Bidspirit auction | Letter from Sir Moses Montefiore

Letter from Sir Moses Montefiore Announcing in Real Time his Success in Saving the Jews of Damascus! * In this letter, Montefiore informs the Chacham Bashi of Baghdad that he had succeeded in securing protection for the Jews of Damascus against the Christians who were persecuting them for the second time, twenty years after the infamous Damascus Affair. Montefiore writes: “Concerning the accusation which the Christians fabricated against our brethren dwelling in Damascus, almost immediately upon hearing the cry of our brothers, I went before the ministers of the kingdom… and praise be to G-d, my words found favor in the eyes of the monarchy… The Queen of England listened to the voice of the outcry of our brethren in Damascus, to extend compassion upon them, granting them protection against the accusations of the Christians!” The righteous minister Sir Moses Montefiore was forever remembered in the annals of history after he saved the Jews of Damascus from their persecutors in the infamous Damascus Affair of 1840. Far less known, however, is the Second Damascus Affair, when again the Jews of Damascus were placed in danger, and once more Montefiore came forth to save them. This letter pertains to this Second Damascus Affair. The Second Damascus Affair At the end of 1860, the Druze massacred tens of thousands of Christians across Syria and Lebanon, leaving multitudes of thousands homeless and in flight. By the grace of G-d, the Jews were left unharmed. Jews around the world hastened to support the persecuted Christians, and even Montefiore himself contributed an enormous sum for their rehabilitation. News of this was widely reported in the press of the time. The False Accusation When the storm abated, and after hundreds of perpetrators were executed, the Christians in Damascus began to claim that the Jews had collaborated with the marauders and taken part in the plunder of Christian money! In addition, anti-Semites spread slander in the newspapers as though the Jewish community had been forced to pay the Christians an immense sum as “compensation” for this alleged “collaboration” – which had never occurred. As a result, the authorities arrested dozens of Jews in Damascus – among them leading members of the community – and cast them into prison for a long time, and several of them died there, may Hashem avenge their blood. This event caused a tremendous uproar among the Jews, and the leaders of the kehillah moved heaven and earth, appealing to Montefiore and Rothschild to exert all their power to save them. Montefiore to the Rescue of the Jews of Damascus In the present letter, written in the very midst of the crisis, Montefiore announces that as a result of his immediate intervention with the heads of the English monarchy, the world power had stood at the side of the Jews and placed the full weight of its influence in their defense! Montefiore knew the immense joy his letter would arouse upon reaching its destination, and so he concluded with words of consolation to heal the broken hearts of the Jews: “And now, my brethren, trust in Hashem the G-d of our fathers, and fear not any man… The G-d who is a saviour will deliver us from the hand of all our enemies, He will raise the honor of His people and gather our dispersed speedily.” Montefiore signed his name on the letter in Lashon HaKodesh, and once again on the reverse in Latin letters. The letter has been preserved with its original sealing sticker, impressed with Montefiore’s stately insignia. A truly extraordinary historical document – a first-hand source of Montefiore’s historic rescue, from the very mouth of the man himself who brought about the rescue! Very few letters contain such a powerful voice of outcry, Jewish solidarity, and miraculous deliverance. London, the sixth night of Chanukah 1860 . Fine writing of a scribe in Rashi script (since it was sent to a Sephardic community unaccustomed to Ashkenazic writing – itself testimony to Montefiore’s great sensitivity!). Montefiore signed in his own handwriting twice, once in Hebrew (at the end of the letter) and once in English letters (on the back). Size: 19.4 x 24.4 cm. Condition: Good, with holes and light stains.