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The Zionist Idea: Sources, Advocates, and Critics – David Ellenson (Fall 2017)

Contributor(s): David Ellenson, Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, and Visiting Professor, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University
Topics(s): Zionism and Nationalisms

NEJS 160 B: The Zionist Idea:
Sources, Advocates, and Critics
Brandeis University
Fall 2017
Professor David Ellenson

 

Course Description

The Zionist idea is an “old-new” one. On the one hand, it as ancient as Judaism itself. Inseparably attached to the Jewish religious ideal of Eretz Hakodesh (Holy Land) found in the Bible, later Diasporic Jewish religious tradition had as one of its central motifs the centrality of the Land of Israel and the allied notion of Shivat Tziyon (Return to Zion for the Jewish people). This course will explore these traditional Jewish religious sources of the Zionist idea as modern Zionism would not have been possible without the foundation they provided for the Jewish national project.

At the same time, modern Zionism was forged in the crucible of the modern European Enlightenment and Emancipation as well as Nineteenth Century secular and romantic nationalism. This European context and its socio-economic, political, and cultural-religious factors had a decisive impact on a diverse array of European Jewish thinkers, and led to the birth of the modern Zionist Movement and the ultimate creation of the State of Israel.

This course will explore these highly diverse contexts, factors, and sources and focus on an overarching survey and analysis of the Zionist ideal from its inceptions to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. However, it is important to realize that modern Zionism should not be identified exclusively with Zion and the Land of Israel. Furthermore, debates over the nature, legitimacy, and relevance of the Zionism abound in the world today. Therefore, the course will also be devoted to a consideration of how Zionism has been and is perceived – both positively and critically — in a number of quarters both before and after the State of Israel was born. We will conclude by considering the impact these perceptions of pro- and anti-Zionism have had upon modern Jewish identity and thought both within the State and in the Jewish Diaspora.

 

Course Goals

  • To introduce students to the basic practices, beliefs, and history of the Zionist idea
  • To study the historical development of Zionism through close study of texts
  • To encourage critical thinking about the nature of contemporary Zionism and its critics and proponents

 

Required Texts

  • Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea
  • Other readings on Latte

Course Requirements:

(Undergraduates)

  1. All assigned readings are to be completed prior to the designated class session.
  2. A mid-term take home examination on the material presented in the first half of the course will be given out on October 26th. It will be due on November 2nd and will constitute 30% of the grade.
  3. A final take home examination covering the material presented in the last half of the course will be given out on December 7th and will be due on December 14th. It will constitute 30% of the grade.
  4. Undergraduates are required to read and write a critical 1250-2000 word review of a book on a major Zionist thinker (e.g., Jabotinsky, Rav Kuk, Ben Gurion) selected in consultation with the professor. The review will be due on December 2nd and will constitute 30% of the grade.
  5. 10% of the grade will be determined on the basis of class participation.

(Graduate Students)

  1. All assigned readings are to be completed prior to the designated class session.
  2. 33% of the grade will be determined on the basis of class participation.
  3. Each graduate student is required to write a 15 to 25 page research paper on a topic in Zionist Thought selected in consultation with the professor. The paper topic should be determined by November 14th and is due at the end of the examination period.

Academic Integrity

Each student is expected to be familiar with, and to follow, Brandeis University policy on academic integrity.  Please consult Brandeis University’s Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures.  All policies related to academic integrity apply to in-class presentations and final writing assignments.  Students may only collaborate on assignments with permission of the instructor.  Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity.  Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university.

Disability:

If you have a disability that requires special arrangements (e.g., note- and/or test-taking), please be in touch with me as soon as possible.  Every accommodation within the guidelines set by Brandeis University will be made so as to facilitate your learning experience.

Four-Credit Course (with three hours of class-time per week)

Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).

Course Outline

  • Introduction and Overview of Course (September 5)
  • The Classical Jewish Roots of Zionism
    • Biblical Zionism (September 7)
    • The Land of Israel in Post-Biblical Jewish Thought and Literature (September 12)
      • Prayer Book Passages
      • Rashi on Genesis 1
      • Yehudah Halevi, “My Heart is in the East”
      • Maimonides, “Epistle to Yemen”
  • The Modern Crucible for Zionism
    • Enlightenment, Emancipation, and the Jew (September 14)
      • Hertzberg, pp. 15-32.
      • Berr Isaac Berr, “Letter of a Citizen to His Fellow Jews,” in Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz, The Jew in the Modern World (2011), pp. 128-130.
      • Clermont-Tonnerre, “Debate on the Eligibility of Jews for Citizenship,” in Ibid., pp. 123-125.
      • Mendelssohn, “Judaism is the Cornerstone of Christianity” and “Judaism as Revealed Legislation,” in Ibid., pp. 102-105.
    • The Nineteenth Century: Romanticism, Nationalism and Modern Anti-Semitism (September 19)
      • 1 Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought, pp. 626-638.
      • Hertzberg, pp. 32-45.
    • M’vasrei Tziyon – Forerunners of Zionism (September 26 and 28)
      • Alkali and Kalischer, in Hertzberg, pp. 102-115.
      • Hess and Pinsker, in Hertzberg, pp. 116-139 and 179-198.
  • Varieties of Zionist Thought
    • Herzl and the Origins of Political Zionism (October 3)
      • Hertzberg, pp. 45-51
      • Seltzer, pp. 692-696
      • Herzl, in Hertzberg, pp. 199-231.
    • Ahad Haam and Cultural Zionism (October 10)
      • Hertzberg, pp. 51-72
      • Seltzer, pp. 696-704
      • Ahad Ha-am, in Hertzberg, pp. 247-288.
    • Socialism and Labor Zionism (Syrkin, Ber Borochov, Gordon and Bialik) (October 17)
      • Hertzberg, pp. 72-80
      • Seltzer, pp. 704-709
        Bialik, in Hertzberg, pp. 278-288
      • Syrkin, in Ibid., pp., pp. 331-332 and 349-351
      • Ber Borochov, pp. 353-354 and 360-366
      • Gordon, pp. 369-374
    • The Religious Zionism of Rav Kuk (October 19)
      • Hertzberg, pp. 80-100
      • Kuk, in Hertzberg, pp. 416-431
    • Revisionist Zionism (Jabotinsky) (October 24)
      • Shlomo Avineri, “Integralist Nationalism and the Illusion of Power,” in Avineri, The Making of Modern Zionism
      • Hertzberg, pp. 556-570
    • The Bi-Nationalism of Buber and Magnes (October 26)
      • Seltzer, p. 726 and pp. 742-748
      • Hertzberg, pp. 440-465
    • The Imperatives of the Jewish Revolution — Ben Gurion and Golda Meir (October 31 and November 2)
      • Ben Gurion in Hertzberg, pp. 605-619
      • Ben Gurion, “On the Arab Question”
      • Meir, Excerpts from This is Our Strength: Selected Papers of Golda Meier
    • American Zionism — Gottheil, Brandeis, and Szold (November 7)
      • Gottheil and Brandeis, in Hertzberg, pp. 494-501 and 514-523
      • Szold, Selections from Lowenthal, Henrietta Szold: Life and Letters
    • Christian Zionism (November 9)
      • Rammy Haija. “The Armageddon Lobby: Dispensationalist Christian Zionism and the Shaping of US Policy Towards Israel-Palestine.”Holy Land Studies 5(1): 75–95. 2006.
      • Ami Iseroff, “Christian Zionism,” http://zionism-israel.com/dic/Christian_Zionism.htm
  • Expressions of Anti-Zionism
    • Ultra-Orthodox and Reform Anti-Zionisms (November 14)
      • David Ellenson, “Rabbi Haim Hirschensohn: An Orthodox Rabbi Responds to the Balfour Declaration,” American Jewish History (June, 2017)
      • Naomi W. Cohen, “The Reaction of Reform Judaism in America to Political Zionism,” in Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 40:4 (1951), pp. 361-394.
      • Recommended: Thomas Kolsky, Jews Against Zionism: The American Council for Judaism
    • Arab Anti-Zionism (November 16)
      • Lacquer, The Israel-Arab Reader, pp. 94-104 and 374-379
      • Emmanuel Sivan, “Islamic Fundamentalism, Antisemitism, and Anti-Zionism,” in Robert Wistrich, ed., Jewish Political Studies Review 16 (2004), pp. 74-84
      • Antony Lerman, “Fictive Anti-Zionism,” pp. 121-138
    • “Caananite” Anti-Zionism (November 21)
      • Boas Evron, Jewish State or Israeli Nation?, Chapter 11.
    • Zionist Post-Zionism (November 28)
      • Shlomo Aronson, “Post-Zionist Discourse and Critique of Israel,” Israel Studies 8 (2003), pp. 105-129
      • Meyrav Wurmser, “Post-Zionism and the Sephardi Question,” Middle East Quarterly 12:2 (2005)
    • Palestinian and Israeli Anti-Zionism (November 30)
      • Edward Said, “Zionism from the Standpoint of its Victims,” Social Text (Winter, 1979), pp. 7-58
      • Ilan Pappe, “Post-Zionist Critique on Israel and the Palestinians: The Academic Debate,” Journal of Palestine Studies 26:2 (1997), pp. 29-41.
  • The State of Zionism Today: Final Considerations (December 2 and 7)
    • Alan Dowty, The Jewish State: A Century Later, pp. 103-136
    • Uri Ram, “The State of the Nation: Contemporary Challenges to Zionism in Israel,” Constellations 6:3 (1999), pp. 325-338
    • Essays by Freedman, Lustick, and Herzog, “Perspectives on Zionism and Post-Zionism,” Israel Studies Forum 19:1 (2003), pp. 89-114
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