A Joyful Mother of Children

Until antisemitism and deportations forced Issachar Shlomo Teichtal to leave Slovakia for Budapest, he was an unwavering anti-Zionist who believed that Jews should not presume to live in the land of Israel before the coming of the Messiah. The title A Joyful Mother of Children (Em ha-banim semeḥah) shows his change of position. The title quotes Psalms 113:9, alluding to a childless woman who is transformed into a joyful mother, who has turned her “emptiness” into fruitfulness. The words are famously associated with biblical matriarchs like Sarah, Rebecca, and Hannah, who suffered from barrenness before being blessed with children. In his publication, Teichtal called on all Jews, secular and religious, to unite to settle and cultivate the country and make it fruitful. His book was printed by a Jewish press in Budapest before the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Teichtal’s ideas are still admired by religious Zionists.