Monday, August 3, 2009  Sir Moses Montefiore  Sir Moses
Montefiore (1784-1885) had an extraordinary impact on the world.
Beginning a career in general business, Montefiore quickly
gained one of the 12 brokers licenses allowed to Jews on the
London Exchange. When Montefiore retired from business in his
early 40s, he was already a wealthy man.  Moses Montefiore’s
philanthropic endeavors and his willingness to step forward to
defend his fellow Jews won him great admiration and fame. He
sought the liberty of Syrian Jews imprisoned in Damascus for a
blood libel and went to Russia to beseech the Czar for leniency
toward the Jews. He was viewed by Jews the world over as their
protector and leader.  Montefiore and his wife, Judith,
supported Jewish and non-Jewish institutions in England. In
Ramsgate, where they lived, they built a synagogue and a
Sephardic yeshiva.  Montefiore is most revered, however, for his
charitable work in the land of Israel, which he personally
visited seven times. He supported industry and e