Introduction and notes: Esther Benbassa

A collection of opinions, sayings and letters of 19th century gedolim (e.g. The Netziv, the Greiditzer zaddik rabbi Eliyahu Guttmacher, the malbim, Chaim Hezekiah Medini (sdei chemed), Reb Yitzchak Elchonon Spektor of Kovna, Reb Shmuel Mohiliver and many others) extolling the virtues of settling Eretz Yisrael, supporting the Jewish colonies and encouraging aliyah in the East-European Jewish community. Introduction and notes: Yosef Salmon

In his book False expectations of the Jews as revealed in Shabtai Zvi , a messenger of the Calvinistic church in the city of Izmir, Thomas Conan, describes among other things, the takeover of Shabtai Zvi and his party on the Portuguese Synagogue in Izmir in 1665 and the declaration that he himself is the Messiah. Introduction and Notes: Josef Kaplan

The establishment and activities of the " Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith, Central Verein, CV " led to a fundamental change in German Jewry in the early 90's of the nineteenth century: a transition from the passive behavior towards the environment, to what has been called by some scholars- proud "Jewish activism". Before this period most Jews were indifferent to Antisemitism, or were afraid to deal with it, while the CV initiated an active response - Resistance - against it. Some claim that the struggle against the external factors resulted in internal changes among German Jewry: the rediscovery of Judaism. The attempt to justify Judaism to its attackers drove Jewish activists to learn more about Judaism, and find out the positive contained in it. This active response against Antisemitism brought assimilation among Germans to a halt. Other researchers disagree with this position, and see the CV as a continuation of the trend of assimilation; but they also agreed that the reaction to the hostility of the German environment following the establishment and activities of the organization did account for an important change in the history of German Jewry. CV and its professed ideology have been discussed at different levels of expansion and quality in many modern studies. This booklet is designed to focus on the organization during its founding, in the early years of operation - a period that received little study and attention, and is covered mainly by archival sources. This period is of great importance for understanding the organization, its founders' motives and the goals attributed to it.