10 JEWISH REVIEW OF BOOKS • Spring 2012 O n April 20, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant held an informal reception on the grounds of the White House. Al- most seven weeks had passed since his inauguration, and the hero of the Civil War was now seated in his presidential chair, greeting well-wishers and entertaining callers. Suddenly, an exotic-looking rabbi appeared on the scene seeking an immediate audience with the nation’s leader. Be- decked in what he New York Times described as an “Oriental costume” consisting of a “rich robe of silk, a white damask surplice, a fez, and a splendid Per- sian shawl fastened about his waist,” he strode self- conidently toward the president. Grant instinctive- ly rose to greet him. he rabbi’s name was Haim Zvi Sneersohn, and a few weeks earlier he had arrived in the United States from the Land of Israel ostensibly to raise funds and publicize his views on the coming of the messiah. Sneersohn was the great-grandson of Schneur Zal- man of Liadi, the revered founder of the Hasidic movement today known as Chabad-Lubavitch. He was also the grandson of that family’s most notori- ous black sheep, the founder’s emotionally troubled son Moshe, who to the movement’s great embar- rassment had converted to Christianity in 1820. Perhaps to escape the stigma of what was then seen as the ultimate form of religious betrayal, Haim’s parents moved the young boy, his siblings, and grandmother from Russia to the Land of Israel in 1843 or 1844 to begin a new life. By 1869, the 35-year-old Sneersohn had spent the better part of his life as a meshulakh or emissary for Chabad and for Jewish philanthropic institu- tions in the Holy Land. He raised money, among other things, for the shelters for the needy (Batei Machase), which would later house Yeshivat Ha- Kotel in Jerusalem. He also bestirred the faithful to prepare for the coming of the messiah. “he inger of God,” he announced to audiences, “points out to us that the day is not far distant when the grand deliverance will take place.” As an itinerant fund- raiser, Sneersohn had already carried his message across much of the Jewish world, including Russia, Egypt, Persia, Australia, England, and Romania. He had achieved renown as a polyglot and able public speaker. Wherever he traveled, Jews and non-Jews turned out to hear him. hat proved true in the United States as well. Before meeting Grant, Sneersohn had lectured twice in Washington, D.C. concerning Jews in the Holy Land. A local correspondent writing in the European Hebrew-language newspaper Ha-magid reported that his audience was “large and appre- ciative” and included such notables as the Turkish ambassador, members of the president’s own fam- ily, local clergy, and several congressmen. “His elo- quence and luency in the English language were gen- erally admired,” the fawning correspondent wrote, “and his words made a good impression upon the audience.” S neersohn, however, had not just come to Wash- ington to make a good impression and spread his religious message. He also carried out a secret political mission undertaken on behalf of the Jew- ish community of Jerusalem. hat mission had al- ready brought him to the State Department, where he had a long discussion with Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. Now it brought him face to face with the president of the United States. “Permit me to give my thanks to the Almighty, whose mercy brought me here,” Sneersohn began. Without waiting for a reply, he pronounced the traditional blessing that Jews make upon seeing a monarch or head of state: “Blessed be the Lord, who imparted from His wisdom and from his honor to a mortal.” Following a lorid display of praise for Grant and the United States, he closed in on his sub- ject: “to advocate the cause of his oppressed breth- ren in the Holy Land.” He requested the appoint- ment of a Jew to the staf of the American consul- ate in Jerusalem. He sought permission for Jewish residents, during times of violence, “to seek refuge under the Stars and Stripes.” Most importantly, he called upon Grant to dismiss the American consul in Jerusalem, Victor Beauboucher, so “that the prin- ciples of the Government may be truly embodied in its representative abroad.” If Grant moved favor- ably on all his requests, he intimated—implying that as a rabbi and resident of Jerusalem he possessed extraordinary spiritual powers—“this free country and its exalted chief should be blessed on the sacred spot of our common ancestors.” Grant was sensitive concerning all matters Jew- ish. Back in 1862, he had expelled “Jews as a class” from his war zone, an order that Abraham Lincoln had overturned. Grant belatedly apologized for the President Grant and the Chabadnik BY JONATHAN D. SARNA Haim Zvi Sneersohn and President Ulysses S. Grant. (Illustration by Val Bochkov.) Sneersohn carried out a secret political mission undertaken on behalf of the Jewish community of Jerusalem.