Perushim
Sign in to saveThe perushim () were Jewish disciples of the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who left Lithuania at the beginning of the 19th century to settle in the Land of Israel, which was then part of Ottoman Syria. They were from the section of the community known as misnagdim (opponents of Hasidic Judaism) in Lithuania. They were part of the Old Yishuv.
~7 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Journey to the Holy Land
- Safed
- Jerusalem
- Influence
- See also
- References
The perushim () were Jewish disciples of the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who left Lithuania at the beginning of the 19th century to settle in the Land of Israel, which was then part of Ottoman Syria. They were from the section of the community known as misnagdim (opponents of Hasidic Judaism) in Lithuania. They were part of the Old Yishuv.
The name perushim comes from the verb parash "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 the Pharisees of antiquity were known. However the latter-day perushim did not make any claim to be successors of the Pharisees.