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Jewish Politics
Discover the distinctive political question motivating the Zionist movement circa 1881 and trace the four chief–and conflicting–Jewish responses to it. Given that remaining in Europe seemed to many an impossibility, millions of Jews between 1881 and 1948, whether through emigration, assimilation, revolution, or immigration to the land of Israel, embraced radical change. The resulting discontents and prospects for a better way of life comprise the courses in this area.
Many of us, caught off guard by the horrific events in the land of Israel since October 7, 2023, now find ourselves thinking about Zionism. What is Zionism?
For Theodor Herzl, a dominating figure from the time of his appearance at the first Zionist Congress in 1897, Zionism was a movement to secure Jewish control of the land of Israel and, by creating a safe haven there, to save Jews from continued persecution. There was no consensus on this point, however. From Ahad Ha’am’s point of view, efforts to extend Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel were never the main point and very well might have been a source of harm.
This course tells the dramatic story of ideological clash and personal rivalry between Theodor Herzl and Ahad Ha’am. It will explore the rift it exposed in the Zionist movement and the ensuing schism that continues to ramify in our world to this day.
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