Moshe Sachs (1800-1870)
Moshe Sachs was the first immigrant of his day to Eretz Yisrael from Germany. He was born in Meiningen- Dreissigackern in Thüringen, Germany. He learned in a yeshiva in Fürth and after that Sachs was a student of Rabbi Akiva Eger in Posen and Rabbi Mordecai Bennet of Nikolsburg. During his journey through Pressburg he heard the Hatam Sofer several times whose emphasis on the importance of immigrating to Israel affected him. He stayed another year in Hungary. in Bacs, and then continued his journey to the Holy Land. He settled in Jerusalem and dedicated himself to achieving economic productivity of the Jewish settlement.The Germans in Jerusalem founded a community of their own and Moshe Sachs became their leader. The community was acknowledged by Sir Moses Montefiore who praised the modesty und honorability of the community and left a considerable sum of money before his departure.
In 1835 Sachs set out to a journey to raise funds and support for the establishment of a Jewish agricultural settlement in the Holy Land. Sachs took advantage of the warm relations between the Hatam Sofer and the Austrian's emperor's brother Archduke Johann (dating back to 1809) and presented a proposal to him. Johan passed on the proposal which was given serious consideration by the Austrian government. The Austrian consul in Constantinople was instructed to research Sachs’ ideas. The proposal called on the Austrian government to support the establishment of a large Jewish agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. He enlisted the financial support of Baron Solomon Mayer Rothschild (1774-1855) in Vienna, who conditioned his involvement on the cooperation of the Austrian government. Sachs was the first advocate of large-scale economic productivity of the Jewish community in the Holy Land. Ultimately the proposal was never realized largely due to strong resistance of the Ottoman government.
In 1839 Sachs returned to Eretz Yisrael. After a twenty year interlude he set out for another mission in 1860. He was sent by the "Beit Machseh" organization which provided for the poor in Jerusalem. Sachs traveled through Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Russia. His mission was successful. With the money he collected the "Batei Machseh" neighborhood was build in the Old City of Jerusalem.
In 1869 Emperor Franz Joseph I visited Jerusalem on his way to the opening of the Suez Canal. While in Jerusalem, he visited also the Batei Machseh neighborhood.
Moshe Sachs died in 1870, content with the knowledge that his lifelong dream was beginning to take shape with the establishment of the Mikveh Israel agricultural school.
Biography was written by Dr. Motti Friedman, a descendant of Rabbi Moshe Sachs
A copy of the picture was cleaned up/enhanced/enlarged by http://www.irahellergraphics.com, and is available
here .