Rabbi, scholar, and early proponent of Zionism. Born in Poland, he was the first outstanding Orthodox rabbi to preach that Judaism permitted Jews to work actively for the Zionist cause and that they were not restricted to waiting and praying for the coming Messiah. In his Hebrew pamphlet, The Quest for Zion in 1862, he outlined methods for the settlement of Palestine. His pioneering effort actually resulted in the organization of the first Palestine colonization society. His pamphlet influenced the French Alliance Isra