Haas, Simcha ben Joshua. Doresh Tzion [travelogue to Erez Israel in 1763]. With glosses by Chaim Eliezer Hausdorff

(ROTHSCHILD)

Isaac ben Tzvi Guzinni

Jerusalem

1887

FIRST EDITION with commentary. The Baron James von (sic) Rothschild Copy. Presentation copy with stained olivewood boards with Hebrew dedication to Rothschild, dated Rosh Chodesh Elul, 1887 (Paris)

Halevi 575

According to Halevi, large portions of this work were copied verbatum from the travelogue of a Karaite named Samuel ben David who visited Erez Israel in the years 1641-2. In an effort to disguise the origins of the material, the author removed references to the Karaites and changed the names of most Karaite sites and personalities. Only the first thirty five pages of the current work reflect the travelogue of Simcha Haas, who only spent seven weeks in Erez Israel confining his visit just to Safed and Tiberias. An authorised version of the Karaite’s travelogue was published in Hamburg, 1721. Baron James de Rothschld, of the French branch of the illustrious family of Jewish financiers was an active philanthropist to the efforts of Jewish re-settlement to Eretz Israel. His generosity is marked in the establishment of the town of Zichron Ya’acov (James) in the foot hills of Mount Carmel, near Haifa