This study examines the modern revival of the belief among religious Jews that they are duty-bound to hasten messianic redemption. It focuses on the efforts of Rabbi Tsevi Hirsch Kalischer, who presented a unique interpretation of classical Jewish texts in support of reviving sacrificial worship and Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. Kalischer’s achievements are placed in the context of the Enlightenment, Jewish civic emancipation, European colonialism, and the emerging religious divisions between Jews.