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Theperushim (Hebrew:פרושים) were Jewish disciples of theVilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who leftLithuania at the beginning of the 19th century to settle in theLand of Israel, which was then part ofOttoman Syria. They were from the section of the community known asmisnagdim (opponents ofHasidic Judaism) in Lithuania. They were part of theOld Yishuv.
The nameperushim comes from the verbפרשparash "to separate". The group sought to separate themselves from what they saw as the impurities of the society around them in Europe. Coincidentally this was the same name by which thePharisees of antiquity were known. However the latter-dayperushim did not make any claim to be successors of the Pharisees.
Influenced by the Vilna Gaon, who had wanted to go to theLand of Israel but was unable to do so, a large group of hisperushim disciples and their families, numbering over 500, with a few dozen younger earlier scouts, were inspired to follow his vision. Enduring great hardships and danger, they traveled to and settled in the Holy Land, where they had a profound effect on the future history of theOld Yishuv. Most of theperushim settled inSafed,Tiberias,Jaffa and inJerusalem, setting up what were known as theKollel Perushim, and forming the basis of theAshkenazi communities there.
The Vilna Gaon attempted to travel to the Holy Land twice, in 1772 and 1782. Difficulties forced him to abandon the plan each time. His disciples tried to realize what the Gaon had been denied.Theperushim began their journey from the city ofShklov, about 300 kilometers southeast ofVilna in Lithuania. The organization they formed was calledChazon Tzion ("Prophecy/Vision [of]Zion"), and was based on three main principles:[citation needed]
Theperushim migrated in three groups. The first group left in 1808 led by RabbiMenachem Mendel of Shklov, and the following two in 1809, led by RabbiSa'adya Ben Rabbi Noson Nota of Vilna, and RabbiYisroel ben Shmuel of Shklov.
They traveled viaConstantinople on foot and by horse and wagon, and then sailed by boat toAcre. The trips lasted about fifteen months, and the travelers suffered many hardships, including starvation. The journey was made all the more dangerous because of theNapoleonic Wars that were raging across Europe.
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Reaching the shores ofPalestine was not the end of their journey. When theperushim first arrived, they faced a ban on Ashkenazi Jews settling in Jerusalem. The ban had been in effect from the early 18th century when, as a result of outstanding debts, the Ashkenazisynagogues of theOld City of Jerusalem had been forcibly closed and many Ashkenazim were forced out of the city and barred from returning.
While some managed to evade the ban by entering Jerusalem disguised asSephardic Jews, most of theperushim journeyed on toSafed, where they joined a strong Sephardi community that was already there. Besides the Sephardim, the community included many Hasidic Jews, with whom theperushim had anongoing feud. However, the two groups set aside their ideological differences and worked hand in hand to settle the land and develop their community and eventually intermarried.
Because flourishing agriculture was seen as a sign of Redemption, the immigrants had brought agricultural implements with them so that they could observe thecommandments connected to working the soil in the Holy Land.
Safed in the first quarter of the 19th century was a bustling town of over five thousand Jewish inhabitants, but was still struggling to recover from the devastatingNear East earthquakes of 1759. The physical and economic conditions under which its inhabitants lived were extremely harsh. The community was nearly destroyed by the1812–1819 Ottoman plague epidemic, and was further diminished by the catastrophicGalilee earthquake of 1837, which killed thousands of people throughout the region. It leveled the city of Safed and seriously damaged Tiberias. Over 4000 people perished, including about 2000 Jews and 200 members of theperushim community in Safed.
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Believing that the catastrophe was a direct product of their neglect of Jerusalem, the surviving members of theperushim community in Safed decided that the only hope for their future in the Land of Israel would be to reestablish themselves in Jerusalem. However, entrance to the Jerusalem could only be gained once the decree against Ashkenazim had been annulled. Theperushim could then reclaim ownership of theHurva Synagogue and its surrounding courtyard and homes, sites that were historically Ashkenazi property.
The refugees succeeded in renewing the Ashkenazi presence in Jerusalem, after nearly a hundred years of banishment by the local Arabs. The arrival of thePerushim encouraged an Ashkenazi revival in Jerusalem, which until that time had been mostly Sephardi.
By 1857, theperushim community in Jerusalem had grown to 750 people. RabbiYisroel of Shklov, who had moved to Jerusalem in 1815, became one of the leaders of the new community. In the interests of strengthening theYishuv ("settlement") and its economic base, Rabbi Yisroel corresponded with and metMoses Montefiore regarding the establishment and funding of agricultural settlements in the vicinity of Jerusalem. As a result, members of theperushim community were among the first to settle in the new neighborhoods ofNahalat Shiv'a andMishkenot Sha'ananim, the first Jewish areas established outside the old walls of Jerusalem.
Thealiyah of theperushim had a widespread and ongoing effect on theJews in Palestine. They spread the teachings of the Vilna Gaon, which had a considerable influence on Jewish thought and religious practice amongst the Ashkenazi community. They also set up severalkollels, founded the first dozen or so neighborhoods in the New City of Jerusalem, including the neighborhood ofMea Shearim, and were instrumental in rebuilding theHurva Synagogue, which had lain in neglected ruin for 140 years.