The Life and Legacy of Sir Moses Montefiore

On the 28th of Iyar, Israel celebrates Jerusalem Day, commemorating the reunification of the city following the Six-Day War of 1967. Over its 4,000-year history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured 44 times. Yet, this remarkable city has endured and continues to flourish, largely due to the devotion, courage, and resolve of prominent Jewish leaders. 

"The Land of Israel must belong to the Jewish people, and Jerusalem must become the capital of the Jewish state," wrote Sir Moses Montefiore in his diary. He was renowned for his towering height and an unyielding passion for innovation and progress. 

He served in the National Guard, achieved success as a stockbroker, founded a banking house, and established England's first life insurance society as well as Europe's first gas street-lighting company. 

By the age of forty, having amassed a substantial fortune, Montefiore made a firm decision to retire from business, recognizing that there were more significant endeavors to pursue. He campaigned for the abolition of slavery in the American colonies, advocated for the right of Jewish citizens to be elected to the British Parliament without compromising their faith, and successfully abolished the death penalty in Middlesex.  

In 1827, Montefiore, accompanied by his wife and like-minded partner Judith, embarked on a journey to the Promised Land, where they found a vast field of opportunity to apply their tireless energy.

During his fourth visit to Jerusalem in 1855, Moses purchased a plot of land outside the city walls. A few years later, on this estate, he established the first Jewish residential quarter of the New City — Mishkenot Sha'ananim (the Abode of the Serene). 

At that same time, commissioned by Sir Montefiore to provide the citizens with affordable flour, the British firm Holman constructed the famous windmill. Regrettably, the planners failed to account for local meteorological conditions; wind speeds proved insufficient, and the mill never functioned as intended. It was, however, destined for an entirely different, unexpected legacy.

The Montefiore Windmill became a monument to a great man and an enduring symbol of modern Jerusalem. Today, it houses a modest museum dedicated to Moses Montefiore, and adjacent to it, displayed in a glass pavilion, his travel carriage has finally found its resting place. 

However, in the mid-19th century, people were reluctant to settle in a new district located outside the protection of the city walls. Even efforts to financially incentivize residents for their bravery proved unsuccessful. It was only in 1866, when a cholera epidemic struck Jerusalem, that all thirty apartments were occupied for the first time.

Moses did not rest there. Despite managing numerous global responsibilities, he found the time and resolve to establish a textile workshop in the city and to open a vocational school for girls. He also brought the first printing press to Jerusalem and introduced the country's very first licensed medical doctor to manage a free public medical service. 

Sir Moses Montefiore lived a long life. His contributions to humanity were so profound that his centenary was celebrated as a national occasion in Great Britain, as well as in Jewish communities worldwide, and, most notably, in Jerusalem.

He passed away in his hundred and first year and was buried alongside his beloved wife in Ramsgate, beneath a headstone crafted from stone brought specifically from Jerusalem. The inscription on the stone reads: "For Your servants hold its stones dear, and cherish its very dust" (Psalms 102:14).