Publishing While they were in Germany
collecting funds for the
Old Yishuv, Saloman and his friend
Michal HaCohen learned the art of printing in
Königsberg in Prussia. After acquiring the necessary equipment, they returned to Jerusalem in 1862 and founded one of the first
Hebrew printing presses in the city, the Salomon Printing Press. While folded, it resembled a red rose. When it was opened, artistic depictions of
Jerusalem's Gates and the
Western Wall were revealed. After the
Ottoman authorities shut it down after only 12 issues, Bril moved the paper's operations to Paris, from where he published it for another 14 years. In 1877, Salomon founded a bi-weekly Hebrew magazine called ''''. From within its pages, he exhorted his readership to "exit the world of contemplation and talk, into the world of action" by adopting an agrarian lifestyle and settling the
Land of Israel.
Founding of towns Salomon's father had represented the local Jewish community during negotiations between
Moses Montefiore and the Ottoman authorities. Some of the discussions involved land purchases, and Salomon proved himself to be even more adept than his father in these endeavours. The street grid was laid out haphazardly, and the alleys were of similar proportions to what had been commonplace in the Old City. Salomon's group soon turned its attention to the lands of Mullabis, an Arab town near the swampy
Yarkon River basin, which it purchased at a bargain. The colony, founded in July of that year, was named
Petah Tikva (). The conditions were harsh, with ramshackle cottages being swept away by mud. But a deadly
malaria outbreak in 1880 prompted the pioneers, including Salomon, to look for a better location. In 1883, they found a site 7 kilometres south of Petah Tikva and purchased plots there, naming it
Yehud. After one year, when the other evacuees began to slowly return to Petah Tikva, Salomon castigated them. He insisted that it was too dangerous to go back there, instead purchasing land in what would become
Kfar Saba. In 1898, a dispute arose between
New Yishuv and Old Yishuv leaders in
Jaffa over who would head the Jewish Community council there. As a result, an unlikely alliance developed between the New Yishuv,
Moroccan Jews and the
Hasidic community on the one hand, against the
Perushim on the other. The latter were accused by the former of trying to exert undue influence over the council. Salomon and
Yaakov Meir were dispatched to Jaffa on behalf of Jerusalem's Old Yishuv leadership in order to try and mediate between the parties, but they were unsuccessful. was installed as rabbi of the community as a compromise. While the latter made efforts to unite the various factions, ultimately he was perceived to be operating under direct influence of the Old Yishuv rabbis in Jerusalem. The tumult subsided after
Abraham Isaac Kook was appointed Chief Rabbi of Jaffa in 1908. == Legacy ==