Page 49 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

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