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Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:53 AM Subject: publications on the Vilna Gaon Regarding the recent query on new publications in English on the Vilna Gaon: A very important revised and expanded translation of a book by Arye Morgenstern on the Vilna Gaon has just appeared in English and it is required reading for any serious discussion of the Gaon and his world. This is The Gaon of Vilna and his Messianic Vision published by Gefen Publishing House (Jerusalem and New York). It is a very reasonable $29.95 for a book of 450 pages. The book is full of references to documents, many of which were discovered by the author, It surveys in depth Jewish mystical trends and settlement in the Holy Land, the early Hasidic movement and its opponents as well as the life of the Gaon. Thus the book is also very important for any discussion of early Hasidism and the conflict between Hasidim and Mitnagdim. Morgenstern presents a very convincing argument for the Gaon's active messianic posture and concludes that the immigration of the Gaon's disciples to the Holy Land was a turning point in Jewish History. Even those who will disagree will learn much from the book. Shaul Stampfer / Hebrew University
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