Tuesday, May 21st.—Sir Moses now occupied himself in obtaining information as to the actual state of the Jews in this city, as well as the probable prospect of success for his project, viz., to encourage the Jews and enable them to gain a livelihood by the cultivation of the land. They had frequent interviews with T. and N. Drucker, two clever and enterprising men, father and son, who had come originally from Poland, and had possessed a handsome fortune. They had brought with them a printing press, and had printed prayer-books. They had also begun to print a Bible, when the Druses came, destroyed their press, robbed them of all their property, and beat them most unmercifully, breaking the father's thigh, so that he barely escaped with his life.
Wednesday, May 22nd.—All the afternoon was spent both by Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore in seeing people, in listening to their complaints and sorrows, and also in obtaining information respecting the cultivation of land. The German and Portuguese Chief Rabbis came, and after some conversation, Sir Moses decided to distribute personally the money he had brought for the relief of the sufferers by the earthquake, according to the number of souls. A Spanish dollar was given to every man, woman, and child over thirteen, while two dollars were given to the blind, and no distinction was made between Portuguese and German. The money sent from London soon after the earthquake had been distributed by the Portuguese, who gave the greatest part to those learned in our Holy Law, leaving but little for all the other sufferers, which Sir Moses considered unjust. The spiritual head of the German congregation, the Rev. A. Dob, said that the money was divided amongst their congregation according to the amount of loss sustained by each individual. Nor did the German committee ever retain one penny more for themselves than for the other members of the congregation. "This," said Sir Moses, "appears to me the most honest way of acting."
The Portuguese gentlemen, however, in justification of their own course of action in this matter, explained that those who are engaged in imparting religious instruction to the community, taking charge of all their institutions, devoting their time to the interest of the rising generation, having no business or occupation that would adequately secure their maintenance, ought naturally to have some additional share in the offerings of their wealthier brethren abroad, offerings intended not only for the relief of distress, but also for the preservation of a religious community. The same, they said, would be done in Europe, where the teachers in schools and colleges, or the managers of communal institutions, happen to be without income or salary for their maintenance.
Sir Moses having inspected the new buildings, regretted to find that most of them were but poor miserable hovels, built over the ruins of the old ones, high up the hill, close to the edge of the mountain, so that the slightest shock of earthquake would bury the inhabitants one above the other without hope of escape. The houses were built on the side of the mountain, row above row. On inquiring the reason of this, he was informed that by building over the old houses they were saved the expense of making excavations, these being already there; they had no fear of earthquakes, all they dreaded being the Mooslemin inhabitants and the visits of the Druses.
Thursday, May 23rd.—At ten we rode to Djermek, a village two hours distant, to the farm of Israel Drucker, one of his tenants having a son who was to be received that day into the covenant of Abraham. Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore had been invited to act as god-parents to the child.
On reaching the house Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore were most respectfully saluted, and the ceremony was immediately performed. We then sat down for a short time to partake of some refreshment; and, having offered presents and congratulations to the parents of the infant, we descended the mountain, to visit the tomb of R. Simeon ben Yókháï, in Miroon. There we were met by the principal inhabitants of Safed.
We then visited the tomb of Hillel, celebrated in Jewish history for his great learning and for his noble character and humility. "One of the most interesting sights," says Sir Moses, "I have seen in the Holy Land. There is one cave within the other, a spring of the clearest water flowing through both; it appears to spring from the spot where the mortal remains of Hillel repose. In the vicinity of the tomb we saw a splendid marble portal of a Synagogue now in ruins; the marble was handsomely carved, and many of the stones adjoining the portal were still standing, all of them being of great size."
Friday, May 24th.—Sir Moses was again engaged from nine to six with the distribution of the money. He also gave special donations to the heads of schools and colleges, and endeavoured to alleviate the distress among the poor of all non-Israelitish communities. Sir Moses found his brethren most anxious to be employed and to earn their own bread. They appeared to prefer the cultivation of land as the most likely means to raise them from their present destitute condition. There were a few Jews who had some interest with Mussulmans in cultivating some small farms about three or four hours from Safed, but their means were so limited that they could ill afford to keep a pair of oxen to till the ground. There was no lack of spirit, and Sir Moses thought that some trifling assistance from the proper persons in Europe would speedily restore health and plenty, should such be the will of Heaven.
On the same day we received the sad tidings of the death of the Rev. Israel, Chief Rabbi of the German congregation in Jerusalem, which had taken place at Tiberias on the 22nd inst. It had been his intention to come to Sir Moses to welcome him and Lady Montefiore on their entry into the Holy Land. He was renowned for his great learning and noble character, which he had so often manifested in the performance of his official duties, as spiritual guide of the community; and being a disciple of the celebrated Rabbi Eliahu Wilna, he was held in high esteem by all the congregations in the four holy cities. Both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore were much affected by the mournful event, and lost no time in considering what steps should be taken to evince their sympathy with the bereaved family.
The following day being Sabbath, they attended divine service, afterwards receiving numerous visits from the inhabitants of the place. One gentleman from Tiberias gave a most melancholy account of the state of the country; he assured them that the roads to Jerusalem were very unsafe, and the plague actually in the city. Only a few days before the holidays the son-in-law of the late Rev. Israel, and his servant, had died of it.