Nationalism And The Jewish Ethic

Essays on Zionism, Moses, Pinsker, the supremacy of reason, Judaism and the Gospels,

In beautifully simple language, Gregory Baum discusses the writings of four men whose nationalism was shaped by their religion and their time: Martin Buber's speeches on Zionism before the creation of Israel; Mahatma Gandhi's influential incitement to peaceful resistance against British imperialism; Paul Tillich's book on socialism and nationalism which was banned by the Nazis; and Jacques Grand'Maison's defence of Québécois nationalism in the wake of the province's Quiet Revolution. Baum also examines nationalism in a world dominated by transnational corporations and economic globalization: for example, how does Scottish nationalism fit within the European Union, and how can the Church of Scotland contribute to this secular movement? Finally, Baum turns to Quebec and its tension between ethnic and civil nationalism. As a province with a homogenous and distinctive culture that is different from that of the country surrounding it, how can Quebec guarantee its own survival in an ethically acceptable way? This quiet masterpiece of clear thinking and humane reasoning illuminates the uses and misdirections of one of the most powerful forces in politics and society.

Jewish Cultural Nationalism explores the development of Jewish nationalism from the Bible to modern times, focusing on particular movements and places as well as texts which signified, or themselves brought about, change: the Bible (Hebrew prayer book), and the modern Hebrew literature, particularly in Tsarist Russia. While the influence of the Hebrew Bible alone on nationalism in individual periods has been subject to much scholarly study, the present work is unusual in its emphasis on the continuity of Jewish cultural nationalism and its influences through Hebrew texts.

This volume engages diverse topics such as art, music, and radio broadcasting in the development of modern Jewish nationalism by leading scholars in their respective fields. It contains richly detailed studies that challenge existing historiography--from personal struggles with nationalism, to the lesser-known origins of the Balfour Declaration, from boisterous demonstrations on the streets of pre-World War I Galicia, to skirmishes between Jews in present-day Jerusalem. It examines how nationalism has worked in theory and practice for Jews and at times been fiercely resisted. Beginning with the memory of Theodor Herzl and his cohort at the London Zionist Congress of 1900, this book revisits the wider scene of Zionism's emergence, as we explore the imagination of, and the attempted national mobilization of Jewry throughout the twentieth century. Contributors include: Delphine Bechtel; Nachman Ben-Yehuda; Michael Berkowitz; Inka Bertz; Philip Bohlman; John M. Efron; Richard A. Freund; Francois Guesnet; Michael Löwy; Barbara Mann; Derek Penslar; James Renton; Aviel Roshwald; Joshua Shanes.

This book provides unique insights into the profound religious and cultural issues underlying the increasingly ideological divisions within Israeli society over the questions of territorial concessions and the future character of the state. It explores the significant distinctions between modern Zionism, a primarily secular nationalist movement modeled after the European movements of the nineteenth century, and the much older traditional Jewish nationalism, which is deeply rooted in ancient religion and culture. Dr. Sicker offers a concise overview of the 3,000-year intellectual history of Jewish nationalism, within which modern secular Zionism represents a relatively brief—although immensely important—interlude that may be entering its final stage as other more traditional religious nationalist concepts seek to take its place as the national ideology of the State of Israel. An analysis of how Jewish religious nationalism has shaped the history of the Jews, this book examines the national and territorial dimensions of classical Judaism, explains the survival of the nationalist idea despite the repeated loss of independence and the exile of the majority of the people from their homeland, and demonstrates how the nineteenth-century religious reform movement sought to counter both the growth of Zionism and the resurgence of traditional Jewish nationalism. The book concludes with a discussion of the new ideological synthesis of Judaism, nationalism, and the Land of Israel and its implications for the future of the Jewish state.

This superior account of the development of Jewish nationalism offers one of those rare glimpses into the past that can truly illuminate the present. In The Rise and Fall of Jewish Nationalism Doron Mendels combines his unique insight into ancient Palestine with a careful analysis of historical and literacy sources, from Josephus to New Testament apocrypha, to explore the development of Jewish nationalism within the context of the Hellenistic world. Originally published as part of the Anchor Bible Reference Library, this study is of interest not only for its brilliant discussion of Jewish nationalism during the Second Temple period but also because its subject matter echoes the thorny questions raised by the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks of today.