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ZIONIST INFLUENCERS THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

OUR SERIES ON LEADERS WHO HAVE SHAPED ZIONISM
CONTINUES WITH SOME OF ZIONISM’S EARLIEST INFLUENCERS
Rabbi Yitzchak HaKohen

ben Moshe (Ishtori) HaParchi

abbi Yitzchak HaKohen ben him had toiled to clarify the halachic the customs of its society (such the tra-
Moshe HaParchi was born borders of Israel and identify its his- ditions of the Jews of Israel and their
Rin the early 1200s to a line of torical sites, but the vast majority of halachic weights and measures). He
distinguished Rabbis and Sages. His them had never even set foot in the also discussed the mitzvot hateluyot
birthplace is unknown – some say he Holy Land. They had only the text itself baAretz and the borders of Israel, cal-
was born in Provence, France, others to rely on. Rabbi HaParchi set out to culated the shemittah and yovel and
say in Florenzia, Spain. (Hence his sur- understand the Land of Israel through listed 180 ancient towns and sites of the
name – Florenzia comes from the root intimate and direct contact. Even Bin- Tanach he had identified on his trips.
for “flower” in Spanish, correspond- yamin of Tudela, who had travelled to His work has become an invaluable
ing to the Hebrew perach), and still Israel and recorded his findings before source of knowledge and information
others claim that Florence, Italy, was Rabbi Ishtori, had only travelled on the for modern scholarship and research,
his birthplace. standard path through Israel, relying on and is testimony to the depth of knowl-
what others told him about the identity edge in Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud and
More commonly known by his pen of various locations. Rabbi HaParchi Midrash he had absorbed in his younger
name, Ishtori, he was a scholar, physi- wanted to see every inch of Israel for years.
cian, geographer, researcher, translator himself. When determining the iden-
and traveller, and possessed an incredi- tity of a certain location, he took into Whenever Rabbi Ishtori would arrive at
ble memory as well as being well versed account the topography, geography a city or town in Israel, he would rejoice.
in Latin and Arabic works of philoso- and archeology, and compared it with He loved every inch of the Land, as is
phy and astronomy. He studied under descriptions of the Tanach and rabbinic clear from his writings. He wrote about
the renowned Sages Rabbi Ya’akov Ibn texts. his hope that the settlement would
Tibbon and Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel flourish and grow, and that he saw the
(the Rosh). During his tours and travels, HaPar- suffering of French Jews as a sign of the
chi felt it was his obligation to write a coming of the Redemption.
In 1306, when the Jews were expelled book recording his findings. He wrote
from France, Rabbi Ishtori decided to the first Hebrew book on the geogra- After he finished writing his book,
move with his family to Israel, stopping phy of Israel, the Kaftor VaFerach (the Rabbi Ishtori took it to a Yerushalmi
in Cairo along the way. Upon arriving terms used to describe the menorah in Rabbi to receive an approbation. He
in Israel, one of the first things he did Shemot 37:17), in 1322. It was later pub- then settled in Beit Shean, where he
was dedicate himself to studying the lished in Venice in 1549. He published worked as a physician until his passing
laws and boundaries of Har HaBayit, the book under the pseudonym Ishtori in 1355.
to understand how close he could go to HaParchi; some say Ishtori may be a Though he lived well before the modern
the place of the Beit HaMikdash while combination of the Hebrew words ish Zionist movement, Rabbi Ishtori was a
in a state of tumah. tori, touring man. Zionist in the true sense of the word; his

Rabbi HaParchi spent seven long years In his book, Rabbi Ishtori described the legacy of concrete love of the Land has
touring the Land. Torah scholars before flora and fauna of Israel and recorded left a lasting impact on Jewish history n

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