The Zionist Impulse
The inspiration for the Visoker family is said to have been Rabbi Samuel Mohilever (1824-1898), who was an influential Zionist in Bialystok and was active in the Khovevy Zion movement as early as 1875. In 1881 he urged Jews to make aliya to the land of Israel and called the rabbis to support the realization of the Zionist ideal, to cultivate the Land of Israel in the spirit and tradition of religion, and to establish of associations for aliya. Mohilever was among those who influenced Baron De Rothchild to support the first colonies in the land of Israel. He influenced the aliya of Jews from Bialystock, who settled first in Yehud, where they were trained in agriculture. Later, they moved to and rehabilitated the then-declining Petakh-Tikva town.
It appears that Mohilever gathered settlers in Bialystok to make aliya together. His efforts reached Wysokie, where Israel Visoker and his brother Issac-Yaakov heeded the call and took their families to join the group.
