Project Al Kiddush Hashem

Al Kiddush Hashem 08: Reb Nissim Menachem Born: Date and place unknown. Died: Reportedly winter 5640 / late 1879–early 1880, outside Jerusalem; exact date and location unknown. Age: Approximately 35. Reb Nissim Menachem was a Jerusalem merchant whose murder is recorded in a brief account published by researcher Oded Israeli in 2012. Israeli identifies him as the son-in-law of Rabbi Avraham Ashkenazi, the Rishon LeZion. According to his account, Nissim left Jerusalem to purchase cloth and food in the surrounding villages. An Arab servant from Silwan accompanied him. As it got dark, robbers fell upon them. After attacking them, they stole approximately five hundred gold liras, a sizable sum at the time. The assailants were not content with simply taking their money. They tortured both men to death, severing their thumbs and breaking their bones. Passersby recovered Nissim’s mangled body, and members of his community brought him to burial on Har HaZeitim. Israeli reports that the French consul and the Pasha intervened, and approximately five hundred people were arrested, but no one was ever convicted of a crime in relation to his or the servant’s death. There is no doubt this show of due to his father-in-law’s position as Chief Rabbi. The death of an ordinary Jewish merchant would have gone ignored and unnoticed. Only his relationship to his father-in-law preserves his name from disappearance, and barely so. Nissim Menachem, we remember you.

Al Kiddush Hashem 07: Reb Moshe Leib Teper Born: Date unknown, Russia. Attacked: 8 Adar II 5635 / March 14–15, 1875, Nachalat Shiv’a, Jerusalem. Died: The date and circumstances remain unverified. Age: Unknown. Moshe Leib Teper was a children’s teacher and the shamash of the congregation in Nachalat Shiv’a. Born in Russia, he had lived in the neighborhood for approximately two years with his wife and their two small children. His story is known to us through a detailed contemporary letter written by Yosef Yosh’a Rivlin on March 19, 1875. Rivlin wrote on behalf of the neighborhood’s residents, describing the attack, their efforts to save Teper, and their appeals to the authorities. According to the letter, on the night of Sunday, March 14, Teper decided to go to bed early. People were still walking outside, and neighboring houses remained open. He closed his door, but before falling asleep heard people entering through the corridor. According to Rivlin, three government night-watchmen had entered his house. When Teper asked what they wanted, one thrust a spear upward beside his heart toward his throat. The men then left. His cries brought the neighbors, who found him bleeding heavily. Some hurried to obtain medical assistance, while others summoned the local commander. Rivlin reports that the commander dismissed the situation and told them to wait until morning. The neighbors continued seeking help. A doctor named Sanaretsky bandaged Teper, but the bleeding did not stop. Another doctor named Popilis said he lacked the necessary instruments to improve the situation. An unnamed British doctor finally arrived after midnight and ordered that Teper be taken to hospital. The neighbors eventually carried him on his bed into the Old City to a hospital. The letter gives several reasons that undoubtedly confirms the identity of his attackers. Watchmen and their commander had visited neighborhood houses the previous evening, asking for water and tobacco. Residents saw watchmen in the street shortly before the attack. Teper himself subsequently identified three government watchmen as those responsible. Rivlin also reports that residents overheard watchmen making insulting remarks about Jews and mockingly asking who would testify against them. The following day, the commander allegedly warned residents against accusing the watchmen. Later accounts report that he died from his wounds. One places his death in Yoel Moshe Salomon’s arms at the closed city gate and dates the incident to February 1875. Others state that he died later in the hospital. Either way, the impunity with which the government officials entered his home, put an end to his life, and terrified his neighbors into silence tells us all we kneed to know about the life of Jews at the time.