Baron Edmond De Rothschild

Baron Edmond Binyamin de Rothschild (1845-1934) played a significant role in shaping the fate of the Jewish people and the history of the Yishuv (the pre-State Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel). He was the third son of James (Ya’akov) and Betty (Batya) Rothschild, who headed the Paris branch of the family.
Edmond received a traditional Jewish education in addition to his general, universalist schooling. He was known as an art lover and, among other things, created a valuable collection of drawings and prints, which was ultimately acquired by the Louvre. In 1868, at the age of 23, he joined the family business, and at 32 married his cousin Adelheid (Ada), who fully shared his endeavours and his vision. Like his parents, Edmond was active in charitable works for the Jewish community. His support of the Yishuv began in the 1880s and became his life’s work, filling most of his following years.
At the time of his initial involvement, the first Jewish colonies established in Eretz Israel by the Hovevei Zion movement were in a state of financial collapse. Their representatives turned to the Baron for urgent assistance to save the pioneers on the land. Edmond agreed to fund all the expenses of the colonies Rishon le-Zion, Zichron Ya’akov, and Rosh Pina; he also sponsored Mazkeret Batya (Ekron) and aided other settlements that were not directly under his auspices.

Nor was the health of the pioneer farmers neglected by the Baron and his  representatives. The Yishuv was plagued at the time by mosquito-ridden swamps and poor hygienic conditions. Malaria was rife. The Baron and his representatives set out to eradicate the source of the disease by draining the swamps, a project that took many years; simultaneously they created special clinics to care for the many malaria victims.
Other fields excited the Baron’s imagination as well, and he extended his generosity to them: education, religion, and the Hebrew language. He encouraged the pioneers to maintain their attachment to Judaism in their own ways. “Religious yearning is a principle among Jews,” he told them. “Only a sense of religion can unite all parts of the people… You were the first to show the way of agriculture to those who will follow you. It is your obligation to show them the way of the Jewish heart.”
Hence the Baron established synagogues and schools that encouraged the use of the Hebrew language. ‘I have heard many French poems in France’, he noted on one occasion.’Here [in the Land of Israel] I will be delighted to hear Hebrew poetry’.