Between Redemption and Revival: The Jewish Yishuv of Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century (review)

Book Reviews 137 particularly Chapter 10, which contains tables and explanations of the Israeli lobby's success. Louis Farshee Political Science Department University of North Texas Between Redemption and Revival: The Jewish Yishuv ofJerusalem in the Nineteenth Century, by Jeff Halper. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991. 229 pp. $49.50. Jerusalem of the nineteenth century had grown from a population of about 9,000 to almost 70,000 by the eve of the First World War. Accordingly , the Jewish community in that city had increased from about 2,200 in 1800 to 45,000 in 1914. From at least 1870 the yishuv has comprised more than 50 percent of the general population in the Holy City. In light of these statistics that were compiled from various sources about three decades ago and widely disseminated, it is no wonder that researchers of the yishuv have sought both descriptions and explanations for the expansion and development of the Jewish community in Jerusalem. In his introduction Halper correctly argues that the Jerusalem yishuv was initially viewed through the eyes of Zionist history and historiography that sought to emphasize agricultural colonization and newly organized secular communities consistent with their ideology of national revival. Consequently, the urban areas in general, and particularly the Jerusalem religious groups, were categorized as "old, fanatical, reactionary and nonproductive" (p. 1). The book opens with David Ben-Gurion's words from 1910, which echo this notion, but the author immediately explains that his book is by no means the first attempt to reconsider the characteristics of the Old Yishuv vis-a-vis the New Yishuv. Indeed, his notes list quite a few of the books and articles in Hebrew and English that broke new ground in historical research and analysis during the last twenty years. This vast literature has already reconsidered the nature of the Old Yishuv and has examined in depth its relationship and contribution to the nationaV Zionist activities in Eretz Israel. Thus, the author explains his specific aims: a. He writes, "I shall first attempt to define this stigmatized and neglected part of yishuv society" (p. 2). b. He carefully enumerates the characteristics of the Old Yishuv as he sees them: comprising particular communities from different countries of 138 SHOFAR Summer 1994 Vol. 12, No.4 ongm, organized religiously, accepted the Halukah support system, urbanized, etc. c. He concludes with a statement of the relationship between the Old Yishuv and modern Israeli society. In order to achieve his first two aims, Halper embarks on a descriptive portrayal of Jerusalem in the nineteenth century, relying mainly on secondary sources, travelers' accounts, and anecdotal oral testimony. He uses a journalistic style that is comfortably followed by the casual reader and avoids scholarly debate. He especially concentrates on the lives and deeds of several personalities whom he sees as key figures among the Ashkenazim and Sephardim of Jerusalem, for example, Rivlin, Yellin, Frumkin, Diskin, Pines, Ben-Yehudah, Navon, and others. Other writers who described nineteenth-century Jerusalem often chose some different perspectives from which to observe the heterogeneous community. The author provides a good background, describing Eretz Israel in the mid-nineteenth century. He concentrates on three major issues: a) the events of the 1830s and 1840s and the results of the Muhammad Ali invasion; b) the grave earthquake of 1837 that caused the devastation of Safed and its Jewish community; and c) the growing interest of European countries in the Holy Land and the opening of their consulates that stimulated social and economic development in Jerusalem. The book includes abundant details in its description of nineteenthcentury Jerusalem. For example, Halper tells the interesting story of the breakaway of the Ashkenazi community from the Sephardi-dominant organization. Another chapter is devoted to the educational scene in the city and the attempts to establish new schools and to somewhat "reform" the old traditions in Jewish education. These new schools, and particularly the Alliance Israelite Universelle Educational Complex outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, were very instrumental in providing new economic opportunities for the city's youth. The new cadre of leadership that emerged within the Jewish community from the ranks of the principals, teachers, and graduates of these "modern" educational institutions...