Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai: Biography

Born: 1798, Sarajevo;

Died: 1878, Jerusalem

Yehuda Alkalai was a Rabbi and Proto-Zionist. He was born in 1798 in Sarajevo. He received a traditional Jewish education in Jerusalem where he was significantly influenced in Kabbalah or Jewish Mysticism. 

In 1825, he became a Rabbi in Semlin. At that time Greeks and Serbians were in a surge of nationalism and revolting against the Ottomans, it was against this backdrop that Rabbi Alkalai believed that the time for Jewish nationalism had arrived. In 1834, he wrote a small manuscript titled Shema Yisrael, or Hear Me O Israel (titled after a very important Jewish prayer). In his writing, he wrote that Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael or Land of Israel was an important precursor to the coming of Moshiach (Jewish Messiah who would bring together all the Jews from around the world into Israel and create a new, peaceful, and just world). This original idea was very controversial as many religious Jews believed the Messiah would only come through God not through human actions. For his new ideas, Yehuda Alkalai is a Proto-Zionist, a significant precursor to Zionism.

The Damascus Blood Libel (an anti-semitic event where an Italian monk disappeared and many innocent Jews were tortured to obtain a confession) furthered Rabbi Alkalai’s conviction that independence and safety for Jews would only be achieved in Eretz Yisrael. After this, Rabbi Alkalai spread his ideas throughout Jewish communities in Europe. He met with prominent Jewish leaders like Sir Moses Montefiore for support. He envisioned the establishment of an international organization that would purchase land for new Jewish immigrants. 

Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai would die in 1878 in Jerusalem.¹

1.  Mizrachi World Movement. https://mizrachi.org/biography/rabbi-yehuda-alkalai-1798-1878/  ↩︎