Alkalai, Judah. Darchei Noam.

(LADINO).

The Serbian Printing House

Belgrade

1839

First edition. Text entirely in Ladino printed in Hebrew characters.

Vinograd, Belgrade 5.

Assisting school-children in understanding the Hebrew Bible. With a lengthy introduction within which the author justifies his pedagogic approach against his traditional peers who objected. Born in Sarajevo, Yehuda Alkalai (1798-1878) studied Torah under Rabbi Eliezer Papo the 'Peleh Yo'etz.’ He served as rabbi in the area of Belgrade and toward the end of his life settled in Jerusalem where he is buried on the Mount of Olives. Possibly under the influence of the Serbian War of Independence, Alkalai advocating in favor of the restoration of the Jews to the Land of Israel. He may justly be regarded as one of the precursors of the modern Zionist movement.