Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews: Delivered at the Tabernacle …, M. M. Noah, New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1845

Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was probably the most influential Jew in the United States in the early nineteenth century. His lifelong involvement in Jewish affairs was undergirded by his persistent belief in the idea of Jewish territorial restoration. As early as his famous Discourse at Shearith Israel in 1818, which elicited responses from several Presidents of the United States (see lot ???), he voiced his fervent belief in “the restoration of the Jewish nation to their ancient rights and dominion.” This focus on Jewish self-determination would lead him, in 1825, with virtually no support, to attempt to found a Jewish "refuge" at Grand Island in the Niagara River, to be called "Ararat," after Mount Ararat, the Biblical resting place of Noah's Ark. Although Ararat failed to materialize as he had envisioned, Noah remained committed to his proto-Zionistic ideals, long before the birth of political Zionism at the end of the century.  In 1844, he delivered the present Discourse to a Christian audience in New York’s Tabernacle. Refusing to shy away from historic tensions, Noah boldly made his innovative appeal to Christian Americans explicit, asking them to examine “whether it is not your duty to aid in restoring the Chosen People as Jews to their Promised Land?" (p. 28.) The address elicited a great deal of public reaction, both pro and con. As a result, Noah was asked to reprise his talk, originally delivered October 28th, some five weeks later on December 2nd.