Herzl—Between Theodor & Benjamin Ze’ev

How well do we know the Jewish world of the Zionist movement’s most influential leader? Herzl was in many ways the paradigmatic example of the emancipated Jew. He only reclaimed his Jewish national identity after being disappointed by the European Enlightenment and its failure to live up to the promises of emancipation. Some recent writers, however, have offered a more Jewishly-traditional portrait of Herzl, highlighting the tension between his Western (Theodor) identity and his traditional Jewish one (Benjamin Ze’ev). In this session we will study Herzl’s Jewish biography and philosophies and ask what we can learn today from his understanding of Jewish identity.

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In this three-part series, Essential Texts of Zionist Thought and Modern Jewish Identity, Regev Ben-David, Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, explores the ideas of three highly influential Zionist thinkers of the early 20th century: Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, and Rav Kook. Together, we will examine their views on what it means to be a Jew in the modern world and the impact of their philosophies on the discourse about Jewish identity today.

This program is part of Ideas for Today, curated courses by Hartman Institute scholars on the big Jewish ideas we need to think better and do better.