The Invention of the Land of Israel: From Holy Land to Homeland by Shlomo Sand

Author:Shlomo Sand
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Verso
Published: 2012-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

PROTESTANTS AND THE COLONIZATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Tel Aviv, the largest city in Israel, has no street named after British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, because at some point its city council passed a resolution prohibiting the commemoration of figures who converted from Judaism to another religion. The council did, however, commemorate another British prime minister, Lord Balfour, with a respectable road in the city center. He was also the namesake of Balfouriya, a rural Jewish settlement in the Jezreel Valley.

Like Montefiore, Benjamin Disraeli was of Italian Jewish descent. But unlike the extremely religious parents of the proto-Zionist philanthropist, Disraeli’s father had a conflictual relationship with the Jewish community and converted his children to Christianity. The future Tory leader was fortunate to have become a devout Anglican, because in 1837, when he was first elected to the House of Commons at the age of thirty-two, it was still not permitted for an openly Jewish person to be elected to Parliament. Disraeli quickly emerged as a colorful figure in British politics. With graceful oration and sharp, seasoned political strategizing, he charted his ascent to the political elite and became leader of the Conservative Party. In 1868, he was appointed to serve as prime minister for a brief period, a post to which he returned between 1874 and 1880.

Also like Montefiore, Disraeli was a personal friend of Queen Victoria. As their common royal acquaintance made Montefiore a knight, so did she make Disraeli an earl, a gesture for which he would repay her in years to come when, as prime minister, he suggested adding Empress of India to her list of titles. Although a prominent politician, Disraeli never limited himself to political work; motivated by a passion for literary fiction, he wrote novels, which he began publishing at an early age and continued writing until just before his death. A number of his literary works shed light on his attitude toward both his Jewish heritage and the Holy Land.

In 1833, before entering Parliament, Disraeli published a novel about a twelfth-century Jewish messiah by the name of David Alroy, who lived between northern Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. We know very little about this historical figure, and Disraeli had no more sources at his disposal than we have today. Nonetheless, he depicts Alroy as an authentic leader and a descendant of the House of David who never forgets his Judeo-Palestinian roots and who launches a rebellion against Muslim authorities in order to redeem the world’s Jews. The problem is, the other members of his “race” refrain from following him, and he ultimately fails to realize his spectacular messianic vision.60 In the original edition of The Wondrous Tale of Alroy, the author includes a parallel story about a no less mysterious prince named Iskander, who is forced to convert to Islam in his youth but always remembers his Greco-Christian roots.

Throughout his life, Disraeli maneuvered between the religion into which he was born and the religion he joined. Perhaps for this reason, he regarded Christianity as the logical and improved continuation of ancient Judaism.

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