About the Author

Arie Morgenstern served 20 years as an advisor for the teaching of History at the Ministry of Education in Israel. During this time, he received his Ph.D. in Modern Jewish History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research specialties include Messianic movements in the 18th and 19th centuries. He is the author of five books (in Hebrew) as well as many scholarly articles. He is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.

Reviews

"The book breaks fresh ground in exploring the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel during the 19th century. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the author offers a revolutionary perception according to which specific messianic expectations for the year of 1840 motivated thousands of Jews to settle down in the land of Israel. This study serves as a basic guide to everything that touches upon the issue of messianism and the resettlement in the land of Israel
beginning with the 19th century. As such, it must be seriously taken into account in any future research."--Prof. Moshe Hallamish, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism, Bar-Ilan
University, Israel
"Morgenstern's work makes a significant contribution to understanding the millenarian world of Lithuanian Jewry and their messianic visions for the land of Israel. No reader will ever again be able to avoid associating nineteenth century Lithuanian Jewry with messianism...A work that will be debated for years to come." -Alan Brill, author of Thinking God: The Mysticism of R. Zadok HaKohen
"This book is a major contribution to both the history of Jewish messianism and the history of pre-Zionist Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Its dramatic, lucid, and learned account of those who, believing that the redemption would begin in 1840, undertook to facilitate this redemption through their actions has fascinating parallels with the nexus between messianic hope and settlement policy in our own time."--Marc Saperstein, Editor of Essential
Papers on Messianic Movements and Personalities in Jewish History
"The book breaks fresh ground in exploring the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel during the 19th century. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the author offers a revolutionary perception according to which specific messianic expectations for the year of 1840 motivated thousands of Jews to settle down in the land of Israel. This study serves as a basic guide to everything that touches upon the issue of messianism and the resettlement in the land of Israel
beginning with the 19th century. As such, it must be seriously taken into account in any future research."--Prof. Moshe Hallamish, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism, Bar-Ilan
University, Israel
"Morgenstern's work makes a significant contribution to understanding the millenarian world of Lithuanian Jewry and their messianic visions for the land of Israel. No reader will ever again be able to avoid associating nineteenth century Lithuanian Jewry with messianism...A work that will be debated for years to come." -Alan Brill, author of Thinking God: The Mysticism of R. Zadok HaKohen
"This book is a major contribution to both the history of Jewish messianism and the history of pre-Zionist Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Its dramatic, lucid, and learned account of those who, believing that the redemption would begin in 1840, undertook to facilitate this redemption through their actions has fascinating parallels with the nexus between messianic hope and settlement policy in our own time."--Marc Saperstein, Editor of Essential
Papers on Messianic Movements and Personalities in Jewish History
"Very original (and convincing)... This book is a very valuable addition to teh literature on Jewish settlement in the Holy Land and Zionism. It is essential reading for an understanding of modern Jewish thought." --Religious Studies Review