This photograph of Moses Montefiore was printed in celebration of his 100th birthday. On the wreath around his portrait are the names of places where he helped Jews: Jerusalem, Damascus, Constantinople, Morocco, Rome, St. Petersburg. Underneath his picture is Montefiore’s coat of arms and the words: “Think and Thank.” The German caption reads: “To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Moses Montefiore, 1884.” Montefiore’s signature appears underneath the image.
After his retirement from business, Montefiore devoted himself to philanthropy and assisting Jews around the world. He did much to help the Jewish community in Jerusalem, including building Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first Jewish neighbourhood outside the walls of the Old City and other neighbourhoods. He also offered financial aid to families that moved from the Old City and donated large sums of money to support education, industry, and health projects for the Jewish population of Israel at the end of the nineteenth century.
Montefiore was also involved in the Damascus affair of 1840. Thirteen Jews from Damascus were accused of murdering a monk for ritual purposes. Following these charges, the accused were tortured and riots broke out against the Jewish community. The affair drew international attention, and Western leaders and personalities, including Sir Moses Montefiore, petitioned the sultan of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople to free the imprisoned Jews and to stop the blood libel accusations.
He was involved in a similar case in Morocco in 1863, when a Jewish boy was tortured and confessed to the killing of a Spaniard. The Jewish community once again appealed to Sir Moses Montefiore for help. Following his involvement, the Moroccan sultan granted a proclamation protecting the Moroccan Jewish minority, and the prisoners were released along with a Moroccan who was unjustly accused of killing two Jews.
Rome is mentioned on the wreath due to another case in which Montefiore was involved. A young Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortara, was seized by the Pope’s soldiers in 1858, following a servant’s testimony that she had baptised him when he had been dangerously ill. Following the Papal law forbidding Christian children to be raised in non-Christian homes, Edgardo was taken by the church to be brought up as a Christian. The affair caused international outrage, and many world leaders, including Montefiore, petitioned the Pope to return the child to his family. However, the Pope denied Montefiore an audience, and despite many attempts he returned to London unsuccessful. Mortara remained a Christian and was even ordained in France at the age of 21.
The final place name on the wreath surrounding the portrait of Montefiore is St. Petersburg. Montefiore visited St. Petersburg in 1846 to meet with the Tsar following an imperial decree to exile Jews to the interior of the country. The decree was subsequently cancelled, and Montefiore went on to visit Eastern Russia to examine the situation of the Jews there.
Montefiore’s coat of arms appears at the bottom of the picture. The coat of arms features a lion, a deer, two Stars of David, a cedar tree, and some small hills. The lion and deer are holding flags with the word “Jerusalem” written in Hebrew. At the bottom is Montefiore’s motto, “Think and Thank.” The coat of arms demonstrates the different facets in Montefiore’s identity: he was both a patriotic Englishman and a proud Jew.
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Moses Montefiore - Moses Montefiore was born on October 24, 1784 in Livorno, Italy while his parents were visiting their Italian family. The Montefiore family returned to London where Moses grew up, was educated, and began his career in business. He became one of the twelve “Jew Brokers” – Jewish merchants who had the right to trade on the London exchange. In 1812, he married Judith Cohen, whose sister was married to Nathan Mayer Rothschild. The two brothers-in-law became successful business partners, until in Moses retired from business in 1824 and began a civic career. After retiring from business, Montefiore devoted his life to philanthropy. He invested much money and effort helping Jews throughout the world, travelling to Syria, Italy, Russia, Morocco, and Romania to protect Jews from blood libels, pogroms, and other troubles. He was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1835–1874 and a member of London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue. In Israel, he is perhaps best known for building Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first Jewish neighbourhood outside the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. He also donated large sums of money to the promotion of industry, education, and health among the Jewish community of Palestine. One of these projects was the building of a windmill that still stands next to the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood that was named after him. Sir Moses Montefiore died in 1885 at the age of 100.
