WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.459 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We are so glad you're 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:05.519 joining us today. You know, sometimes the most 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.419 fascinating stories are just, they're just hidden 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:10.640 in plain sight. Oh, absolutely. Just tucked away 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.500 in the archives waiting for someone to dust them 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:15.679 off. Exactly. And our mission today is to explore 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:19.579 one of those hidden gems. We are doing a deep 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:22.379 dive into a single incredibly fascinating Wikipedia 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:25.640 article about a group known as the Maccabeans, 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:29.000 or officially The Order of Ancient Macabre. That 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.660 is quite the name. It is. And the hook for today, 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.280 the reason we are bringing this to you, is the 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.179 sheer historical whiplash this narrative provides. 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.079 We're looking at a late 19th century British 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:42.560 charity that somehow forms a connective tissue 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.539 between early social welfare, prestigious chemistry 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:50.060 medals, the birth of political Zionism, and a 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:52.200 completely forgotten 20th century real estate 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.649 controversy in Morocco. It really is a wild ride. 00:00:54.710 --> 00:00:57.030 The footprint of this one organization is massive. 00:00:57.369 --> 00:00:59.909 But just as a quick heads up to you before we 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:01.990 really dive in, this history touches heavily 00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:04.150 on the early days of Zionism, the historical 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:06.250 settling of Palestine and the foundations of 00:01:06.250 --> 00:01:08.349 modern day Israel. Right. Which are obviously 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:10.269 topics that carry significant political weight 00:01:10.269 --> 00:01:13.920 today. Highly charged political weight. So. We 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.140 want to explicitly set some ground rules and 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:18.500 state to you right now that our goal for this 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:21.159 deep dive is not to take any political sides 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:24.379 or to endorse specific viewpoints. No, not at 00:01:24.379 --> 00:01:27.120 all. We are strictly here to impartially report 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:29.560 and analyze the historical facts as they are 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.799 presented in the source text. We just want to 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.079 understand what this timeline tells us about 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.060 the people living through these massive shifts. 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:38.819 Okay, let's unpack this. The story kicks off 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:42.319 in London in the year 1891. A man named Ephraim 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.569 Ishkishore. found this group, the Maccabeans. 00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:48.689 And right off the bat, that name is a deliberate 00:01:48.689 --> 00:01:51.469 echo of history referencing the historical Maccabees. 00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:53.390 Right. But what stands out to me immediately 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:56.290 is the group's official classification, because 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:58.370 they operated under the model of a friendly society. 00:01:58.689 --> 00:02:00.989 Yes, a friendly society. And understanding that 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:03.450 context is really crucial for you to grasp how 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:06.250 this group actually functioned day to day. They 00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:08.129 were officially registered under the Friendly 00:02:08.129 --> 00:02:10.789 Societies Act in 1901, which was an amendment 00:02:10.789 --> 00:02:14.180 of an earlier 1896 Act. So what did that actually 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.979 mean for a person living back then? Well, if 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:19.340 you put yourself in 1890s Britain, you have to 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:22.020 remember that the modern welfare state simply 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:24.879 does not exist yet. There is no national health 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.520 service, no government safety net to catch you 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.080 if you fall ill. You were basically on your own. 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.479 Pretty much. Working in middle class people formed 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:36.000 these mutual associations, these friendly societies. 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:39.560 It was a localized community safety net where 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:41.840 you pool your resources together to look after 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:43.659 each other. Which makes perfect sense for the 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:46.159 era. But the mechanics of how they collected 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.080 those resources are just fantastic. Members had 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.340 to pay a regular fee, but they weren't dropping 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:54.219 standard British shillings into a hat. Members 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:57.400 of the Maccabeans paid a fee of exactly one shekel. 00:02:57.539 --> 00:02:59.879 Highly symbolic. Highly symbolic. You pay your 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.500 one shekel. And in exchange, you get access to 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.439 this collective pool of social and medical support. 00:03:05.620 --> 00:03:08.520 Right. But what makes this particular friendly 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.219 society so distinct from the thousands of others 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:13.620 operating in Britain at the time is their membership 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.560 role. Oh, the prerequisite. Exactly. In addition 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.819 to paying the shekel, members had to explicitly 00:03:18.819 --> 00:03:22.169 profess support for the Zionist movement. In 00:03:22.169 --> 00:03:24.009 fact, many early members were also part of an 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:26.569 existing group called the Lovers of Zion. So 00:03:26.569 --> 00:03:29.169 from day one, there was this ideological requirement 00:03:29.169 --> 00:03:32.819 built right into a mutual aid network. Yes. But 00:03:32.819 --> 00:03:35.479 it wasn't an entirely closed loop, which is interesting. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.000 This mandate to support the Zionist movement 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.060 applied to Jewish members, but also to non -Jewish 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.699 honorary members. Wait, really? Yeah. The source 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:46.280 text gives us a specific example. Reverend Charles 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.340 Boise. He is explicitly marked in the historical 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:52.460 records as a non -Jewish honorary member. He 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:54.439 paid his shekel and supported the goals. That 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:56.879 is amazing. Imagine joining a local community 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.520 group for some medical insurance and your membership 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.020 hinges on supporting what would eventually be 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:05.219 become this massive international movement. And 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:06.919 I think that brings us perfectly to the year 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:10.780 1896. A very pivotal year. Because 1896 is the 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:13.300 catalyst. This is the year Theodore Herzl visits 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:15.479 London. And we should note, for anyone unfamiliar, 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:17.740 Theodore Herzl is widely considered the father 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.279 of modern political Zionism. So his arrival in 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:22.720 London is going to cause a stir. A huge stir. 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:26.259 Following his visit, a Maccabean member named 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:29.310 Herbert Bendwich gets incredibly inspired. He 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:31.790 organizes a trip to Palestine and he brands it 00:04:31.790 --> 00:04:34.709 the Maccabean pilgrimage. Though in a funny historical 00:04:34.709 --> 00:04:37.529 twist, Herzl actually declined the invitation 00:04:37.529 --> 00:04:39.889 to go himself. I know. The guy who inspired the 00:04:39.889 --> 00:04:42.129 whole thing stays behind. He supported it happening, 00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:44.990 of course, but he didn't go. What's fascinating 00:04:44.990 --> 00:04:47.610 here is the ripple effect of that specific pilgrimage. 00:04:47.889 --> 00:04:51.110 The source text cites a scholar named Maja Gilden 00:04:51.110 --> 00:04:54.089 Zuckerman, who points out that this 1896 trip 00:04:54.089 --> 00:04:56.589 was the fundamental turning point for the entire 00:04:56.589 --> 00:04:59.230 organization. How so? Well, before this event, 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:01.689 the Maccabeans' brand of Zionism was primarily 00:05:01.689 --> 00:05:04.470 religious in nature. Broadly speaking, religious 00:05:04.470 --> 00:05:06.910 Zionism at that time was more about a spiritual 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:09.449 or cultural longing for the ancestral homeland. 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:11.810 Like historical identity and prayer. Exactly. 00:05:11.889 --> 00:05:14.600 But after this pilgrimage, their Zionism shifted 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.879 to a definitively political form. It became about 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:20.180 international diplomacy, state building, and 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:22.639 actionable logistics. I really want you to just 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.600 imagine being a part of this local club at that 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:29.060 moment. You're suddenly at the epicenter of a 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:32.300 major international political shift. The joy 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:35.180 of discovering how small groups influence these 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:38.040 massive historical ways is just incredible. It 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.120 really is. And once you cross that threshold 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.120 into political action, you have to build the 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:44.699 infrastructure to support it. Here's where it 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.240 gets really interesting. Because they don't just 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.860 stay a theoretical debate club in London. They 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:53.040 get into real estate. By 1911, they officially 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.560 form an offshoot called the Mecabean Land Company. 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.180 Designed with the explicit purpose of helping 00:05:58.180 --> 00:06:00.600 shareholders purchase land in modern -day Israel. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:03.339 Right. They're actively financing the settling 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:06.420 of Jews in Palestine. But the timeline is key 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:08.459 here because the real expansion happens a few 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:10.879 years later. Yes, the post -Balfour expansion. 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:15.040 After the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which legitimized 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.420 the movement internationally, the company's activities 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:19.579 spread all the way to North Africa. Which is 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:22.319 such a massive geographic leap from London. It 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:25.379 is. The text details the travels of a man named 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:29.350 Joseph H. Levy. He went to Fez, Morocco, to distribute 00:06:29.350 --> 00:06:32.029 Zionist literature and to actively sell land 00:06:32.029 --> 00:06:35.470 to Fesi Jews. And real money was changing hands. 00:06:35.709 --> 00:06:38.430 The history specifically highlights a transaction 00:06:38.430 --> 00:06:42.790 led by Rabbi Pindus Khalifa Hakon Azo. The rabbi 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:45.509 who ran the Zionist office in Marrakesh. Exactly. 00:06:45.769 --> 00:06:48.750 Through this London -based infrastructure, he 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:51.709 successfully brokered the sale of 36 plots of 00:06:51.709 --> 00:06:54.790 land to Moroccan Jews. These families bought 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.120 into the vision and bought the plots. But this 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.879 is where we have to look impartially at the historical 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:03.100 aftermath, because the record documents a very 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:05.839 harsh reality regarding global migration. Years 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:08.060 later, when those Moroccan Jews attempted to 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:10.339 actually move and settle on those 36 plots, they 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:12.439 were met with a bureaucratic wall. It's so tough 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:14.500 to read. It is. They were told that the land 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:16.279 they had purchased had been reserved for Eastern 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:18.660 European Jews. Just a sobering historical detail. 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:20.560 You pay your money through the proper channels 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.720 in Marrakesh, and then you're basically told 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.029 demographic priorities have shifted. It really 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:27.709 encourages you to think critically about the 00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:30.709 complex, often messy realities and administrative 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:34.449 frictions of early 20th century global migration. 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:37.069 You have this disconnect between the fundraising 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:40.189 happening in the West and the actual boots on 00:07:40.189 --> 00:07:42.550 the ground administration of the land. It shows 00:07:42.550 --> 00:07:45.410 how grand historical movements can impact individual 00:07:45.410 --> 00:07:49.850 lives in deeply contradictory ways. But it also 00:07:49.850 --> 00:07:52.230 makes you wonder about the people running this 00:07:52.230 --> 00:07:54.680 organization in London. because the membership 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.339 list of the Maccabeans is just packed with heavy 00:07:57.339 --> 00:08:00.519 hitters. The sheer density of historical heavyweights 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:03.240 is staggering. I mean, we are talking about major 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:06.180 literary and political figures. You have Israel 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:08.779 Zangwill, the prominent author. You have Chaim 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:10.819 Weissman, who would later become the first president 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:12.860 of the state of Israel. And major religious leaders, 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.579 too. Chief Rabbi Herman Adler and Chief Rabbi 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:18.339 Joseph H. Hertz were members. The part that surprised 00:08:18.339 --> 00:08:20.519 me the most was the scientific connection. Oh, 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:22.879 absolutely. The intersection of this friendly 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.560 society with global science is fascinating. You 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.980 wouldn't normally expect it. Right. But the records 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:31.180 list? Waldemar Hafkine, the bacteriologist who 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:33.480 worked on cholera and bubonic plague vaccines, 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.960 and Sir Ernest Boris Chain. The biochemist who 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.440 was instrumental in developing penicillin, he 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.899 eventually won a Nobel Prize. And the very first 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:46.100 president of the society from 1891 to 1903 was 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:49.379 Rafael Maldola. A prominent chemist. Yes. And 00:08:49.379 --> 00:08:52.500 his legacy is so enduring that there is actually 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:56.070 a chemistry medal named in his honor. The Maldola 00:08:56.070 --> 00:08:58.450 Medal. It just paints this picture of London 00:08:58.450 --> 00:09:01.950 as an incredible nexus point. You have vaccine 00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:04.110 pioneers sitting in the same room as political 00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:06.669 activists and chief rabbis. All congregating 00:09:06.669 --> 00:09:08.830 under the banner of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans. 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:10.690 And the long arc of this history is what really 00:09:10.690 --> 00:09:12.850 gets me. This society isn't just a relic trapped 00:09:12.850 --> 00:09:15.289 in the Victorian era. No, the institutional framework 00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:17.490 survived. If you look at the list of past presidents, 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:20.149 the society continues right into the modern era. 00:09:20.549 --> 00:09:22.809 The source explicitly lists Sir Ian Gainsford 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:24.990 as president from the year 2000 to the present. 00:09:25.169 --> 00:09:27.629 The group is still alive in the 21st century. 00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:31.509 It is a monumental feat of organizational survival 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:34.029 when you think about how much the world has changed 00:09:34.029 --> 00:09:37.309 since 1891. So what does this all mean when we 00:09:37.309 --> 00:09:40.070 look at this wild trajectory from a local London 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:42.429 society collecting single shekel fees for medical 00:09:42.429 --> 00:09:45.450 support to a catalyst for political Zionism, 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:48.409 to a land broker in Marrakesh, to a gathering 00:09:48.409 --> 00:09:51.190 place for world renowned scientists? What do 00:09:51.190 --> 00:09:53.769 we take away from this? If we connect this to 00:09:53.769 --> 00:09:56.090 the bigger picture, I think it asks you to consider 00:09:56.090 --> 00:09:58.759 your own networks. Look at the seemingly mundane 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.179 memberships and subscriptions you hold today. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:04.419 You never truly know when a localized community 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:07.039 effort might become a puzzle piece of a much 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:09.500 larger historical narrative. The ultimate historical 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:12.080 butterfly effect. Precisely. And that leaves 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.620 you with one final provocative thought to mull 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:16.980 over on your own. The society was founded in 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:19.539 1891, yet it still lists a current president, 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.370 Sir Ian Gainsford, today. Right. What happens 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:24.409 to the identity of a society when the historical 00:10:24.409 --> 00:10:26.289 goals it was founded to support, like the initial 00:10:26.289 --> 00:10:28.750 settling of Palestine and those political debates 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:31.110 of the 1890s, have long since passed into the 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:33.230 history books? It's a great point. The original 00:10:33.230 --> 00:10:36.850 context is gone. Exactly. So how does an organization 00:10:36.850 --> 00:10:40.809 like the Maccabeans maintain its original shekel 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:43.929 -paying spirit in the modern world? That is a 00:10:43.929 --> 00:10:45.970 brilliant question for you to explore on your 00:10:45.970 --> 00:10:48.470 own. Thank you so much for joining us on this 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:50.730 deep dive into the archives. We love piecing 00:10:50.730 --> 00:10:53.029 these incredible stories together with you until 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:55.149 next time. Keep exploring, keep questioning, 00:10:55.250 --> 00:10:56.289 keep diving deep.