MESSIANIC KABBALAH AND THE APPROACH OF THE VILNA GAON
Summary: Lurianic kabbala became popular from the 1500’s as a way of promoting redemption, but its use was suppressed in the wake of the Shabtai Zvi debacle. By the 1700’s, it was practiced only by a few elite. This would change with the advent of Hasidism, a revivalist movement that swept through Eastern Europe and which popularized the use of kabbala. The Vilna Gaon is a pivotal figure in understanding the changes occurring in the use of kabbala and and a new approach to messianism in the 1700’s.
The influence of kabbalistic thought
The widespread turn towards kabbalah in the 1500’s has to be viewed from the perspective of the longing for redemption that was building up because of the frailty of Jewish life. Two tragedies in particular that would have a wide influence stand out.
One was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The reconquest of Moslem Spain by the Christians was completed by 1248 and in its wake the Church was able to extend its influence over much of the country. This was the end of the “Golden Age” of Spain for Jews. Violence against Jews was responsible for the death of thousands and many others were persecuted. A significant number of Jews converted to Christianity, while others looked to immigration. For many Conversos, however, their conversion was a pathway to hell, as those suspected of retaining their Judaism were tortured by the Inquisition. Under intense pressure from the Church, the order for the expulsion of all Jews from the country was signed in 1492 and some 200,000 were forced to emigrate. Most left without buyers for their properties and many thousands died on journeys attempting to reach new destinations.
A second trauma was the massacres of Jews by the Cossack leader Bogdan Chmielnicki between 1648 to 1656 that enveloped the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Almost 100,000 Jews were murdered and 300 communities destroyed by Cossack cruelty, famine and disease. Almost no Jews took up the offer of conversion to Christianity and instead chose death. Ironically, kabbalistic calculations had indicated 1648 as being a time of messianic expectations, and many were anticipating disturbances in the world order. But nothing like this:
“Some [Jews] were skinned alive and their flesh was thrown to the dogs; some had their limbs and hands chopped off and their bodies thrown on the road to be crushed by wagons and horses; some had wounds cut deep into them and were then thrown on the street to die a slow death…”1
Since no other recourse was available, these tragedies forced Jews to look inwards and this internalization would have promoted the popularization of messianic Lurianic kabbala.
Kabbalah first developed in Southern France in the 12th century and spread from there to Spain. Nachmanides studied in Southern France and was exposed to these ideas and he would incorporate many kabbalistic ideas into his popular Torah commentary.
Kabbalah is a means of describing the attributes and actions of God. Until this time, the attributes of God were not since descriptions limit Him. The most one could do was to describe what He was not,2 (although this was not the case for His actions which could be described). Many people, however, felt the need for something less abstract than this. The foundational book of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar, was discovered by Moses de Leon in the 13th century. It became extremely popular and answered this need. It was allegedly written by thesage R’ Shimon bar Yochai, a 2nd-century tannaitic sage. Tradition has it that R’ Shimon bar Yochai spent 13 years in a cave hiding from the Romans and was inspired by Elijah the Prophet to write his book. Nevertheless, there was always a suspicion that Moses de Leon wrote it himself, although this suspicion was never great enough to influence its acceptance.3
The Zohar was the first to describe the Divine attributes of the ten sephirot, whereby the Divine comes out of concealment and emanates His existence within the cosmos by successive contractions of Divine abundance called tzimtzumim.
Kabbala received a major boost in the mid-1500’s from a power-house of kabbalists living in Safed in Israel. One was Moshe Cordovero (1522-1570) who integrated and systemized medieval kaballah into the system of the Zohar in an encyclopedic book called Pardes Rimonim. An even more influential kabbalistic thinker was R’ Yitzchak Luria (1534- 1572), who produced a new system of kabbalah as a development of the Zohar system which would be called Lurianic Kabbala. R’ Yitzchak Luria is usually known as HaAri, Ha’Ari HaKadosh, or Arizal. Ari is Hebrew for a lion and hakadosh means the Holy one, indicating that this kabbalist was a special individual.
Lurianic Kabbalah deals in particular with two theological issues. Firstly, how was it possible for God to create a universe when His presence is everywhere, and secondly, and related to this, how can God create a world out of nothing when there is no nothing?4 The answers of the Ari to these questions are too complicated to be addressed in this essay, but an extremely abbreviated and incomplete answer is that the Ari describes a process of tzimtzum (withdrawal) whereby God, who is called the Ein Sof or That Which is Without Limit, withdraws from Himself into Himself resulting in an empty primordial space. A dynamic process involving an intermediate and the light of the Ein Sof then results in the formation of ten sefirot (vessels) containing God’s creative activity.5 However, the Divine light is unable to be contained in the vessels of the lower sefirot. This results in a cosmic catastrophe known as shevirat hakelim (the breaking of the vessels). This allows for the demonic side of existence necessary for man to be able to choose or reject good and evil. Because of the breaking of vessels, the light of the Ein Sof necessary to sustain the sefirotic realm becomes fragmented. The task now allotted to the Jewish people is for a tikkun (putting right) and restoration of the holy sparks to their Source. Once the tikkun is complete, there will be redemption - not only of the Jewish people, but of mankind in general, and with this the repair of the entire cosmic process.
R’ Isaac Luria did not write down his system but taught it to disciples and it was written up by his foremost disciple R’ Hayyim Vital (1542-1620) in his book Etz Hayyim. Commenting on the restrictions on the study kabbala that had been made in previous generations and the situation in his own time, he makes the following assertion:
“ … that every penalty revealed by this wisdom that he wrote pertains to those generations [only, when the general study of Kabbalah was not encouraged]. In our generations, however, it is a religious imperative and a great delight to God to reveal this wisdom and by virtue of its [revelation], the Messiah will come.”6
Lurianic Kabbalah now became the most accepted form of mysticism. One reason for its popularity was its notion that each individual could influence the messianic process by reconstituting the sefirot and their vessels with the sparks of holiness and thereby complete cosmic perfection. This could be done by keeping the commands of the Torah not perfunctorily but by directing one’s intent towards the command, by doing good deeds, and by studying kabbalah. In addition, kabbalists would direct their prayers towards the Ein Sof by using hints contained within the prayers. Some felt that their presence in Israel could also speed the coming of the Messiah.
An influential book in this century was that of the kabbalist R’ Immanuel Hai Ricchi (1688-1743). He emigrated from Italy to Safed in 1718 to increase his knowledgeable of kabbalah and spent two years there. On his return to Italy he wrote the work Mishnat Hasidism as a summary of Lurianic kabbala.7 He also calculated a date for the coming of the Messiah.
The Talmud adjures against this type of calculation, since failure of the Messiah to arrive on the predicted date can destroy future belief in his coming:
What [is the meaning of the verse]: “It shall speak of the End and it shall not lie. [If it tarries wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not delay” (Habbakuk 2:3). R’ Samuel Bar Nachmani said in the name of R’ Yonasan: May the very essence of those who calculate “End” suffer agony! For they say: Since the [date of the] End [that we calculated] has arrived and the Messiah did not come, he will never come! Rather [one should] wait for him as it says: “if he tarries, wait for him (Habakuk 2:3).”8
Despite this warning, many kabbalists were not averse to proposing a date for the beginning of the messianic era. These calculations are based on a Talmudic statement in which an analogy is drawn between the six millennia on the Jewish calendar and the six days of creation:
“The Academy of Eliyahu taught the following Baraisa: the world [is destined to exist for] six thousand years. [The first] two thousand [years were of] nothingness, [the second] two thousand [years were of] Torah, [the third] two thousand [years should have been] the days of the Messiah.”9
The kabbalist Nachmanides proposes the date of 1340 CE for messianic redemption.10 Elsewhere, he rationalizes that since we are getting closer to the End of Days, the admonition against calculating this date is no longer applicable. It is interesting to speculate whether knowledge of this date influenced his decision to immigrate to Palestine, even though he was just under 70 years early. Nevertheless, he may have thought that he was paving the way for redemption. Even a rationalist such as Maimonides could not resist presenting a date for messianic times.11 The Zohar predicts the 600th year of the 6th millennium.12 R’ Ricchi therefore calculated the time of the messianic era as being from the earliest 1740 and in a gradual process up to 1781.13
The calculations of R’ Richi were widely accepted and thousands of people began moving to the Old City of Jerusalem, at that time the only residential area in Jerusalem. The compound of the Four Sephardi Synagogues in the Old City needed to be expanded at that time to meet the demand. Leading kabbalists made their way to Israel, including the well-known kabbalist R’ Hayyim ben Attar (1669-1743) who came from Morocco via Italy in 1742 and started the Yeshivat Knesset Yisrael in Jerusalem in the building now known as the Or HaHayyim Synagogue. The synagogue is named after Ohr HaChaim, his well-known kabalistic commentary to the Torah, as is the street on which his yeshiva was located. (The courtyard of this synagogue is also where R’ Yitzchak Luria was born in 1534). So convinced was R’ Attar that this was the run-up for messianic times that he called for mass aliya. R’ Attar passed away a year later from an epidemic at a young age. Beit El Yeshiva and Synagogue were also started in the Old City in the mid-1700’s and was one of two famous yeshivot studying kabbala in the Old City, which it still does to this day. The Vilna Gaon also held by the dates of Ricchi, although his views on how messianic times will come about parted ways with the kabbalists who proceeded him.
The yearning of the populace for the Messiah and the influence of kabbalah on popular thinking would coalesce into the Shabtai Zvi debacle when a major part of the Jewish world threw normal checks and balances into the wind and embraced a very dubious and as it turned out false Messiah.
Shabtai Tzvi (1626-1676) was born in the Ottoman city of Smyrna where he received a traditional Jewish education, including proficiency in Talmud. At age 20 he was ordained as a chacham, the Sephardi equivalent of rabbinic ordination. He was much attracted to kabbala, and particularly its practical aspects including asceticism, multiple immersions, prolonged periods of isolation and self-flagellation. This behavior gained him the reputation of being a holy man. Also at this time, he began displaying symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis and this would accompany him throughout his life, although overlooked by his followers as evidence of prophecy.14 At age 22, he began having delusions that he was the messianic redeemer. He began pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, which was a forbidden act, and announced having visions of God. These claims and his strange behavior eventually led to his banishment by the rabbinic authorities in Smyrna. For the next seven years he was found in various Jewish communities in Greece, Albania and Turkey. People were attracted by his charismatic personality, although many of these communities drove him away. Eventually he made his way to Jerusalem and gained many adherents as a result of his ascetic behavior and public acts.
On a visit to Gaza he met young Nathan of Gaza. This self-claimed “prophet” helped him launch his messianic career. Nathan declared himself the arisen Elijah and proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah. Threatened with excommunication, Shabtai Tzvi left Jerusalem and returned to his home town of Smyrna in 1665 where he declared himself the Messiah with blowing of the shofar and cries of “Long live our King, our Messiah” in a synagogue.15 His fame began to spread throughout the Jewish diaspora. All caution was swept away. People sold their possessions in preparation for moving to Israel. Notices and prayers for him were said in synagogues.14 Prominent rabbis supported his claims, and doubts and resistance were brushed aside - even though he abolished Jewish laws such as the fast days of the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av, ate non-kosher food, and pronounced a new blessing permitting that which had previously been forbidden.14 The Sultan of Turkey initially let things ride because of the money coming into coffers of the Ottoman Empire as a result of Shabtai Tzvi’s fame, but when Shabtai Tzvi announced that he would soon liberate Jerusalem from the Sultan’s rule he put an end to it all. Shabtai Tzvi was given the choice of converting to Islam or death – and he chose the first option plus a state pension. Three hundred of his supporters also converted to Islam.
The reverberations from Shabtai Tzvi’s conversion and his dashing of world Jewry’s messianic hopes would continue for many years. Nevertheless, it did not diminish the Jewish people’s yearnings for redemption. For a while, the Shabtai Tzvi debacle dampened people’s enthusiasm for anything related to kabbala and messianism. Non-conformism in Jewish communities was attacked and the study of kabbala went underground. Nevertheless, over the long-term, enthusiasm for the study of kabbala would increase rather than diminish, since its study and practice was considered the only way possible for achieving messianic goals.
The Vilna Gaon
A pivotal figure on the religious issues of the 1700’s was the Vilna Gaon. He was a recluse who wanted nothing more than to study and teach, but the trends in the Jewish religious world would catch up with him.
He was born in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to a family of religious scholars.
It was apparent from a young age that he was a genius with a prodigal memory. By age 6½ he had a given a scholarly discourse in the main Vilna synagogue in the presence of community scholars. He studied with a teacher from age 7, but from then on taught himself. The topics he studied included astronomy, music theory, trigonometry and anatomy, all of which he thought essential for understanding Torah-related texts. He began studying kabbala at a young age. By age 20, rabbis were already submitting difficult halachic problems to him.
His life was focused entirely on Torah. He adopted an ascetic lifestyle. According to his children, he rarely slept more than two hours during a 24-hour period. To stop himself from falling asleep during the night he would immerse his feet in cold water and study in a standing position. During the day he would study with the shutters closed to avoid distraction.
The entire breadth of Jewish texts was open in his mind before him. His scholarly work was voluminous. He wrote glosses to the most commonly studied works, such as the Babylonian Talmud, midrashim, the Shulchan Aruch (Bi’urei haGra), commentary on the Mishna (Shenoth Eliyahu), the Torah (Adereth Elkiyahu), and commentaries to the kabbalistic works the Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah. He was regarded as the foremost exponent of kabbala of his time.
He did not publish in his lifetime, although some works were published in his name, presumably with his permission. His main works were written by his disciples to whom he dictated. Of extreme value to those involved in Jewish learning have been his emendations of copyist errors that crept into the Talmud, Mishna and other texts. Only someone of his stature and piety could have made corrections that would be accepted by all.
His erudition did come at a cost, in that he did not relate to anyone except on the basis of learning or teaching Torah. He married at age 18 years, but gave over the care of his family to his wife. He did not take much interest in what was going on with his children. His thoughts were a closed book. Morgenstern quotes the words of his foremost student R’ Hayyim of Volozhin: “He was too introspective and taciturn to disclose [anything]. The little that he revealed in conversation pertained to some amazing matter and was extracted at infrequent opportunities by [my] leading the conversation.”16 All of which is to say that he was an unusual type of person.
The Vilna Gaon impacted on a number of issues of the time that were related either directly or indirectly to messianism:
The dispute between the Hasidim and misnagdim
The Vilna Gaon was a leader in the dispute between Hasidism and the rabbis of Poland, where Hasidism was most active. The opponents of Hasidism, or misnagdim as they were called, banned Hasidism with the intent of destroying it.
Hasidism was a revivalist, kabbalistic, messianic movement begun by the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) and which spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. The Baal Shem Tov succeeded in talented and charismatic disciples, particularly Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch, and he in turn raised more disciples who carried its message.17 An important aspect of Hasidism was its popularization of kabbala, which from the time of the Shabtai Tzvi fiasco had been suppressed. Lurianic kabbala provided a means of speeding up messianic redemption through the cosmic effects of individual behavior. Mystical prayer was placed at the center of spiritual achievement. It was said of the Bal Shem Tov that “the upper world was revealed to him, not because he had studied much Talmud and commentaries, but because of the prayers he had always uttered with the greatest intensity,”18 and this approach to prayer was continued by his disciples. Whereas prayer had traditionally been petitionary, it now became a means of mystical union with the Divine. This also meant that Torah learning became somewhat relegated from its primary position in religious life. Hasidism also approached religion with the aspect of joy, and encouraged that the commandments be performed with enthusiasm and awareness of God’s presence. It also held that evil always contained good within it.19 This package was extremely attractive to non-scholarly Jews who may have lived in a hamlet, had limited Talmudic skills, and felt a paucity of spirituality in their lives.
Hasidism also held to panentheism, which is the concept that God is extremely immanent and everywhere. In the kabbalistic ideas of the Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the author of the Tanya, the tzimtzum or contraction of the Divine essence was not as complete as in classic Lurianic thought, but remained fully present and only concealed by the creative process.
Of particular concern to the misnagdim, or opponents of Hasidism, was the emphasis on prayer as a means of spiritual elevation and attachment (devekus) to God and the extra time spent in prayer at the expense of Torah study:
“They prolong their prayers until the sun is already in the middle of the heavens [i.e. until noon], and they thus destroy the [very] time balance of Torah study and prayer that has been established by our holy ancestors, for they try to reach the heavens.”20
They also recognized their diminishment of the importance of the Torah scholar, even though some of the leaders of Hasidism were Torah scholars in their own right. The misnagdim did not object to the use of kabbala per se, since among them were kabbalists. Kabbalists such as the Vilna Gaon believed thatthe text of prayer had cosmic significance and that the power of its words and formulas could contribute to the goal of universal tikkun.21 Nevertheless, they felt that the popularization of kabbala among the masses was inappropriate.
Morgenstern suggests that there was also a strong messianic and kabbalistic component to this dispute. Basing themselves on the writings of Hayyim Vital, the Hasidim believed that prayer would hasten the redemption and that all of Isaac Luria’s teachings had been communicated to him by Elijah the Prophet. The Vilna Gaon disputed the correct transmission of all of Isaac Luria’s teachings by Hayyim Vital and believed that only a part of Isaac Luria’s teachings had been communicated to him by Elijah the Prophet. It was not prayer that would hasten redemption, but Torah study, discovery of the secrets of Torah, and observance of the halacha.22
Despite the opposition of the misnagdim, Hasidism continued its spread and eventually dominated Eastern Europe, other than for Lithuania and WhiteRussia. Nevertheless, R’ Berel Wein suggests that the opposition from the mithnagdim succeeded in saving the movement from itself by discrediting its extremists and emphasizing the primacy of intellectual Torah study and halacha in Jewish life.23
The Vilna Gaon’s new ideas on the messianic redemption
The Gaon’s thoughts on the messianic period were based on the Lurianic system of tikkun, but he also introduced new ideas in messianic thinking. Specifically, he believed that although redemption would be messianic, it would come about by natural means and over a period of time rather than by a sudden and miraculous happening. As mentioned, he agreed with the date for redemption calculated by R’ Hai Ricchi, namely 5541 years and eight months after Creation, which would be 1781 CE.24
The question as to whether redemption requires repentance or will occur at a fixed time has been a topic for discussion at least as far back as Talmudic times. Given that the Vilna Gaon accepted R’ Hai Ricchi’s predicted dates, he clearly believed in the notion of a fixed time. He also felt there was limit to which the Jewish people were capable of further repentance. These views are contrary to those of Maimonides who wrote in his Mishna Torah that repentance is prerequisite for redemption:25 The Vilna Gaon wrote:
“But the final end depends not on repentance but on kindness, as it is written (Isaiah 48:11) ‘For My sake, for My sake, will I act’ and also on the merit of the patriarchs. And that is the meaning of “He recalls the pious acts of the patriarchs and brings redemption to their children’s children for the sake of His Name.”26
However, the notion of a fixed time for redemption would seem to contradict the Torah, since Moses in the book of Deuteronomy describes redemption from exile being dependent on national repentance. In Leviticus, too, repentance is described as a prerequisite for redemption, although equal emphasis is also given to God remembering His covenant (Leviticus 26:40-44).27 The passage from Deuteronomy reads as follows:
“It will be that when all these things come upon you – the blessing and the curse that I have presented before you – then you will take it to your heart among all the nations where YHVH your God has dispersed you. And you will return unto YHVH your God and listen to His voice, according to everything that I command you today, you and your children with all your heart and all your soul. Then YHVH your God will return your captivity and have mercy upon you, and He will gather you in from all the people to where YHVH your God has scattered you. If your dispersed will be at the ends of the heavens, from there YHVH your God will gather you in and from there He will take you. YHVH, your God will bring you to the land which your forefathers took possession and you shall take possession of it. He will do good to you and make you more numerous than your forefathers. YHVH your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, to love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live ….. when you listen to the voice of YHVH your God to keep His commandments and his statutes that are written in this book of the Torah, when you shall return to YHVH your God with all your heart and all your soul” (Deuteronomy 30:1-6, 10).
However, shortly before his death, Moses recites a poem about the faithlessness of the Jewish people, foretells their future, and as pointed out by Nachmanides mentions nothing about repentance. (Nachmanides also believed in a fixed time for redemption). In his Commentary to the Torah, he says the following:
“Now there is no stipulation in this song to indicate that the deliverance is dependent upon Israel’s repentance or dedication to the service of God. Rather, it is a pure testimonial document stating that we will “commit evil deeds to the upmost and that He, may He be blessed will deal with us with wrathful punishments, but He will not cause our memory to cease from mankind. And He will ultimately turn back from chastising us and relent and exact retribution from the enemies “with His harsh, great and mighty sword” and He will grant atonement for our sins for His Name’s sake. This being so [that the song foretells all of the above without predicating it on Israel’s repentance], this song serves as an explicit assurance of the future redemption [of the Jewish people] despite the wishes of the heretics [to the contrary].28
The issue of whether repentance is needed for Redemption is discussed in a few places in the Talmud and there are differing opinions. In a passage in Sanhedrin the Talmud points out the following:
“Rav said: All the Ends [set times] have passed and the matter [of the Messiah’s arrival] depends only on repentance and good deeds. But Shmuel says: It is enough for the mourner to endure his [period of] mourning. [The Gemara now notes that this issue has been debated previously by Tannaim]. R’ Eliezer says: if the Jewish people will repent, they will be redeemed, and if not they will not be redeemed. R’ Yehoshua said to [R’ Eliezer]. If they do not repent, they will not be redeemed? Rather the Holy One, Blessed is He, will appoint a king over them whose decrees will be as harsh [as those of] Haman and the Jewish people will repent and [in this way God] will bring them back to the right [path].”29
However, another passage in the Talmud leans heavily towards a fixed time for the messianic period:
[The Talmud discusses a verse that refers to the redemption “I, YHVH, will hasten it in its time” (Isaiah 60:22). “R ‘ Alexandri said: R’ Yehoshua ben Levi noted a contradiction [in this verse. On the one hand] it is written ‘in its time, [which implies that the redemption will occur in its preordained time]. But [on the other hand] it is written. I will hasten it, [which implies that God will bring the redemption before its preordained time! R’ Yehoshua ben Levi resolved this contradiction as follows: if [the Jews] are deserving, I will hasten it. [If] [they are not deserving, [the] redemption will come] in its time.”30
The Vilna Gaon also proposed redemptive acts not previously discussed in kabbalistic works. Namely, that it important to settle in the land and to fulfill the Torah commands dependent on the land. The Vilna Gaon did not succeed in immigrating to Palestine, but hundreds of his followers did leave in the early 1800’s. Discussing their aliya, Morgenstern writes:
“Their messianic perception contrasts with that of Lurianic Kabbala. Therefore, their aliya in the early 19th century marks a dramatic change in approach from the failed attempts to hasten the redemption in mystical spiritual ways. This new-old outlook on the path to redemption called for the integration of messianic activism and the historical process, or in other words, redemption by natural means. Based mainly on the Jerusalem Talmud, which views redemption as an incremental demarche, this perspective seeks to accelerate the redemption through the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the reclamation of the land of Israel from its desolation, rather than by means of an external, supernatural, one-off event” 31
According to his son, a major project of the Vilna Gaon was to write specifically in Israel a definitive halachic work to resolve all halachic disputes that had accumulated over the centuries. In 1778, he left his home town to make his way to Palestine, but aborted the attempt before leaving Europe. Why he did this is unclear. All he would say is “I did not receive permission from heaven.” There has been speculation as to why he changed his mind. Morgenstern assumes that he was unable to locate mystic texts in Amsterdam that would have enabled him to finish his halachic book.32
Nevertheless, his aborted trip marked a turning point in his life. From that time on he began teaching, and for the next 18 years he would ensure that all the knowledge he had accumulated over the years would be handed over to a select cadre of disciples who were able to keep up with his demanding teaching. This teaching focused on texts that would be needed for messianic times, such as the agricultural laws and service in the Temple. The order of Zera’im dealing with these agricultural laws is discussed in only one tractate in the Babylonian Talmud but is covered in 11 tractates in the Jerusalem Talmud. However, because of corruptions in the text, these tractates are difficult to understand and are rarely studied. He would now teach this material one on one to his students.
After the death of the Vilna Gaon, in 1808 to 1809, more than 500 of his followers, or perushim as they are called, would take the arduous 15-month journey to Ottoman Palestine. Their organization was called Chazon Tzion (Vision of Zion) and had three main objectives: To rebuild Jerusalem as the Torah center of the world, to aid the ingathering of the Jewish exile, and to expand currently settled areas in Palestine.
The first major hurdle they had to confront was that they were refused permission by the Ottoman authorities to settle in Jerusalem and they had to move to Safed and other cities, where they formed the basis of new Ashkenzi communities. Eventually, however, they received permission to settle in Jerusalem and dedicated their first synagogue in the Old City, Menachem Zion, in 1837.
The perushim and their progeny did have some influence on the Jews in Palestine in promoting the ideas of the Vilna Gaon and his customs of prayer, reestablishing an Ashkenazi presence in the Old City of Jerusalem, developing centers of Torah study, and developing new neighborhoods in Jerusalem, such as Mea She’arim. Yehoshua Yellen established the first agricultural settlement in Motza just outside Jerusalem in the 1860’s. Rivlin was a successful initiator and contractor for new neighborhoods being built in Western Jerusalem outside of the Old City. In the late 1800’s, Joseph Rivlin was an initiator and contractor for new neighborhoods built in Jerusalem outside the Old City. These projects were all in the pathway laid out by the Vilna Gaon. Nevertheless, the perushim never formed a movement with mass appeal. A substantial number of their descendants left the country during the 1930’s because of Arab riots.
Conclusions
The Jewish world would eventually lose interest in kabbalistic messianism. Calculated dates for the arrival of the Messiah based on kabbalistic ideas came and left with a no-show. The Vilna Gaon was the foremost practitioner of kabbala in his generation, but his later ideas regarding settling in Palestine were more messianic than kabbalistic.
In Europe also, enthusiasm for kabbalah abated. Its religious leaders were unwilling to promote immediate expectations of the messianic era despite the end of the sixth millennium drawing to a close. Other than the hasidic movements of Lubavitch and Breslow, which retained their messianic kabbalistic focus, Hasidism became more interested in personal rather than national redemption. Competition in the form of the haskala (Jewish Enlightenment)provided a new outlet for Jews of Central and Eastern Europe interested in cultural renewal, liberalism, rationalism and integration into the societies around them. As a result of these changes sweeping Europe, orthodoxy became more interested in saving itself and its followers than saving the Jewish people via changing cosmic reality.
The Vilna Gaon and his followers were successful in restoring the role of Torah study and the Torah scholar, although not in banishing Hasidism.33 His foremost disciple R’ Hayyim of Volozhin established the famous Velozhin Yeshiva in Velozhin, and this became the prototype of all later yeshivot (plural of yeshiva). The retention of Torah study as the primary focus of the religious life was also well in line with Jewish tradition.34
Nevertheless, whether the Vilna Gaon would have approved of a lifetime of full-time Torah study as a way of life for the ordinary Jew, rather than for just the elite Torah scholar and distancing oneself off from the rest of Israeli society as do many in the ultraorthodox world is a matter for debate.
References
1. The translated quotation is from The Rise of Chmielnicki in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Berel Wein, p9, Shaar Press, NY. 1990.
2. How is it possible then to describe the attributes of God in Jewish prayer? King David was effuse in his praise of God, and tradition holds that he was inspired when he wrote the descriptions of God. This is why much of Jewish prayer consists of David’s Psalms containing praises of God (see With the songs of your servant David in The Koren Mesorat Harav Siddur, with commentary based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph b. Soloveitchik, p71, OU Press, Koren Publishers Jerusalem.
3. Gershom Scholem makes the argument in The Zohar I. The Book and its Author in Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism by Gershom Scholem, p156, that based on linguistic analysis, the author of the Zohar could not have been R’ Shimon bar Yochai and must have been Moses de Leon. In an extensive chapter he reviews that the Aramaic in which the Zohar was written although taken from the Babylonian Talmud and Aramaic translation of the Torah would not have been the Second Temple Aramaic used in the time of this tannaitic sage, but is an Aramaic translation of Arabic.
4. Isaac Luria and His School in Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism by Gershom Scholem, pp260-261, Schocken Books, New York, 1961.
5. What I have written is a considerable simplification and is my summary of R’ Louis Jacob’s summary in The Unity of God in a Jewish Theology by Louis Jacobs, p21, Behrman House Inc, NJ, USA.
6. Mishnat Hasidim, First Introduction. Quoted in The Messianic Window of Opportunity: 1740-1781 in the Gaon of Vilnaand his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, p16, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem.
7. The Messianic Window of Opportunity 1740-1781 in ibid p11.
8. TB Sanhedrin 97b. TB Rosh Hashona 31a and Kesubos 105b have the no less comforting version “May their soul suffer agony.” See also Meseches Derech Eretz Rabah chapter 11 that “one who calculates the end of days has no portion in the World to Come.”
9. TB Sanhedrin 97a.
10. Nachmanides, Commentary to the Torah on Genesis 2:2. Based on a Talmudic statement in TB Sanhedrin 97a and Bereishis Rabba 19:8, Nachmanides suggests that the millennium of the world (based on the Jewish calendar) accord to the numbers of days of Creation, and he estimates that the Messiah will come at the period of the “sunrise” of the “sixth” day, which parallels the creation of man on the sixth day. His prediction, therefore, for the Messianic age was 1358 CE (he died in 1270 CE). The Sages in the Talmud do warn about making such estimates, since they can lead to disbelief when they turn out to be incorrect, but Nachaminides thought that as one was drawing closer to the Messianic era it should be permissible. For this rationalization see his Sefer Hageula, shaar 4.
11. Maimonides in his Iggeret Teiman cites the injunction against revealing a date for messianic times, but then a few pages later does just that by presenting a date passed on to him by his ancestors (Iggeret Taiman chapter 3). However, tt could be said that he is not truly predicting a date but just passing on a tradition that he has received.
12. The Zohar states: In the 600th year of the 6th millennium, the gates of wisdom on high and the wellsprings of lower wisdom will be opened. This will prepare the world to enter the 7th millennium, just as a person prepares himself toward sunset on Friday for the Sabbath. It is the same here. And the mnemonic for this is (Genesis 7:11), 'In the 600th year… all the foundations of the great deep were split'."
13. The Messianic Window of Opportunity: 1740-1781 in the Gaon of Vilnaand his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, p25-26 and 95-96, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem
14. Shabtai Tzvi: Formative Years in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Berel Wein, p21, Shaar Press, NY. 1990.
15. Sabbatai Zevi in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi.
16. Quoted in Omission and Evasion in the Shaping of the Gaon of Vilna’s Persona in The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, pp293-294, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem 2015.
17. Maggid of Mezeritch in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Rabbi Berel Wein, p90. A Shaar Press publication, Monsey, New York. 1990.
18. Mithnagdic Prayer in The Faith of the Mithnagdim. Rabbinic Reponses to Hasidic Rapture by Allan Nadler, p53, The John Hopkins University Press, 1997, quoting R. Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem Tov, Kether Shem Tov (Brooklyn, 1987, 22b.
19. Baal Shem Tov in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Rabbi Berel Wein, p88. A Shaar Press publication, Monsey, New York. 1990.
20. Mithnagdic Prayer in The Faith of the Mithnagdim. Rabbinic Reponses to Hasidic Rapture by Allan Nadler, p55, The John Hopkins University Press, 1997, quoting Wilensky, Hasidim u-Mithnagdim, 2:90:cf 1:138.
21. Ibid, p52.
22. The Dispute between the Gaon of Vilna and the Hasidim over How to Hasten the Redemption in The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, pp354-361, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem 2015.
23. Studying Kabbala in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Berel Wein, p109, Shaar Press, NY. 1990.
24. The Gaon of Vilna Attempts to Discover the “Secrets of the Torah” in The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, p353, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem 2015.
25. Maimonides, Mishna Torah, Laws of Repentance 7:5.
26. Sifra de-zeni’uta 54 b on Sanhedrin 98a. Quoted and translation of Arie Morgenstern From “Redemptive Mystical Action” to “Redemption by Natural Means” in The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, p396, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem 2015. (Also Biur ha-Gra le-tiqunei haZohar 74).
27. The passage in Leviticus 26:40-44 reads: “Then [in exile] they will confess their sin and the sin of their forefathers, for the treachery with which they betrayed Me, and also for having behaved towards Me with casualness I too will behave toward them with casualness and I will bring them into the land of their enemies – perhaps then their unfeeling heart will be humbled and then they will gain appeasement for their sin. I will remember My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the land. The land will be bereft of them, and it will be appeased for its sabbaticals having become desolate of them; and they must gain appeasement for their iniquity; because they were revolted by My ordinances and because their spirit rejected My decrees. But despite all this, while they will be in the land of their enemies, I will not have been revolted by them nor will I have rejected them to obliterate them, to annul My covenant with them – for I am YHVH, their God. I will remember for them the covenant of the ancients, those whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, to be God unto them – I am YHVH”
28. Nachmanides, Commentary to the Torah on Deuteronomy 32:41. Translation by the Artscroll Series. The Torah with Ramban’s Commentary. Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Devarim/Deuteronomy. Mesorah Publications Ltd, New York, 2008.
29. TB Sanhedrin 97b. An explanation for the words of Shmuel is that the Jewish people are the mourners who have had to suffer the exile, and just as a period of mourning comes to an end, so will the exile (Rashi). Although the Talmud suggests a parallel between the opinions of Rav and R Eliezer and those of Shmuel and R’ Yehoshua they do seem to be saying different things. The Maharal resolves this by pointing out that even Shmuel would agree that some measure of repentance is required, but God can force repentance that is not self-motivated by external circumstances, whereas Rav and R’ Eliezer agree that repentance has to be self-motivated.
30. TB Sanhedrin 98a. The Talmud is discussing the issue that the verse from Isaiah seems contradictory, since if the time of the Messiah is set, how then can it be hastened?
31. Quotation from Epilogue in The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, pp405-406, Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem 2015.
32. Ibid, p385
33. The Gaon of Vilna in Triumph of Survival. The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1990 by Berel Wein, p100-102, Shaar Press, NY. 1990.
34. For example, the Talmudic passage: “So said Rava, when they bring a man to judgment, they say to him: did you negotiate in good faith, designate times for Torah study, have children, await the redemption, and reason wisely, inferring one thing from another?” (Shabbat 31a). See also the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, Laws of Talmud Torah, Chap. 1, law 8: Every Jew is required to learn Torah whether he is poor or rich, whether healthy or suffering pain, whether a young man or one who has grown weak; even if he is a poor man who makes his living collecting charity by going from door to door, even if he is a husband and has young children, he must set for himself times for learning Torah during the day and night as it says: "And you shall think about it day and night" (Joshua 1:8).
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