah and Yiddishkeit, I simply cannot believe that their author would ever stoop so low as to cheat on his own wife. The allegation itself would be enough to invalidate the book in the frum world. I say there is too much else to be learned from it to ignore it.
One major disappointment for me was how little was said about Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the rabbinic half to Sir Montefiore’s charitable giving in Jerusalem. The book does acknowledge that the two were very close, but it didn’t give much detail. For that, you need Rabbi Wein’s lectures, “Builders of Jerusalem”.
Despite the above faults, this is probably the most thorough biography available on Sir Montefiore. Read it alongside Rabbi Wein’s lectures. It will give you a picture of one of the greatest Jewish heroes of all time.
June 16, 2018
My first thought upon finishing this book is that Moses Montefiore deserves a multi-part documentary, much like John Adams as depicted by David McCullough! :P That probably says a fair bit about my lack of grounding in biographies, but perhaps there are some similarities. Both very influential, politically motivated and long-lived men, for one. Both incredibly devoted to the memories of their wives. I guess the final few chapters of this book reminded me of the final part or two of the Adams miniseries because it was obvious how much the world was moving on without them.
It wasn't the same world, of course. Adams was born a half century before Montefiore and was instrumental in the founding of the United States, to put it lightly. Montefiore was an incredibly well off banker, and even a diplomat of sorts for Victorian England, but he was still an outsider. He was still a Jew. He and his fellows were dogged throughout some of their careers about receiving full seats at the table, as Britain hemmed and hawed about emancipation of the Jews.
Montefiore lived during the time of emancipation and nation states. Also empire building--in fact this book brought home to me how the imperialists viewed themselves as a civilizing force. The "barbarism" they fought against, they claimed, often was medieval tortures and medieval prejudices. Of course, it was much easier for the British to go off to their allies or their territories and espouse full rights, rather than think about it at home.
Green's chronological, somewhat stuffy book (so much information jampacked in!) gave a cursory look to Montefiore's childhood and business dealings before taking him off on the adventures that dominated most of his life. He had the means and the inclination to go to various parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East whenever Jews were in trouble due to anti-Jewish violence, sickness, famine or war. He was also instrumental in turning Jerusalem, the backwater of the Ottoman Empire, from a wasteland filled with a few religious wanders to the type of city that could support a community. Indeed, the first aliyah to Palestine officially started a few years before his death. It's worth noting, perhaps, that the technological innovations of the 19th century made disparate members of the Jewish world more aware of each other than ever before--this led to heightened interest in international concerns. And Montefiore himself was a big of a celebrity by way of bridging the gap.
He had a bit of an imperial mindset himself--his view on charity was that he had the funds and would distribute it individually to those in need. He didn't jive so well with the committees that dominated the later Victorian era. He liked one one one negotiations with powerful rulers. He also didn't jive well with other country's big Jewish figureheads, particularly France's Adolphe Cremieux. A lot of this had to do with how much they personally identified with the mindsets of their individual countries. Green talks about more of the interplay between England and France than I could possibly grasp through this book, but in simplest terms of how it affected their work: Cremieux wanted Jews in Muslim lands to westernize and Montefiore wanted them to adapt more to their host cultures. He hoped that would lower anti-Jewish sentiment.
And indeed most anti-Judaism didn't come as much from the Muslims--it came all the time from the Christians. Particularly Catholics, who went so far as to insert themselves into Ottoman politics after the Damascus Affair. They accused 13 Jews of blood libel, aka murdering a monk for ritual purposes, and encouraged the Ottomans to use torture to elicit confessions. In the broader Damascus area, Jews were harassed and their synagogue pillaged. Montefiore was principal in getting the authorities to recognize the prejudice of blood libel, release the living prisoners and put an edict in place to make sure this couldn't happen again. But in the Catholic and Russian worlds, blood libel claims and bloody attacks against Jews remained rampant. Montefiore did what he could to stop them, but the Christian intolerance was too ingrained. It was exhausting, depressing reading, chapter by chapter.
It also leant, of course, to Montefiore's proto-Zionist feelings about Jews needing a homeland free from persecution. Also feeding into this were his religious beliefs; he was a pious man who spent a ridiculous amount of time arguing against "the Reformers" (precursors to Reform Judaism), even if it meant cutting off members of his own family. Definitely got a stubborn vibe off of this guy. :P
Other aspects of his personal life involved his wife, Judith, who actually got to be a little more involved, politically and religiously, given her husband's growing celebrity. Speaking of schisms in the community, she was an Ashkenazi Jew and he was Sephardi; his family hailed from Livorno, Italy. (Somewhat a haven for Jews, and the opposite of Italian provinces that were controlled by the papacy.) She was childless, and Green touched a bit on her despair about that. Montefiore was widely rumored to have fathered illegitimate children, and although Green seemed to support the idea of his infidelity, she also shot down any specific incidents of bastard children as unlikely. (Mother was never in the right place at the right time, if I remember correctly.) His letters also showed his flowery devotion to his wife.
Finally, I appreciated looking at the wide lens of the 19th century through this Jewish perspective. So much changed--from how long it took Montefiore to travel to Palestine in his first visit vs his last (months by caravan vs weeks by steam train), to Napoleon's wars, the creation of nation states. There was the emancipation of serfs and indeed Jews sometimes, even the shift away from anti-Jewish "blood libel" to more Enlightenment friendly antisemitism (the word was coined in his lifetime) which accused Jews of controlling the world through money. Montefiore's name may have faded, but his in-laws, the Rothschilds, are still associated with nefarious world domination.
Things change, and things remain the same. When Romania broke off from the Ottoman Empire, and persecuted Jews flocked there from Russia, the Christian majority defended their violence (they did not discriminate between Jewish immigrants and Jewish natives) on religious Otherness and anti-immigration fears. They claimed that the Jews, rightfully hated by Jesus, would amass power and turn "real" Romanians into slaves. I can see the echoes of these sentiments in politics today.
I'm also disheartened that Montefiore wasn't Superman and couldn't save all of the Jews from all of this awfulness. He was an infirm man by the time the Romanian crisis hit. So I appreciated Green's cushy chapters at his home in Ramsgate, where the people loved him and he was even able to set up Jewish institutions. Green writes at the end of her book that it's important to study the 19th century today, and recognize it's religious and secular conflicts as a precursor to what's going on now. It's also worth noting that Montefiore is her indirect ancestor. :P So that certainly gave her a nice way into the subject matter at hand!
It wasn't the same world, of course. Adams was born a half century before Montefiore and was instrumental in the founding of the United States, to put it lightly. Montefiore was an incredibly well off banker, and even a diplomat of sorts for Victorian England, but he was still an outsider. He was still a Jew. He and his fellows were dogged throughout some of their careers about receiving full seats at the table, as Britain hemmed and hawed about emancipation of the Jews.
Montefiore lived during the time of emancipation and nation states. Also empire building--in fact this book brought home to me how the imperialists viewed themselves as a civilizing force. The "barbarism" they fought against, they claimed, often was medieval tortures and medieval prejudices. Of course, it was much easier for the British to go off to their allies or their territories and espouse full rights, rather than think about it at home.
Green's chronological, somewhat stuffy book (so much information jampacked in!) gave a cursory look to Montefiore's childhood and business dealings before taking him off on the adventures that dominated most of his life. He had the means and the inclination to go to various parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East whenever Jews were in trouble due to anti-Jewish violence, sickness, famine or war. He was also instrumental in turning Jerusalem, the backwater of the Ottoman Empire, from a wasteland filled with a few religious wanders to the type of city that could support a community. Indeed, the first aliyah to Palestine officially started a few years before his death. It's worth noting, perhaps, that the technological innovations of the 19th century made disparate members of the Jewish world more aware of each other than ever before--this led to heightened interest in international concerns. And Montefiore himself was a big of a celebrity by way of bridging the gap.
He had a bit of an imperial mindset himself--his view on charity was that he had the funds and would distribute it individually to those in need. He didn't jive so well with the committees that dominated the later Victorian era. He liked one one one negotiations with powerful rulers. He also didn't jive well with other country's big Jewish figureheads, particularly France's Adolphe Cremieux. A lot of this had to do with how much they personally identified with the mindsets of their individual countries. Green talks about more of the interplay between England and France than I could possibly grasp through this book, but in simplest terms of how it affected their work: Cremieux wanted Jews in Muslim lands to westernize and Montefiore wanted them to adapt more to their host cultures. He hoped that would lower anti-Jewish sentiment.
And indeed most anti-Judaism didn't come as much from the Muslims--it came all the time from the Christians. Particularly Catholics, who went so far as to insert themselves into Ottoman politics after the Damascus Affair. They accused 13 Jews of blood libel, aka murdering a monk for ritual purposes, and encouraged the Ottomans to use torture to elicit confessions. In the broader Damascus area, Jews were harassed and their synagogue pillaged. Montefiore was principal in getting the authorities to recognize the prejudice of blood libel, release the living prisoners and put an edict in place to make sure this couldn't happen again. But in the Catholic and Russian worlds, blood libel claims and bloody attacks against Jews remained rampant. Montefiore did what he could to stop them, but the Christian intolerance was too ingrained. It was exhausting, depressing reading, chapter by chapter.
It also leant, of course, to Montefiore's proto-Zionist feelings about Jews needing a homeland free from persecution. Also feeding into this were his religious beliefs; he was a pious man who spent a ridiculous amount of time arguing against "the Reformers" (precursors to Reform Judaism), even if it meant cutting off members of his own family. Definitely got a stubborn vibe off of this guy. :P
Other aspects of his personal life involved his wife, Judith, who actually got to be a little more involved, politically and religiously, given her husband's growing celebrity. Speaking of schisms in the community, she was an Ashkenazi Jew and he was Sephardi; his family hailed from Livorno, Italy. (Somewhat a haven for Jews, and the opposite of Italian provinces that were controlled by the papacy.) She was childless, and Green touched a bit on her despair about that. Montefiore was widely rumored to have fathered illegitimate children, and although Green seemed to support the idea of his infidelity, she also shot down any specific incidents of bastard children as unlikely. (Mother was never in the right place at the right time, if I remember correctly.) His letters also showed his flowery devotion to his wife.
Finally, I appreciated looking at the wide lens of the 19th century through this Jewish perspective. So much changed--from how long it took Montefiore to travel to Palestine in his first visit vs his last (months by caravan vs weeks by steam train), to Napoleon's wars, the creation of nation states. There was the emancipation of serfs and indeed Jews sometimes, even the shift away from anti-Jewish "blood libel" to more Enlightenment friendly antisemitism (the word was coined in his lifetime) which accused Jews of controlling the world through money. Montefiore's name may have faded, but his in-laws, the Rothschilds, are still associated with nefarious world domination.
Things change, and things remain the same. When Romania broke off from the Ottoman Empire, and persecuted Jews flocked there from Russia, the Christian majority defended their violence (they did not discriminate between Jewish immigrants and Jewish natives) on religious Otherness and anti-immigration fears. They claimed that the Jews, rightfully hated by Jesus, would amass power and turn "real" Romanians into slaves. I can see the echoes of these sentiments in politics today.
I'm also disheartened that Montefiore wasn't Superman and couldn't save all of the Jews from all of this awfulness. He was an infirm man by the time the Romanian crisis hit. So I appreciated Green's cushy chapters at his home in Ramsgate, where the people loved him and he was even able to set up Jewish institutions. Green writes at the end of her book that it's important to study the 19th century today, and recognize it's religious and secular conflicts as a precursor to what's going on now. It's also worth noting that Montefiore is her indirect ancestor. :P So that certainly gave her a nice way into the subject matter at hand!
December 21, 2025
A comprehensive biography of the great philanthropist/activist/celebrity. I'd already read a little about Montefiore, but this book gave me more of a sense of the private man- his firm defense of Orthodoxy against Reform (he lost friendships because he didn't want communal organizations to recognize Reform), his incredibly loving relationship with his wife, and his religious life (like many 19th-c. American Jews, very Bible-oriented; he didn't seem to know much about the Mishna or Talmud). His success was very tied in to that of the British Empire; he consistently had help from British officials, and he was most successful in dealing with kings who were dependent on British goodwill.
July 9, 2023
A complete history of Montefiore, with side trips to the important events that he became involved in.
February 21, 2011
More history than biography as she tells us that his diaries are gone(destroyed).He actively lived one century,participating in all the major events of that time.He helped change the nature of Jewish and world philantropy.An enlightening and informative overview of the 19 th century and the move towards nationalism.
August 21, 2016
This is a great and rich in detail biography of Sir Moses Montefiore. And even though the author is related to this great man, you only rarely feel that her accounts and reports are biased.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews