A Yerushalmi’s determination

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld emigrated to Eretz Yisrael from Hungary in 1873 and settled in the Old City of Yerushalayim. Once settled, he meticulously refrained from remaining outside the walls of the Old City for more than thirty days. Nevertheless, he was instrumental in guiding the expansion of Jewish living quarters outside the walls, to accommodate the increasing migration of Jews, particularly the quarter called Battei Ungarn (Hungarian Houses). He led the group of Torah scholars called Shomrei HaChomot (the guardians of the walls). He was known for his encouragement of Jewish resettlement in the land, and emphasized the use of Hebrew as the official language of the Jewish people. He strove to establish peace between Arab and Jew during the years when Arab nationalism awakened and consequently opposed Jewish migration from Europe. During the Nebi Mussa riots of 1920, the Arabs initiated the first of a series of violent attacks upon the Jewish inhabitants of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. The violence reverberated eastward, to Yerushalayim under the exhortation of Haj Amin el Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem. He had been appointed by the British colonial government as a gesture of even-handedness in their policy to administer fairly between Arabs and Jews. The Arabs’ riot started at the Damascus Gate, and quickly spread to the all-Jewish Mayah Sheorim (One Hundred Gates) section, located just outside the walls of the Old City. Only the interference of the Haganah, the fledgling Jewish defense forces, interrupted their design to plant fear in the hearts of the people Iiving outside the protection of the walls of the Old City. The air was as tense as a wire stretched taut to its breaking point. For many days afterward, the Jews fearfully moved about their own neighborhoods. They dared not walk alone to the Western Wall, located deep inside the walled Old City. Only Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld remained unperturbed. He was seen walking toward the Damascus Gate, heading for Battei Ungarn, wrapped in his talit and tefillin, to be the mohel, (ritual circumciser), at the brit of a newborn infant. His frightened family had pleaded with him not to travel through the Moslem quarter. “They lie in wait to ambush Jews who dare trespass

through their quarter. Their keffiehs camouflage their faces. They could remove their iqual (thick twisted cord) and strangle you. If one stealthily follows you, darting out from a concealed corner, you will not be able to protect yourself. You should walk around the longer way, through the Jaffa Gate. It will be safer.”

He refused to change his direction and murmured:

Rabbi Eleazar said: “Those sent to perform a religious duty will not suffer hurt,” and continued walking. The Arabs stared hatefully as he proceeded, but they did not stand up from the stoops upon which they were sitting. When the brit ended, Rabbi Sonnenfeld started to retrace his steps homeward. This time, a friend, Rabbi Moshe Blau offered to accompany him. He refused, saying: “I am not in any danger, for Rabbi Eleazar has taught us that those sent to perform a religious duty will not suffer hurt, neither in their going nor in their returning. However, you, who have not been involved in the performance of this mitzva, (religious duty), would be in danger.” Rabbi Blau was not satisfied. He persisted. “Why do you insist on going through the Moslem quarter, when it would only take a little longer to walk through Jaffa Gate?”

It took Rabbi Sonnenfeld many minutes to respond. Finally, he said defiantly: “Let me explain something to you. I have chosen to walk through the Moslem quarter because I will not permit any of them to think that they have succeeded in driving us out of our land!”.

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