The Rabbis of Jerusalem and the Zealots among them in the shemittah Controversy of 1888-1889

Abstract

In the lead-up to the Shemittah year of 1888-1889 (5649 in the Hebrew calendar), an intense debate unfolded over the observance of Shemittah in the new agricultural colonies in the Land of Israel. To avoid halting agricultural work in the colonies, whose economic situation was precarious at the time, Russian rabbis developed a halachic allowance to work the land during Shemittah, based on the sale of land to a non-Jew, known as the Heter Mechira (sale permit). This permit was adopted by the Hibbat Zion (Love of Zion) movement and Baron Rothschild, who instructed the settlers to operate accordingly. However, the rabbis of Jerusalem opposed the permit, and some colonies decided to obey them and observe the Shemittah by refraining from work.

Many researchers have addressed the Shemittah controversy, with most viewing it as an expression of the tension between the national ideal and the religious ideal within Hibbat Zion. Historians have primarily focused on examining the positions of Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) on the matter and the impact of the controversy on the relationship between the secular and traditional wings of the movement. In contrast, the positions of those in the Land of Israel who opposed the permit have not been thoroughly studied, and historians have generally accepted the claim of contemporaries in that period that Jerusalem’s rabbis opposed the permit because of their hostility toward the colonies. A detailed examination of the events reveals that only some of Jerusalem’s rabbis opposed the permit, that public opposition was led by Jerusalem’s zealots along with some colonies, and that the attitudes of Jerusalem’s rabbis toward the new colonies were more complex and nuanced than was attributed to them at the time.