Search

This article examines how two central scholars based at the Hebrew University's Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Jonathan Frankel, and Ezra Mendelsohn, conceived, created, and codified the academic sub-field of modern Jewish politics. The article begins by discussing studies by earlier historians of the Jews like Salo W. Baron, Shmuel Ettinger, and Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi whose work often touched upon the intersection between Jews and politics. While Mendelsohn and Frankel's research was based upon key concepts developed by these scholars, their focus on the centrality of Jewish agency, the role of the Jewish intelligentsia, and the turn to "the (Jewish) people" helped create a new scholarly framework for imagining, analyzing, and researching modern Jewish politics. Despite their many achievements, they both overlooked several important topics in modern Jewish history including the role of religion, the activities of Jewish women, the experiences of Jews in North Africa and the Middle East, and the impact of Jewish politics on the Palestinians. By examining how these topics are dealt with in more recent works, the penultimate section in this article points to both the continuing influence of Mendelsohn and Frankel's scholarly paradigm as well as some of its inherent limits. In doing so, this analysis of modern Jewish politics makes for an intriguing case study regarding the organization, construction, and production of a particular field of knowledge while simultaneously raising critical questions regarding the very nature, limits, and future of Jewish studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the Knesset of Israel, led by its right-wing coalition, adopted the Nation-State Law, which affirmed that the State of Israel is the "nation-state of the Jewish people" and only the Jewish people. Many have contrasted this law with Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence, which promised "complete equality of social and political rights" to all citizens, "irrespective of religion, race, or sex," and expressed a commitment to the moral teachings of the biblical prophets. The Declaration was written by socialists and rabbis, while the Nation-State Law was written by right-wing nationalists. The Declaration focused on three prophetic values: freedom, justice, and peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about Jewish politics. It highlights the victory of the Likud party, the political incarnation of the Revisionist Zionist movement founded in 1925 and is under the leadership of Menachem Begin, in the Israeli elections of May 1977 as well as the exclamation of mahapakh, or political upheaval expressed astonishment as well as anticipation of dramatic change in the political system of Israel.

The article offers information about Jewish revolutions, highlighting the year 1897 as the turning point in the history of both Jewish nationalism and radicalism. Other key topics bbeingpresented include the twin Jewish revolutions, such as a revolution embodied in the Zionist Organization, which held its first congress, and the other was promoted by the General Jewish Labor Bund in Russia and Poland.

The article offers information about Jewish people, featuring publication of the Balfour Declaration in 1917 marked the beginnings of Zionism as a political project authorized by a major world power and could delineate the starting point of Zionism as a political movement in the eyes of Palestinian Arab observers. Information on the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine as well as Great Britain’s obligation to facilitate Jewish immigration is presented.

The article focuses on the political condition of Russia, specifically on the issues of empire, the Balfour Declaration and Zionism. Topics discussed include an overview and development of the Zionism in the country, the rivalry of Great Britain with Germany and France, the stance of the Jewish people in Palestine, and its Empire. Information is presented about the Balfour Declaration, which is considered significant in the Arab, Jewish and the world history. The complicating factors of the Declaration are also noted.

The article discusses the history of the modern Jewish Scholarship. It mentions anniversary of the founding programmatic statement of modern Jewish studies, Leopold Zunz's "Etwas u¨ ber die rabbinische Literatur." It reveals that rise of Zionism and the modern Hebrew movement guaranteed the failure of that prediction.

An essay is presented that discusses the history of Jewish nationalism among American Jews before 1948. Topics include the relation of American Jewish nationalism to Zionism, the American Jewish Congress (AJC) movement during World War I and the development of the organization American Jewish Conference (AJC). The history of American Jewish identity before World War II is addressed.

An essay is presented that discusses the attempts of scholar Samuel David Luzzatto to assert the role of Jewish rather than Christian scholars in the study of the Hebrew language and literature. Topics include his 1836 book "Prolegomeni ad una grammatica ragionata della lingua ebraica," Luzzatto's views on the relation between the Arabic and Hebrew languages, and the start of Semitics (the study of Semitic languages) as an academic discipline in light of Jewish national and religious identity.

The article examines mysticism, Kabbalah, and the work of Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem. It discusses several of Scholem's essays including "Reflections on the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in Our Time," written in 1963. The article explores the concept of secularism as it related to Scholem's personal philosophy and Kabbalah during the latter part of the 20th century. It also discusses Scholem's alleged rejection of more modern forms of Kabbalah.

In this article the author discusses aspects of anti-Semitism that originate in some parts of the left side of the political spectrum. He declares that this anti-Semitism has its roots in leftist views of the state of Israel and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He defines anti-Zionism and points to the connection between it and anti-Semitism. It is noted that many leftist intellectuals are critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians but are not overly concerned by other populations who have been victims of state-sponsored violence.

This article presents the author's response to the article "Israel: No Souvenirs," by Marshall Berman regarding an interview with the author, previously published in the journal "Dissent." The author says that the integral structure of Jewish identity is borderless, flexible, wide-ranging, and able to incorporate different identities, thus allowing it to preserve itself even within the territory and life fabric of other nations. He says that by adapting to other cultures and creating a symbiosis of one kind or another with them, Jewish identity remains intact.

Presents a list of dissertations in Jewish studies. "Home Making: Gender, Emotional Zionism and American Immigration to Israel," by Caryn Suzanne Aviv; "Respecting Difference, Risking Proclamation: Faith, Responsibility and the Tragic Dimensions of Overcoming Supersessionism," by Christopher Jon Boesel; "Re-Thinking Rites of Passage in Contemporary Double Ring Ceremonies in Montreal Jewish Weddings," by Marlene Bonneau.