Nechamath Tzion / The Consolation of Zion; Giving an Account of the Progress of the Mission of Rabbi Hyam Zevee Sneersohn, Who Visits the Australian Colonies for the Purpose of Raising Subscriptions towards the Erection of Houses of Refuge on Mount Zion.

AUCTION 53 | Thursday, December 08th, 2011 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Autograph Letters & Graphic Art

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Lot 42
(AUSTRALIA).

Nechamath Tzion / The Consolation of Zion; Giving an Account of the Progress of the Mission of Rabbi Hyam Zevee Sneersohn, Who Visits the Australian Colonies for the Purpose of Raising Subscriptions towards the Erection of Houses of Refuge on Mount Zion.

Introduction translated from the Hebrew of Rabbi Sneersohn by the Rev. M. Rintel, Senior Jewish Minister of Melbourne. Detailed reports of meetings across Australia. pp.28. Ex-library, worn. Needs rebinding. 8vo

Melbourne: 1863

Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Hayim Zvi Sneersohn of Jerusalem (1834-82) was a fourth-generation descendant of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Chassidism. Sneersohn undertook far-reaching fund-raising missions on behalf of Colel Chabad. Whilst on these lengthy trips, he conceived the notion that the Redemption of the Jews would come about, not through Messianic forces, but in a natural way, beginning with small gestures and eventually resulting in the complete Redemption of the Jewish People. Sneersohn felt that in order to realize his plan, he must obtain the active assistance of the Gentile nations of the world, to garner not just financial support from Jews but also aid and encouragement from Christian political and ecclesiastic leaders. After having been successfully feted in Australia, Sneersohn travelled to America, where he was honored with the opportunity to meet and later correspond with President Ulysses Grant and was even granted honorary American citizenship. In New York in 1872 Sneersohn published his work Palestine and Roumania (see Kestenbaum Sale 6, Lot 16). Upon his return to the Holy Land, Sneersohn discovered that his activities had aroused the opposition of the communal heads in Jerusalem and therefore he felt compelled to move away. Choosing to settle in South Africa, he died there in 1882. See I. Klausner, Rabbi Chaim Zvi Schneerson (1943); and Yaari, Sheluchei Eretz Yisrael, pp. 816-19.