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The Perushim believed that redemption of the Land would precede redemption of the nation, and saw themselves as fulfilling a divine mission in settling and developing it. They actively favored broad-based immigration and economic development of the Land in fulfillment of the commandment to settle it, and their community organization (kolel) undertook to provide housing and other services for the immigrants. Zevi Hirsch Lehren and the Clerks’ Organization disagreed with this radical idea, and there was a profound gap between his traditional view of redemption as a heavenly phenomenon, entailing radical changes in the ways of the world and the Perushim’s idea of redemption as an extended natural process. The increasing Jewish population of Jerusalem, especially during the reign of Muhammad Ali in the 1830s, led to overcrowding, and Jews began to live outside the old Jewish quarter, beginning with the short-lived Jewish settlement in the Bab al-Hota neighborhood. Efforts were made to develop and diversify the community’s economic base, reducing reliance on the haluqah (charitable allocations from outside the Land) but also extending haluqah funding to people other than full-time Torah students — a step opposed by Zevi Hirsch Lehren. Among the leading immigrants to come with plans for pursuing business opportunities in the Land were Eliezer Bregman and his family. Bregman and Lehren had an extended adversarial relationship, grounded in their fundamentally different ideas about how the redemption should be brought about. The Perushim also pursued ambitious plans for agricultural development. The project secured the support of Moses Montefiore, but ultimately failed because of the inability to secure needed legal changes before the overthrow of Muhammad Ali in 1840.

After coming to Jerusalem in 1815, the Perushim led by Menahem Mendel of Shklov, directed their principal efforts to rebuilding and resettling the Judah Hasid ruins (the Hurvah), thereby showing their intention to reestablish themselves in the city. In accord with the doctrine of “awakening below”, rebuilding one of Jerusalem’s ruins would represent the first step in the rebuilding of the entire city. This chapter recounts in detail the lengthy legal, political, and financial dealings that culminated with the beginning of the actual project in 1836 (under the reign of the enlightened Muhammad Ali); the new study hall in the Hurvah courtyard (named “Menahem Ziyyon”) was dedicated in January 1837. The project continued to be opposed by Israel of Shklov, the leader of the Safed Perushim who objected to the independence of the Jerusalem Perushim (now led by Zalman Zoref [Salamon]); matters were complicated by competition for funding by Zevi Hirsch Lehren and his family and continued intra-Jewish rivalries. But the success of the project was seen by the Jerusalem Perushim as evidence that the redemption was underway in earnest, a sense confirmed by the tragic earthquake that destroyed most of the Safed community in 1837.

To deal with the post-1840 crisis of belief, Jewish leaders sought to limit the at-risk masses’ contacts with the Christian missionaries and to bolster and renew their faith in Judaism. They also tried, by various arguments, to defer the expected appearance to 5606 (1846) or some later date. There ensued a retreat from the Perushim’s messianic activism, and some argued that the Messiah’s failure to appear was punishment for that activism. Aviezer of Ticktin and Zevi Hirsch Lehren forcefully advocated that position, and Lehren saw the Damascus blood libel in that light as well. The leadership of the Perushim, however, took the view that 5600 heralded the beginning of the messianic era, which would unfold gradually, and they continued their efforts despite the new difficulties. By 1846, more Perushim changed their views, and some of the new leaders retreated from the activist stance and reverted to the traditional view that repentance, study, and spiritual activity were the mechanisms through which the Messiah might be brought. Concern for the future of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel and its economic infrastructure and productivity gave way to concern for survival in the present through fundraising among Jews in Europe; fundraising organizations proliferated. The new byword of the Perushim’s leadership became “Unless God builds the house, its builders labor on it in vain”, and reverted to the view that the only legitimate position within traditional Judaism was the belief in miraculous redemption. Some grandchildren of the earlier leaders of the Perushim (Joseph Rivlin and Joel Moses Solomon) were among the initiators of the construction of Jewish neighborhoods outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The new leaders of the Perushim did not support their efforts and sought to suppress the history of their predecessors’ messianic activism.