Overview

In 1990 a document was discovered in Poland, according to which the Gaon of Vilna (1720 1797) stopped in Amsterdam on his way to Erez Israel. Research based on this astonishing find, detailed in this book, brought about a chain of dramatic discoveries that fundamentally altered our knowledge of the historic figure of the Gaon of Vilna. One such discovery reveals that the journey to Erez Israel transpired in the year 1778, three years prior to 1781 the year set as the end time by the kabbalists of that generation, including the Gaon of Vilna himself. This book demonstrates that the Gaon of Vilna traveled to Erez Israel in order to compose a new Shulh an arukh, a final halakhic code that would bring an end to halakhic disputes within the Jewish people. In this way he hoped to ensure the Messiah s arrival in the year 1781. Mysteriously, the Gaon of Vilna abandoned his dream, reporting that Heaven had prevented him. By following in the Gaon s footsteps, The Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision uncovers the cause of his aborted journey and the revolutionary approach to redemption that the Gaon subsequently developed.

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A very important revised and expanded translation of a book by Arye Morgenstern on the Vilna Gaon has just appeared in English and it is required reading for any serious discussion of the Gaon and his world. This is The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision published by Gefen Publishing House (Jerusalem and New York). It is a very reasonable $29.95 for a book of 450 pages. The book is full of references to documents, many of which were discovered by the author, It surveys in depth Jewish mystical trends and settlement in the Holy Land, the early Hasidic movement and its opponents as well as the life of the Gaon. Thus the book is also very important for any discussion of early Hasidism and the conflict between Hasidim and Mitnagdim. Morgenstern presents a very convincing argument for the Gaon's active messianic posture and concludes that the immigration of the Gaon's disciples to the Holy Land was a turning point in Jewish History. Even those who will disagree will learn much from the book. --Shaul Stampfer - Hebrew University

Author Information

Dr. Arie Morgenstern is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He received his PhD in modern Jewish history from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His research specialties include messianic movements in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dr. Morgenstern studied for many years in Israeli yeshivot, including Yeshivat Hevron in Jerusalem. He is the author of seven books, as well as many scholarly articles. His previous book in English is entitled Hastening Redemption: Messianism and the Resettlement of the Land of Israel (Oxford University Press, 2006).

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