Hotam hevrath kerem Moshe Montefiore ve-Yehudith asher al nachlath Yehudah Touro / Verein Kerem Moses Montefiore Jehudit in Jerusalem 5646[1886] [Stamp of the Vineyard of Moses Montefiore and Judith upon the Inheritance of Judah Touro]

OFFICIAL STAMP OF KEREM MOSHE VE-YEHUDITH (Jerusalem, 1886)

Kerem Moshe vi-Yehudith was named after Sir Moses and his wife Judith Montefiore of Ramsgate, England. The charity funds disbursed were essential to the upkeep of Jerusalem’s poor. Kerem (vineyard) is perhaps a misnomer. The better word would be Keren (fund). This was a fund endowed by the American philanthropist Judah Touro of Newport and New Orleans (1775-1854). Touro donated $60,000 for the relief of the poor in Eretz Israel to be used at the discretion of Sir Moses Montefiore. See EJ, Vol. XV, col. 1289; Ruth P. Goldschmidt-Lehmann, Sir Moses Montefiore 1784-1885: A Bibliography (Jerusalem, 1984), p. 93