An expanded edition of a classic intellectual history of Zionism, now covering the rise of religious Zionism since the 1970s For eighteen centuries pious Jews had prayed for the return to Jerusalem, but only in the revolutionary atmosphere of nineteenth-century Europe was this yearning transformed into an active political movement: Zionism. In The Making of Modern Zionism, the distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri rejects the common view that Zionism was solely a reaction to anti-Semitism and persecution. Rather, he sees it as part of the universal quest for self-determination. In sharply-etched intellectual profiles of Zionism's major thinkers from Moses Hess to Theodore Herzl and from Vladimir Jabotinsky to David Ben Gurion, Avineri traces the evolution of this quest from its intellectual origins in the early nineteenth century to the establishment of the State of Israel. In an expansive new epilogue, he tracks the changes in Israeli society and politics since 1967 which have strengthened the more radical nationalist and religious trends in Zionism at the expense of its more liberal strains. The result is a book that enables us to understand, as perhaps never before, one of the truly revolutionary ideas of our time.
Chaim Arlosoroff (1899-1933), socialist Zionist leader and theorist, was born in Russia and educated in Germany. He was one of the leaders of the Labour Zionist Party, Mapai and, following his emigration to Palestine in the 1920s, he became the head of the political department of the Jewish Agency for Palestine – the 'Foreign Minister' of the Jewish state-in-the-making.His reputation grew rapidly and his many articles and speeches were soon treated as blueprints for the socialist ideals of a Jewish state. He was bitterly opposed to the Revisionist principles of Jabotinsky and his movement. At the age of thirty-four, Arlosoroff was assassinated while walking with his wife along the beach in Tel Aviv. His murder marked a turning point in modern Zionist history, polarizing attitudes between left and right-wing Zionists in Palestine and the Diaspora, and creating an ideological rift parallel only to the impact of the Dreyfus Affair on French Politics. After his death, Arlosoroff became a symbol of the socialist Zionist movement. He was an intellectual of the first order and an original social thinker. He had a number of books to his name in such fields as socialist and anarchist thought, economic history, Jewish social studies, financial theory and social analysis. His writings and ideas set the scene for the final struggle towards and independent Jewish state in Palestine and time has proved him to be extraordinarily prophetic.
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thought Karl Marx (1818-1883)--philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor--was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history, but he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx's Jewish origins did leave a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed equal rights and emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx's father, and similar tribulations radicalized many young intellectuals of that time who came from a Jewish background. Avineri puts Marx's Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx's intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." - New York times "Exemplary." - Wall St. Journal "Distinguished." - New Yorker "Superb." - The Guardian
Delineates a number of aspects of Zionist thought, as expressed through the writings of selected central nineteenth and twentieth century individuals. Avineri presents a history of Zionist thought through profiles of some of Zionism's major thinkers. Each chapter is devoted to a specific personality and focuses on a particular topic or approach. By examinimg the stories of these men, how their ideas developed, and some of their writings, the reader becomes familiar with different aspects of Zionist thought.
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