In search of Israel : the history of an idea / Michael Brenner.
2018
DS125.5 .B4713 2018eb
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Details
Title
In search of Israel : the history of an idea / Michael Brenner.
Uniform Title
Israel. English
ISBN
9781400889211 (electronic book)
1400889219 (electronic book)
9780691179285
069117928X
1400889219 (electronic book)
9780691179285
069117928X
Published
Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2018.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xv, 372 pages) : illustrations, maps
Other Standard Identifiers
99976126235
Call Number
DS125.5 .B4713 2018eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
956.9405
Summary
A major new history of the century-long debate over what a Jewish state should beMany Zionists who advocated the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other. Yet for Israel's founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner--the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional-that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of "normalizing" the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal "New Society" that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers' collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today.Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal "other" in history, ironically, Israel-which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness-has become the Jew among the nations.
Note
"This edition is a substantially revised translation of Israel: Traum und Wirklichkeit des Jüdischen Staates by Michale Brenner, © Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, Munchen 2016"--Title page verso.
A major new history of the century-long debate over what a Jewish state should beMany Zionists who advocated the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other. Yet for Israel's founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner--the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional-that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of "normalizing" the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal "New Society" that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers' collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today.Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal "other" in history, ironically, Israel-which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness-has become the Jew among the nations.
A major new history of the century-long debate over what a Jewish state should beMany Zionists who advocated the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other. Yet for Israel's founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner--the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional-that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of "normalizing" the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal "New Society" that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers' collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today.Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal "other" in history, ironically, Israel-which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness-has become the Jew among the nations.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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In search of Israel. The history of an idea.
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Table of Contents
The five seasons of 1897 : shaping the Jewish future
Winter in Berlin
Spring in Vienna
Summer in Basel
Fall in Vilna
Winter in Odessa
The seven-hour-land : a light unto the nations
Utopian ideals
Hebrew revival
Socialist dreams
Orthodox reservations
The national home : a state in the making?
The autonomy solution
The one-state solution
The two-state solution
The elsewhere solution
Original Israel : a state defining itself
What is a Jewish state?
Who is a Jew in the Jewish state?
Where is the new Canaan?
Greater Israel : a state expanding
Seventh day realities
Messianic visions
Apocalyptic nightmares
Peace illusions
Global Israel : a state beyond borders
Israel abroad
Israel imagined
Israel lost and found
Conclusion : Israel's new order.
Winter in Berlin
Spring in Vienna
Summer in Basel
Fall in Vilna
Winter in Odessa
The seven-hour-land : a light unto the nations
Utopian ideals
Hebrew revival
Socialist dreams
Orthodox reservations
The national home : a state in the making?
The autonomy solution
The one-state solution
The two-state solution
The elsewhere solution
Original Israel : a state defining itself
What is a Jewish state?
Who is a Jew in the Jewish state?
Where is the new Canaan?
Greater Israel : a state expanding
Seventh day realities
Messianic visions
Apocalyptic nightmares
Peace illusions
Global Israel : a state beyond borders
Israel abroad
Israel imagined
Israel lost and found
Conclusion : Israel's new order.