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55-725: Leeser (Elieser) Rosenthal was born in Nasielsk , Poland on 13 April 1794 (13 Nisan 5554) to a family of rabbis and teachers. He moved to Germany at a young age, working as a teacher in Berlin and Paderborn before settling in Hanover as a financially independent Klausrabbiner at the Michael David'sche Stiftung. It was in Hanover that Rosenthal met and married Sophie (Zippora) Blumenthal, with whom he had three children, George, Nanny, and Mathilde. Rosenthal

110-714: A bitter stormy winter day in January 1919 was above all an intricate country. Arguably it had the most confusing political conditions of that politically complicated moment when the Versailles Peace Conference was about to begin. One might call it a natural habitat for this cranky man. It was the "twice promised country," to the Arabs in the Arab Revolt T. E. Lawrence existentialised in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom , and to

165-459: A committee, together with Dutch writer Frederik van Eeden and Dutch poet Henriette Roland Holst , which aimed at collecting signatures for the sake of inducing especially Russia's then allies France and Great Britain to exert pressure on Russia to alleviate the fate of the prisoners. In a publication of Amnesty International he was, because of these activities, described as "a precursor of Amnesty International". Around 1910, De Haan returned to

220-511: A descendant of the rich banker Michael David, made it possible for Rosenthal to finance his collection. During his lifetime he assembled a large collection of books, which was considered to be the largest private collection of Germany in his field at the time. Among other things it contains a lot of Judaica and Hebraica, such as a complete assembly of the Wolf Heidenheim press in Rödelheim . At

275-630: A memoir by his sister Mies de Haan. In the 1960s two attempts at a biography were published. After 1970 a revival of interest in De Haan brought more publicity, stimulating new editions of his works. Many of his publications about law and significs have been reprinted, as were his novels, and his earlier prose has been rescued from obscure magazines. Dozens of bibliophile editions honoured his poems and prose sketches. Many magazine articles and other publications about his life were published, and generated heated debates. A large volume of his correspondence (only of

330-739: A new law school, the Jerusalem Law Classes, established by the Government of Palestine in 1920. He was one of the defenders of members of the Zionist para-military group Haganah who had attacked Arabs in Jaffa . De Haan rapidly became more religiously committed, and was angered by Zionist refusals to cooperate with Arabs. At first he aligned himself with religious Zionism and the Mizrachi movement, but after meeting Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld , leader of

385-495: A passport. The same letter assumed his stance with aplomb. False modesty was never one of his faults... De Haan wrote: "I am not leaving Holland to improve my condition. Neither materially, nor intellectually will life in Palestine be equal to my life here. I am one of the best poets of my Generation, and the only important Jewish national poet Holland has ever had. It is difficult to give up all this."... The Palestine De Haan entered on

440-646: A retraction from Hussein, which De Haan was forced to publish. De Haan made plans to travel to London in July 1924 with an anti-Zionist Haredi delegation to argue against Zionism. Shortly before leaving for London, De Haan was assassinated in Jerusalem by the Haganah on the early morning of 30 June 1924. As he exited the synagogue at the Shaare Zedek Hospital on Jaffa Road , Avraham Tehomi approached him and asked for

495-600: A selection of rare Hebraica and Judaica on the subjects of religion, literature, and history. Leeser Rosenthal's son George (1828-1909) was a banker in Amsterdam when he inherited his father's library. George Rosenthal housed the library in his home on Amsterdam's Herengracht and commissioned the Dutch-Jewish bibliographer Meijer Roest (1821-1889) to compile a catalogue of the collection. The catalogue, entitled Catalog der Hebraica und Judaica aus der L.Rosenthal'schen Bibliothek

550-541: A small book. Following Koker's and Van Maarseveen's deaths, De Haan's archive was transferred to Karel van het Reve , who in turn deposited it at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana of the University of Amsterdam. In 1949, a committee was founded to publish a collected edition of the poems, which followed in 1952. A 'Society Jacob Israël de Haan' furthered other publications: philosophical aphorisms and letters, and

605-556: Is a very important source for the early history of the Jewish settlement in Palestine in modern times. Jacob Israël de Haan was not one to keep things. He was prolific in his correspondence, but destroyed almost every letter he received and requested the recipients of his letters do likewise. He also did away with all manuscripts and preparatory stages of his books once they were published. That his archive, comprising four boxes of handwritten material and three with copies and clippings, exists

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660-529: Is alleged that he continued to have relationships with young men, including Arabs from east Jerusalem . In one of his poems he asks himself whether his visits to the Wailing Wall were motivated by a desire for God or for the young Arab men there. The secular Zionist establishment would not allow the established Haredi community in Palestine to be represented in the Jewish Agency in the 1920s . In response,

715-787: Is an abridged copy of the Great Book of Precepts by Moses ben Jacob of Coucy . The manuscript in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana was copied by Hannah, daughter of Menachem Zion. It was extremely rare for women to write Hebrew medieval manuscripts. Indeed, fewer than ten female scribes are known compared with over four thousand known male scribes. However these figures can be misleading as the majority of manuscripts remain anonymous. Many girls were taught to read, but only those in families of scholars or scribes were taught to write, so there can nevertheless only be few more female scribes of medieval manuscripts. It cannot be ascertained whether Hannah

770-716: Is considered a martyr, killed by secular Jews while protecting the Jewish religion. A pilgrimage to his grave is held every year on the anniversary of his death. Nevertheless, some Haredim recoil from his homosexuality, his religious questioning, and his attempted coalition with the Arab nationalists. During the 1980s, the Neturei Karta community in Jerusalem tried to change the name of the Zupnik Garden to commemorate De Haan. Although De Haan's fame waned after his death, his works have been published and reprinted. After his murder, his estate

825-501: Is it someone's business what he does at his home?" According to Gert Hekma , Zionists spread a rumour that De Haan had been killed by Arabs because of his sexual relations with Arab boys. De Haan was buried on the Mount of Olives . His funeral was attended by hundreds of Haredim, along with Zionist and British representatives. Following the funeral, many Haredim ventured into the city center to confront Zionists, and were barely restrained by

880-453: Is of a type of prayer book created in Ashkenaz in the mid-1200s and produced for about a century. These codices are all very large, suggesting they were made for community use. This is confirmed by the inscriptions in some volumes, their luxurious execution, and their profuse decoration. The Esslingen Machzor has been digitised and made available online together with its counterpart, held at

935-570: Is one of only two extant medieval copies, the other being held at the British Library in London, and the basis for the first published edition of the work, published in 1862 in Zhytomyr . The Sefer Or Zarua preserves one of the earliest versions of the story of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz . The Sefer Mitzwot Katan , SeMaK, or Small Book of Precepts, was composed by Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil in 1280, and

990-587: Is partially due to the fact that he was murdered, after which his house was sealed and his papers returned to his widow. De Haan also presented the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana with material during his lifetime, and more has been added to the archive since it was acquired. The archive contains varied material dating from 1904-1984 (mostly 1904-1924), including correspondence, publications, lectures, poems, and photos. The archive contains few letters from De Haan's wife and family, mostly written after 1919. Meanwhile, all surviving business letters are from after 1923. The notes of

1045-748: The British authorities allocating separate benefits to the Zionist-led Yishuv . From 1922, he suffered persisting harassment including death threats and being spat on by Zionists, and his class at the Law School demanded his dismissal. De Haan he was invited several times to visit Emir Abdullah , the future king of independent Transjordan . In March 1924, De Haan and rabbi Sonnenfeld travelled to Amman for an audience with Abdullah's father and top Hashemite leader, Emir Hussein bin Ali . They sought their support for

1100-653: The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana holds a late thirteenth century copy of Rabbi Isaac ben Moses of Vienna 's famous work, Sefer Or Zarua . It was his magnum opus , and he is therefore often referred to as Isaac Or Zarua. Despite its nature as a halakhic work, Sefer Or Zarua provides plenty of historical information in the form of everyday traditions and local customs across Europe that makes it an interesting source for both religious and medieval historians. This manuscript

1155-780: The Jewish religion and started to learn Hebrew . He developed an interest in Zionism , joining in 1915 the Mizrachi , the religious branch of the Zionist Organization . This is a description of de Haan prior to his departure for Palestine: In 1919, two years after the Balfour Declaration , this Poet of the Jewish Song took the next logical step and emigrated to Palestine "anxious to work at rebuilding Land, People and Language" as De Haan put it to Chaim Weitzman in his application for

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1210-799: The Old Yishuv (the pre-Zionist Jewish community in the Holy Land ), and explained the Haredi Jewish opposition to the Zionist plans of founding a state and support for the establishment of an official Palestinian state within the Emirate of Transjordan as part of a federation. In April, De Haan met Hussein again and reported that the Caliph condemned "godless" Zionism and would mobilize the Islamic world against it"; however, De Haan's top rival Frederick Hermann Kisch obtained

1265-457: The University of Amsterdam 's library, the collection has been continually expanded in keeping with its assumed role as a modern, functional library covering all fields of Jewish study. Roest was succeeded as curator by Jeremias M. Hillesum (1863-1943), who made significant additions to the library. He, in turn, was followed by Louis Hirschel (1895-1944), who in 1940 completed a subject catalogue for

1320-649: The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah is one. This Haggadah appears to have been intended as a personal gift, and includes an abridged version of Abravanel's commentary on the Haggadah, and a short mystical commentary. The Leipnik Haggadah was based on the two editions of the Amsterdam Haggadah (1695 and 1712), as was standard for eighteenth-century Haggadah manuscripts. Leeser Rosenthal Leeser (Eliezer) Rosenthal (1794–1868)

1375-734: The Haredim founded a branch of the Agudath Israel political organisation in Jerusalem to represent their interests in Mandate Palestine . The leader at the time, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld , chose de Haan to organise and represent the Haredi position as their foreign minister , on a diplomatic level equal to that of the secular Zionists. When in February 1922 Lord Northcliffe , the most influential British publisher, visited Palestine, De Haan presented

1430-650: The Jews (or rather in practice the Zionists) by the Balfour Declaration calling for creation of a " Jewish homeland ". De Haan arrived there as an ardent, even fanatical, Zionist. Indeed, the first secret Zionist report about him refers to his ranting anti-Arab remarks made at a party... De Haan moved to Jerusalem in 1919 as correspondent of the Algemen Handelsblad , one of the leading Dutch dailies. He also taught at

1485-455: The arrest of the killer, but Tehomi was never caught. A young pioneer named Yaakov Gussman was briefly detained by the British police on suspicion of carrying out the assassination, but released for lack of evidence. The assassination caused shock in Palestine and Europe. Senior Zionist leaders, among them David Ben-Gurion , blamed each other. There was widespread speculation as to the identity of

1540-405: The assassin, with the theories postulated including him being a Zionist, a Haredi enraged over the revelations of De Haan's homosexuality, or an "Arab lover". De Haan's murder is considered the first political murder in the Jewish community in Palestine. His activities were perceived as undermining the struggle for the establishment of a Jewish state, but the assassination sparked a controversy and

1595-592: The book depot since they were part of a single organisational unit along with those of the University Library. Herman de la Fontaine Verwey, the University librarian during the war, made plans with Hirschel to smuggle the most valuable books out of the reading room, using old seals discarded when new ones were applied. To their advantage, the only complete catalogue was a handwritten card index in Hebrew that they shuffled thoroughly in order to render it useless. Furthermore,

1650-580: The book, to keep a lid on the scandal. A new homo-erotic novel, Patholigeën , made it even more difficult for him to find a job. In 1907, he married Johanna van Maarseveen (1873 - 1946), a non-Jewish doctor eight years older than him. They separated in 1919, but never officially divorced. In 1912, de Haan visited a number of prisons in Russia, in order to study the situation of political prisoners. He published his shocking findings in his book In Russische gevangenissen (In Russian prisons, 1913). He also founded

1705-592: The case of Palestine's Haredim and how they felt oppressed by the Zionists. He spoke about the tyranny of the official Zionist movement, which the journalists of the Northcliffe party gleefully reported back home. (...) the Zionist authorities both in Palestine and London became very worried. There was a great potential danger from these critical reports from a Jew who actually lived and worked right on this hot spot. De Haan, speaking on behalf of Agudath Israel, even opposed

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1760-533: The collection to university of Amsterdam in 1880. Though the Germans sequestered the collection, it survived World War II and was returned to the University of Amsterdam under the name Bibliotheca Rosenthalina . Jacob Isra%C3%ABl de Haan Jacob Israël de Haan (31 December 1881 - 30 June 1924) was a Dutch Jewish literary writer, lawyer, anti-Zionist and journalist who immigrated to Palestine in 1919. There he became more religiously committed and served as

1815-679: The cooperation of library staff, and the ignorance of those sent to pack up the library, the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana's journals, brochures, pictures and prints were saved. The collection was earmarked for the Institute for Study of the Jewish Question and was transported to Germany. Thankfully nothing had yet been done with the books by the time the war ended, and most of the boxes of books were recovered in storage in Hungen , near Frankfurt am Main , and sent back to Amsterdam. The same could not be said for

1870-452: The curator, his assistant, and their families, who had also been deported. The Pekidim and Amarkalim (officers and treasurers) formed an international organization whose purpose was to coordinate the fundraising to support impoverished Jews in Palestine. The organization maintained close contacts with the leaders of the Jewish communities in the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. The archive, which contains 10,100 incoming letters,

1925-537: The law lectures De Haan gave at the University of Amsterdam and the Law School in Jerusalem remain, as well as notebooks with drafts of hundreds of poems, published and unpublished. Arguably the most well known manuscript of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana is the Esslingen Machzor . Completed by the scribe Kalonymos ben Judah on 12 January 1290 in Esslingen , it is a machzor for Yom Kippur and Sukkot . The manuscript

1980-418: The library of the city and university of Amsterdam moved to the former archery ranges on Singel canal, where there was space for the library to expand. Following this, Rosenthal's heirs decided to present their father's library to the city of Amsterdam. It was accepted 'with warmest thanks for a princely gift' and Meijer Roest was appointed curator the year after. Since the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana became part of

2035-569: The library. The occupation of the Netherlands led to the dismissal of curator Hirschel and his assistant M.S. Hillesum (1894-1943) in November 1940, and the closing of the reading room in the summer of 1941. The reading room was closed and a number of seals had been attached, but most of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana was kept in the book storage depot. Some of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana's manuscripts and incunables had already been placed in crates below

2090-466: The main Zionist pre-state para-military organisation, the Haganah, told the official Haganah historian in a testimony what had actually occurred. In order to stop De Haan's planned anti-Zionist activity in London, Hecht discussed the issue with Zechariah Urieli, the Haganah commander in Jerusalem. They decided to assassinate De Haan. Two Haganah members, Avraham Tehomi and Avraham Krichevsky, were selected for

2145-474: The novel Pijpelijntjes ("Lines from De Pijp"), which falsely pretends to be a thinly veiled version of his own gay life with Arnold Aletrino in Amsterdam's " Pijp " working-class district. The homo-eroticism of the book, shocking to readers in the early 20th century, led to his dismissal from his teaching job and social-democratic political circles. De Haan's acquaintances bought almost the entire print run of

2200-480: The period 1902–1908), published in 1994, shed a bright light on his life. In 2015 a comprehensive 685-page Dutch-language biography written by Dutch academic and literary critic Joop Fontijn was published by De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam under the title "Onrust. Het leven van Jacob Israël de Haan". Through the years, in the Netherlands there have been projects, festivals and theatre productions commemorating Jacob Israël de Haan's work and life. A line from De Haan's poem "To

2255-530: The police. The headquarters of Agudath Israel received condolences from the British Palestine government, the French and Spanish consuls in Jerusalem, and various cables from around the world. In New York, ultra-Orthodox Jews circulated Yiddish leaflets praising De Haan and condemning "Torahless Zionists, who use violence to enslave the pious." The British authorities offered a reward for information leading to

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2310-628: The political spokesman of the Haredim in Jerusalem . He was assassinated in 1924 by the Zionist paramilitary organization Haganah for his anti-Zionist political activities. De Haan was born in Smilde , a village in the northern province of Drenthe , and grew up in Zaandam . He was said to be one of eighteen children and received a traditional Jewish education. In 1904, while living in Amsterdam , he wrote

2365-512: The reading room was overstocked and had no shelf numbers, so they were able to remove a number of books without leaving noticeable gaps. These books were then placed with the University's other valuable books in a shelter in Castricum . Nevertheless, in June 1944 the order came for the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana to be removed. Through a fortunate combination of the enterprising nature of de la Fontaine Verwey,

2420-422: The second President of Israel (1952-1963), must have ordered the assassination: "I have done what the Haganah decided had to be done. And nothing was done without the order of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi... I have no regrets because he (De Haan) wanted to destroy our whole idea of Zionism." Tehomi denied allegations that De Haan's assassination was related to his homosexuality: "I neither heard nor knew about this", adding "Why

2475-518: The senior Zionist leadership in Jerusalem knew about the proposal to kill de Haan—and that none objected." The 1985 publication of De Haan: The first political assassination in Palestine , by Shlomo Nakdimon and Shaul Mayzlish, revived wider interest in his assassination. Nakdimon and Mayzlish were able to trace Tehomi, then a businessman living in Hong Kong. When interviewed for Israeli TV by Nakdimon, Tehomi said that Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who later became

2530-528: The task. Hecht did not inform the Yishuv's civilian leadership until after the assassination, when he contacted Yitzhak Ben-Zvi , a senior member of the National Council. Hecht stated that "he did not regret it and would do it again." Before the facts were published, journalist Liel Leibovitz wrote that, while the identity of exactly who ordered the assassination was unknown, "there's little doubt that many in

2585-486: The time of Rosenthal's death he possessed around 6,000 volumes, thirty-two manuscripts and twelve incunabula of Hebrew origin. He was especially interested in writings about the Jewish view on enlightenment. He kept his books in a room at the Bergstrasse (Hanover). This was the same room where David Oppenheim had stored his collection before his collection was sold. After Rosenthal's death his son, George Rosenthal, donated

2640-464: The time. Tehomi shot him three times and ran away from the scene. De Haan died minutes later. At first, the Palestinian Jewish society, the Yishuv, readily accepted the theory that the assassination had to be blamed on Arabs. They did not doubt the Zionist leadership's assurances that it had played no part in it. With time, doubts started arising. In 1952, Yosef Hecht, the first commander of

2695-473: The ultra-conservative Haredi Jewish community, he became the political spokesman of the Haredim in Jerusalem. He was elected political secretary of the Orthodox community council, Vaad Ha'ir . De Haan endeavoured to obtain an agreement with Arab nationalist leaders to allow unrestricted Jewish immigration into Palestine in exchange for a Jewish declaration forgoing the Balfour Declaration. During this time it

2750-497: Was a Jewish book collector in the first half of the nineteenth century. Leeser Rosenthal was born on 13 April 1794 in Nasielsk , a small town near Warsaw , in what was then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . His forebears had been teachers and rabbis. He died at the age of 74 in Germany on 17 August 1868. He became a rabbi in Hanover where he married Zippora Sophie Blumenthal, with whom he had three children: Mathilde (1839–unknown), George (1828–1909), Nanny (1835–unknown). His wife,

2805-413: Was fascinated by books on Jewish subjects, and developed an enthusiasm for collecting them. So much so that he spent his wife's dowry on purchasing more works to add to his growing collection. By the time of his death in 1868, Rosenthal's collection was considered the largest private library in this field in Germany, consisting of more than 5,200 volumes that included 32 manuscripts, 12 Hebrew incunabula, and

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2860-491: Was from a scholarly family, but given the quality of her writing, it is highly likely. Upon finishing her copy of the SeMaK, Hannah signed and dated it on 10 June 1386. The Hamburg-Altona school of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts was part of the revival of Hebrew manuscript illumination in the eighteenth century, and one of its most influential scribes was Joseph, son of David of Leipnik. Only thirteen manuscripts, all Haggadot written by Jodeph of Leipnik have been found, of which

2915-535: Was harshly condemned by some. Labor movement publicist Moshe Beilinson called the murder a moral breakdown of the Yishuv. German author Arnold Zweig published a book in 1932 based on De Haan's life called De Vriendt kehrt heim (English title De Vriendt Goes Home ). When, in 1949, the first Dutch ambassador to the State of Israel presented his credentials, Israeli president Chaim Weizmann stated Dutch Jews had made an excellent contribution to their cause except for De Haan. In Neturei Karta circles De Haan

2970-481: Was published in two volumes in 1875 with Leeser Rosenthal's own catalogue, Yodea Sefer as an appendix. Leeser Rosenthal's children wanted the library to remain undivided and serve as a public resource in memory of their learned father. To this end, they offered the collection to Chancellor Bismarck to be housed in the Kaiserliche und Königliche Bibliothek in Berlin, but he declined the offer. Offers to other European and American libraries also came to nothing. In 1880,

3025-444: Was transferred to his friend Mosche Wallach , who shipped it to the Netherlands, presumably to De Haan's widow Johanna van Maarseveen. In 1934, the latter met a Zionist called David Koker , who admired De Haan's work in spite of his political opinions, and she chose him as De Haan's literary executor. During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands , Koker managed to publish De Haan's Brieven uit Jeruzalem ('Letters from Jerusalem') in

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