The Maccabaeans were founded in 1891 by Ephraim Ish-Kishor and named after the Maccabees. The order was founded with the goal of cooperation between members and an interest in Judaism. Many members were also part of the "Lovers of Zion".[2] As is usual for friendly societies, its members had to pay a fee of one shekel and received social and medical support. In addition to that, Jewish and "non-Jewish honorary members"[2] alike had to profess support for the Zionist movement. The funds were used to support the settling of Jews to Palestine[3] with a "Maccabean Land Company" being founded in 1911 to help shareholders purchase land in modern-day Israel.[1]
After a visit by Theodor Herzl in 1896, Herbert Bentwich organized a trip to Palestine which he called the "Maccabaean Pilgrimage". Herzl declined an invitation to the pilgrimage but supported it. According to Maja Gildin Zuckerman, a scholar of modern Jewish cultural history, this was a turning point after which the Maccabaeans' Zionism took a political form rather than religious.[4]
