all

all

MembersAbraham’s Vineyard in Mandate Jerusalem: A Messianic failure (Part 1)

The story of how Messianic Jews squandered a golden opportunity to establish a center of employment, learning, and worship in the heart of Jerusalem.

Abraham's Vineyard in central Jerusalem. Photo: Public domain
Abraham's Vineyard in central Jerusalem. Photo: Public domain

In 1852, James Finn, the second British Consul in Ottoman Jerusalem (1846-1863), together with his wife Elisabeth Anne purchased about 50 dunams of rocky agrarian land, situated 2.5 km (1.55 miles) west of the city’s Jaffa Gate. This piece of land was known by the Arabic name ‘Kerm El-Khalil, namely Abraham’s Vineyard. In Islam, the biblical patriarch Abraham is known as ‘El-Khalil,’ the friend, meaning God’s beloved companion. Although in those years Europeans were not allowed by Turkish law to purchase land in the Ottoman Empire, Elisabeth Anne did become the legal buyer and holder of Avraham’s Vineyard. In her memoirs she wrote: “Being only a woman and therefore ‘nobody,’ I was considered as a lawful purchaser… Scores of European ladies had in this way bought and owned land at Constantinople and Smyrna and other towns.”

 

Finn’s vision and practice

At the very outset, this piece of land was “set apart for-ever” as a private benevolent property (dedicated to public purposes), similar...

Israel Today Membership

Become a Member

  • Read all member content

    Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel.

  • Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel

    Connect with Israel, right from your home.

  • Lift up the voice of truth and hope

    Support Jerusalem-based Zionist journalism.

Already a member? .

About the author

Patrick Callahan

This is an example of author bio/description. Beard fashion axe trust fund, post-ironic listicle scenester. Uniquely mesh maintainable users rather than plug-and-play testing procedures.

One response to “Abraham’s Vineyard in Mandate Jerusalem: A Messianic failure (Part 1)”

  1. David Adeola says:

    Very sad indeed! Great opportunity for immediate cash 💰

Leave a Reply

Login