Sir Moses Haim Montefiore (1784-1885) the British Jewish banker, philanthropist, international fighter for human rights, and one-time Sheriff of London, was once, the story goes, seated at a dinner party next to a notoriously anti-Semitic nobleman who remarked that he had just returned from Japan where “they have neither pigs nor Jews.” Montefiore is supposed to have responded instantly:
“In that case you and I should go there so it will have a sample of each.”
