Warder Cresson (July 13, 1798 – November 6, 1860), later known as Michael Boaz Israel ben Abraham (), was an American diplomat. He was appointed the first
U.S. Consul to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 1844.
Biography
Warder Cresson was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
to
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
parents John Elliott (1773–1814) and Mary Cresson.
He was descended from Pierre Cresson, one of the early settlers of
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, whose grandson, Solomon, migrated to Philadelphia in the early 18th century.
Cresson married Elizabeth Townsend, with whom he had six children, and ran a farm in
Gwynedd, Pennsylvania
Gwynedd is an unincorporated community in Lower Gwynedd Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Gwynedd is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike.
Notable person
*Warder Cresson
Warder Cresson (J ...
, a suburb of Philadelphia.
In 1830 he published a pamphlet entitled ''
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
the Great Is Falling! The Morning Star, or Light from on High'', in which he deplored the extravagance and evil tendencies of the times, and exhorted all Quakers to lead a better and less wayward life. He went through a period of strong religious upheaval, joining a series of sects that appeared to him to represent true religion.
In 1840, he met
Isaac Leeser
Isaac Leeser (December 12, 1806 – February 1, 1868) was an American Orthodox Jewish religious leader, teacher, scholar and publisher. He helped found the Jewish press of America, produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English, ...
and became deeply interested in
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
. Cresson was also influenced by the writings of
Mordecai Manuel Noah
Mordecai Manuel Noah (July 14, 1785, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – May 22, 1851, New York City, New York) was an American sheriff, playwright, diplomat, journalist, and utopian. He was born in a family of Portuguese people, Portuguese Sephardic ...
, who believed that the Jews would soon return to live in Palestine, their national homeland. In 1844, he was appointed the first U.S. consul in Jerusalem. He
converted to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...
in 1848 and returned to Philadelphia to arrange his affairs prior to moving permanently to Jerusalem. During this time, he was a regular attendant at the
Mikveh Israel
Mikveh Israel ( he, מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, 'Hope of Israel') is a youth village and boarding school in the Tel Aviv District of central Israel, established in 1870. It was the first Jewish agricultural school in what is now Israel ...
synagogue, taking part in Jewish communal life, and rigorously observing
Jewish religious law. In 1851, he published ''The Key of David: David the True Messiah, or the Anointed of the God of Jacob''.
In 1852, after a trial in which his wife sought to declare him insane, he returned to Jerusalem and actively supported efforts then being made for the agricultural regeneration of Palestine. In the fall, he announced his intention of establishing an agricultural colony in
Emek Refaim
Emek Refaim ( he, עמק רפאים, English language, English: Valley of Ghosts) is the German Colony, Jerusalem, German Colony, a neighborhood in Jerusalem, as well as its main street. It takes its name from the biblical Valley of Rephaim w ...
. In March 1853, he began writing for ''The Occident'' and sent a circular from Jerusalem soliciting assistance for his projects. Though interspersed with theology and quotations from the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, the circular is one that only a practical farmer and educator could have produced. Cresson believed that the prevailing distress could be relieved by the establishment of agricultural colonies, and that oppressed Jews from all parts of the world should return to
Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Names ...
.
Cresson married a
Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Jewish woman, Rachel Moledano, with whom he had three children, Abigail, Ruth, and David Ben-Zion, all of whom died young. He lived the life of a pious
Oriental Jew, dressed as a native Sephardi, and became a prominent leader of the community. He was buried on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
.
In 2013, Cresson's lost gravesite was rediscovered.
Diplomatic career
On May 17, 1844, he was commissioned
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
at
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, the first person to hold this office. However, the commission was recalled before he arrived in Jerusalem, unbeknownst to him. He speaks of his departure for Jerusalem as follows:
He was much affected by the surroundings of Jerusalem, became more inclined toward Judaism, and assumed the name Michoel C. Boaz Israel. In 1844–1848, he was a frequent contributor to Isaac Leeser's magazine, ''
The Occident
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. '', in which he criticized the missionary tactics of the
London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews
The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.
History
The society began in the early 19th ...
.
While in Jerusalem he became close to the
Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
community. He was a friend of ''
Chacham
''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He ...
'' Yehiel Cohen and the next chief rabbi, Elyashar. In 1848, he sought to become a Jew. In March of that year, he was
circumcised
Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...
and
converted to Judaism. He returned to Philadelphia in September 1848 to arrange his affairs and move permanently to Jerusalem.
The family tried to keep him from carrying out his plans and claimed he had lost his sanity. He became estranged from all except one son. In May 1849, his wife, Elizabeth and son Jacob applied to the court and had him declared insane.
He appealed this decision, and the trial, which went on for six days in May 1851, became one of the famous cases of the time. Eminent counsel were retained on both sides and nearly one hundred witnesses were called. The decision of the lower court was reversed, and Cresson was discharged. The argument of Horatio Hubbell, Jr., one of his lawyers, was published in ''The Occident'' in 1863, with comments by Isaac Leeser.
Published works
*''The Two Witnesses, Moses and Elijah'',
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, 1844
*''The Good Olive-Tree, Israel'', 1844
* ''Jerusalem, the Center and Joy of the Whole Earth'', Philadelphia, 1844
References
External links
From Quaker to Jew: The Story of Warder Cresson*
Dreams and Diplomacy in the Holy Land: American Consuls in Jerusalem in the 19th Century'. Shapell Manuscript Foundation.
* Cresson's
'
at Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cresson, Warder
1798 births
1860 deaths
American former Christians
Jewish American government officials
Converts to Judaism from Protestantism
Expatriates in Ottoman Palestine
19th-century American diplomats