Reviews for The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader

The average rating for The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-10-21 00:00:00 Greg Lattig I was directed to read this book because I read "The Zionist Ideas" by Gil Troy. Both were commissioned by The Jewish Publication Society. Arthur Herzberg's was commissioned 10 years after the creation of Israel and Gil Troy's was commissioned 70 years after the creation of Israel. Gil Troys was somewhat of an update to Arthur Herzberg's; however, they are two completely different books. Whereas Gil Troy is more well rounded and has many more voices; Arthur Herzberg's book is essential to not only understanding the history of Zionism, his afterwords he added to the 1997 update is an important note to begin to understand the divide between the Zionism in North America and Israel. That said, having read Gil Troy's book first, I would recommend that order to others. Gil Troy gives an excellent overview to the many voices of Zionism that will prepare you for the deeper dive that is Arthur Herzberg's book. First, Arthur Herzberg provides a 85 page overview to the history and approach he took to this book. Although I have just finished the book, I plan to go back and reread the overview because I feel I am in a much better position to understand it. He does highlight the significant difference in approaches to Zionism that Herzl, which he labels "messianic" and Ahad Ha'am which he labels "cultural." Further he points out how Ahad Ha'am viewed the creation of a Jewish State not the answer to "The Jewish Problem" but as a new cultural center to revive Jewish life and culture that will then radiate and rejuvenate Judaism in other centers around the world. Arthur Herzberg starts his exploration of Zionism with 1843 with a collection he calls the precursors. He starts each selection with a brief yet thorough overview of the author and the environment they came from. He also presents us with much larger selections. Whereas Gil Troys usually selections were no more than a page or two, Arthur Herzberg selections were usually much longer. I found this approach to be very beneficial. First, it allowed Arthur Herzberg to allow the author to set up their perspective of their environment. For example, when presenting Mordecai Menahem Kaplan in his section entitled, "In The New World," he allowed Kaplan to present his view of Judaism and what was needed before moving onto Zionism. I greatly enjoyed reading the author's perspective in their own words. From the Precursors, he goes into the early Russian Zionists and from there to Herzlian Zionism. Next he brings in Ahad Ha'am and Cultural Zionism. This is followed by Socialist and even Marxist voices in Zionism. He then moves to the Religious and Nationalist Zionists. After that was a section I found extremely interesting called "Intellectuals in Search of Roots." I found this to be one of the most interesting sections because it was not an area I had previously read about and I was also unfamiliar with the selected authors; Bernard Lazare, Edmond Fleg, and Ludwig Lewisohn. I found myself very engaged in this section strongly agreeing with some authors while disagreeing with other perspectives. He then brings us to the New World where he includes both Solomon Schechter and Mordecai Menahem Kaplin; two very interesting and differing voices. He also includes one of the most important voices in this group, Louis Dembitz Brandies. He ends with the Ideologists in Action. This included Rabb Meir Bar-Ilan (Berlin), Vladamir Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and of course ending with David Ben-Gurion. The excerpt from Jabotinsky was especially exciting for me as it was the transcript of his testimony before the Peel Commission. I have always been a big admirer of Jabotinsky and this selection only reinforced my admiration. One of the themes I found frequently repeated, especially by the non-religious was the need to update, reform, and reinvigorate Judaism. There seems to be a consistent belief that Judaism was outdated and needed to be brought into the modern world. As an observant Jew, I question this perspective but can understand it since I was not raised Orthodox. It was also balanced by the more religious perspective that the emancipation of the Jews in 1789 with The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen freed the Jews from the confines of their ghettos and opened the way to becoming full members of the society. This lead to the Haskalah or Enlightenment. Again some saw this period as a period of opportunity and advancement while others saw this as opening the door to assimilation and antisemitism. As I finished the last selection by David Ben Gurion I was able to better understand the environment and the divide between Zionism in Israel and North America. And that is exactly how Arthur Herzberg finishes the book highlighting how the different perspectives from the beginning have led to a differing points of view. Perhaps I say this too often, but once again, this is a must read selection for any Jew to better understand how we have gotten to the place we are today whether in Israel or North America.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-25 00:00:00 Craig Corrigan This collection of essays from zionist thinkers from all ages is the bible of zionism studies, it covers almost all aspects of historical zionist thinking from atheist, secular, political and cultural side of it.By reading this book you can get a big picture of how zionism as an ideology evolves itself from myriads of persuasions conditioned by history, context and vested interest. Here also you can find the best oracle rhetoric, for example Ben Gurion's "Our revolution is directed not only against a system but against destiny, against the unique destiny of a unique people...resisting fate is not enough, we must master our fate; we must take our destiny into our hands, this is the doctrine of Jewish revolution" [p.607-609). I also think this book can be a good example of civic religion studies, where nationalism & politics sometimes blurred itself in the citation of scriptures presented with holy pathos.