Jewish And Hebrew Education In Ottoman Palestine Through The Lens Of Transnational History

This book uses transnational history to explain the formation of modern schools in a territory that lacks modern education. The emergence of modern Jewish education in Ottoman Palestine resulted from European actors and networks' infiltration of educational concepts due to several unique elements. One of them was the activity of transnational networks and actors. The other factor is the important place of education in shaping reality in the Jewish and Hebrew discourse. The area of Ottoman Palestine was almost devoid of modern education, so it is possible to examine the ways of transferring educational concepts. Historians can diagnose the starting point and locate the actors’ biographies and journeys. The book discusses and discovers several themes, such as molding five portraits of modern Jewish and Hebrew education graduates and the function of the school as a medical site due to the shortage of public health policy.

Baghdadi Jewish Networks in the Age of Nationalism explores different components of Baghdadi participation in global Jewish networks through the modernization of communal leadership, satellite communities, transnational Jewish philanthropy and secular education during the Hashemite period (1920-1951).

The promotion and vernacularization of Hebrew, traditionally a language of Jewish liturgy and study, was a central accomplishment of the Zionist movement in Palestine. Viewing twentieth-century history through the lens of language, author Liora Halperin questions the accepted scholarly narrative of a Zionist move away from multilingualism during the years following World War I, demonstrating how Jews in Palestine remained connected linguistically by both preference and necessity to a world outside the boundaries of the pro-Hebrew community even as it promoted Hebrew and achieved that language's dominance. The story of language encounters in Jewish Palestine is a fascinating tale of shifting power relationships, both locally and globally. Halperin's absorbing study explores how a young national community was compelled to modify the dictates of Hebrew exclusivity as it negotiated its relationships with its Jewish population, Palestinian Arabs, the British, and others outside the margins of the national project and ultimately came to terms with the limitations of its hegemony in an interconnected world.

"Palestine, of all countries on earth, is one of the most densely saturated places of cultural and religious significance. But its remarkable history of scholarship and education has been overlooked and replaced by the perception - often advocated by Zionist narratives - that for centuries the country was a 'black hole' of nothingness, devoid of literacy and education. In this magisterial cultural history of the Palestinians, Nur Masalha illuminates the entire history of Palestinian learning with specific reference to writing, education, literary production and the intellectual revolutions in the country. The book introduces this long cultural heritage to demonstrate that Palestine was not just a 'holy land' for the four monotheistic religions ? Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Samaritanism ? rather, the country evolved to become a major international site of classical education and knowledge production in multiple languages including Sumerian, Proto-Canaanite, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin. The cultural saturation of the country is found then, not solely in landmark mosques, churches and synagogues, but in scholarship, historic schools, colleges, famous international libraries and archival centres. This unique book unites these renowned institutions, movements and multiple historical periods together for the first time, presenting them as part of a cumulative and incremental intellectual advancement and not disconnected periods of educational excellence. In doing so, this multifaceted intellectual history transforms the orientations of scholarly research on Palestine and propels current historical knowledge on education and literacy in Palestine to new heights."--