HST399:HISTORYOFZIONISMTO1948
PortlandState University / Prof. Natan MeirSpring2013 /
TTh 12.00-‐1.50pm, 244 Shattuck Hall
Office:465C University Center Building
Officehours: Thurs. 1-‐3 PM and by appointment
Zionism, defined as “the national liberation movement of the Jewish people,”hasbrought about arevolutioninJewish lifeover the past century and a half. This course will examine Zionism as both nationalist ideology and practical solution to the so-‐called “Jewish Question” in Europe. Beginning with an overview of Jewish history and of the rise of nationalism in the nineteenth century, we will examine early forms of Zionism in Eastern and Central Europe, the many different forms of Zionism (and other types of Jewish nationalism) that emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, and the beginnings of settlement in Palestine/Eretz Israel. We will explore the society and culture that the Zionist movement created under the British mandate of Palestine, andunderstandthe rootsofthe Arab-‐Jewish conflict in this context. We will also examine the impact of Zionism on Jewish life and politics in Eastern and Central Europe and in the United States.
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE: Some classes will be all lecture, others will be lecture and discussion. You may be called on in class at any time.
TEXTS (available at Portland State Bookstore)
D.Engel, Zionism (Harlow: Pearson Education, 2009)
"Allthose aged 17-‐25:
Tothe Service of the Nation”
M.Cohen, Zion and State: Nation, Class, and the Shaping of Modern Israel (Columbia, 1992) E. Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (Oxford, 1993)
P.Rakovsky, My Life as a Radical Jewish Woman: Memoirs of a Zionist Feminist in Poland, ed. P. Hyman,
trans.B. Harshav with P. Hyman (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002) $40 Optional: A. Hertzberg, ed., The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader (first published 1959;
manyeditions)
You will find links to all primary sources on D2L. The Hertzberg reader also contains some of the
sources.PLEASE PRINT OUT THE PRIMARY SOURCES AND BRING THEM TO CLASS WITH YOU.
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Classattendance, completion of readings, and participation in discussions(10%)
2. Readingquestions: Each Sunday (except for the first and last weeks of class, and the week the paper is due), you will upload to D2L a short (2-‐3 paragraphs; about 250-‐300 words) reading response to class, answering a question posed on the syllabus. You should come to class prepared to answer this question based on your readings for the week, and be ready to discuss your response. This exercise is intended to help you understand the major issues covered by the readings and to provide a basis for class discussion. You may miss one of these writing assignments without penalty, but no make-‐ups will be permitted. If you complete all seven response papers, I will drop your lowest grade. (3% x 6 = 18%)
3. Mid-‐term exam (in class, April 30)
4. Paper(2000 words):An analysis of either: (1) the Rakovsky memoir; (2) Mendelsohn’s On Modern Jewish Politics; or (3) one work of Zionist literature or political writing from a list that I will provide. Due Sunday, May 19.
5. Take-‐home final exam. To be uploaded to D2L no later than Monday June 10 at midnight.
GRADING:Your two best pieces of work will be worth 25% each of your total grade, and your lowest grade will be worth 20% of the total course grade. Those, plus your grades on the reading questions and a magical 2% that you earn just for registering the course, add up to
100%.
SPECIALCULTURAL COMPONENT (EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY): This term the Judaic Studies Program will be hosting leading Israeli choreographer Idan Cohen as artist-‐in-‐residence for a week in April. You have two opportunities to learn from Idan, and if you hand in a 500-‐700 analysis paper based on your experience with one of them, you may earn up to 5% extra credit. The paper should present an intelligent and informed analysis of what you have viewed and heard from the perspective of Zionist and/or modern Hebrew culture:
1. “Israelin Motion: An Evening of Contemporary Dance and Discussion” with Cohen and PSU Israel Studies Professor Nina Spiegel. Wed. April 17 at 7 pm at Bodyvox Dance Center (NW 17th and Northrup). Tickets are free but you must RSVP in advance through the Portland State Box Office (
2. Atalk by Cohen in Prof. Spiegel’s Israel Culture and Society class on Thurs. April 18 at 10
amin 45 Neuberger.
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GENERALCOURSE INFORMATION
Disabilities: Students with disabilities who need additional consideration for the timely completion of
anyof the course requirements should speak to the instructor at the beginning of the term, and must be
registeredwith PSU’s Disability Resource Center ().
Laptops and cellphones: Please use your laptop in class for taking notes or reading documents ONLY. Please also do not use your cellphone (i.e. sending or checking text messages) during class.
Grading: I use the letter-‐grade format for grading, but don’t be surprised if you see a hybrid grade (e.g., C+/B-‐) which I may assign if I feel that your work does not easily fit into one rung on the grade scale. In paper comments, “AWK” means “awkward phrasing” and “GR” refers to poor grammar.
Papers:
• Papersmust be uploaded to D2L.
• Chicago/Turabian citation style is preferred, but MLA style is also acceptable.
• Wikipediaand the Jewish Virtual Library are fine for background reading, but may not be used as a
source in papers.
• Materialtaken (quoted, paraphrased, summarized) from other sources must be properly cited,
andthe sources properly documented; failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarized work will automatically receive a grade of “F” and may result in your failing the course. If you are not sure what constitutes plagiarism or academic dishonesty, please consult PSU’s Code of Conduct
( or come to office hours to discuss it with me.
Latework: Late work will automatically be marked down one grade step per day. Example: a paper handed in three days late that would have received a B+ will receive a C-‐ instead. So hand in on your work on time! If you have a legitimate excuse (e.g. illness), please make sure to let me know about your problem as early as possible and not on the day the assignment is due.
E-‐mail policy: I am happy to correspond with you via e-‐mail and to answer your questions and concerns
that way. However:
• E-‐mail is not ideal for urgent matters. I consider 24-‐48 hours to be a reasonable period in which to
respondto inquiries. I am usually much faster than this, but not always.
• I will not, in general, respond to student e-‐mails sent after 5:00 on Friday until Sunday afternoon or,
attimes, Monday morning. Please plan accordingly.
• Please remember to identify yourself and state your query as clearly as possible.
I will not fill in students who miss class on the details of a particular lecture or discussion. Please seek
that information from your fellow students.
Pleasenote that this syllabus is subject to change.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK / TOPIC1 / Introductiontocourse
WhoaretheJews?WhatisaJew?ThehistoricalJewishrelationshiptoPalestine/Eretz
Israel
2 / TheJewsinnineteenth-centuryEurope
TheemergenceofJewishnationalism;“forerunners”ofZionism
3 / “TheLoveofZion”
HerzlandPoliticalZionism
4 / AhadHa-amandCulturalZionism
VarietiesofmodernJewishpolitics
5 / MIDTERMEXAM(4/30)
Earlysettlement;growthofthemovement
WorldWarI,theBalfourDeclaration,andbeyond
6 / TheYishuvandLaborZionism
Zionistculture
7 / JabotinskyandRevisionistZionism
“TheArabQuestion”
8 / PAPERDUE(5/19) CriticsofZionism
ZionismininterwarEurope
9 / ZionismintheUnitedStatesandCanada
WorldWarIIandtheHolocaust
10 / WarandIndependence
Conclusionandreviewforfinal
6/10:FINALEXAMDUE
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Remember:Theassignedreadingforeachclassisdividedintoprimaryand secondarysources.Primarysourcereadingsaremarkedwithasymbol.
Week1
Tuesday4/2
• Introductiontocourse
Thursday4/4
• WhoaretheJews?WhatisaJew?
• Palestine/EretzIsraelinJewishhistoryandreligion
RaymondScheindlin,AShortHistoryoftheJewishPeople(NewYork,1998),pp.149-184(D2L) Rakovsky,MyLifeasaRadicalJewishWoman,Introduction
Hertzberg,IntroductiontoTheZionistIdea,pp.15-22
PRIMARYSOURCES(OND2L):
Gen.12:1-7;Gen.15;Ex.6:1-8;Num.33:50-56;Num.34:1-12;Deut.29:10-29;Is.51:1-5;Is.
52:1-9
Psalms122,137
Siddur(prayerbook):excerptsfromtheAmidahprayer:(“PraisedareYou…whoblessesthe years”;“whogathersthedispersedofHispeopleIsrael”;“whobuildsJerusalem”;“whoassures ourdeliverance”;“whorestoresHispresencetoZion”)(SiddurSimShalom[1985]: 215-217)
Week2:
WEEK2RESPONSEQUESTION: WhatwasthesituationoftheJewsinnineteenth-‐‑
centuryEurope? ConsiderbothwesternandeasternEurope.
Tues.4/9
• TheJewsinnineteenth-centuryEurope
Engel,Zionism,Foreword(“Tothereader”)andchap.1
Cohen,ZionandState,Preface
Hertzberg,Introduction,pp.22-32
RaymondScheindlin,AShortHistoryoftheJewishPeople(NewYork,1998),pp.149-184(D2L)
PRIMARYSOURCES(onD2L):
MosesMendelssohnonJudaismandEnlightenment(1783)(Heritage:CivilizationandtheJews:SourceReader,ed.Hallo,Ruderman,andStanislawski[1984],213-215)
TheDebateOverEmancipatingtheJewsofFrance(1789)(Heritage215-216)
TheEmancipationoftheAshkenazim[inFrance]andResponseoftheFrenchJews(1791) (Heritage217-219)
TheReformofJudaism(1845)(Heritage222-223)
Gordon,“AwakeMyPeople!”(1866)(TheJewintheModernWorld:ADocumentaryHistory, ed.PaulMendes-FlohrandJehudaReinharz,2ndedition[1995],hereafterabbreviatedasJMW,
384-385)
Thurs.4/11
• TheemergenceofJewishnationalism;“forerunners”ofZionism
Cohen,chap.1
Hertzberg,Introduction,pp.32-40
Alkalai,“TheThirdRedemption(1843)(alsoinHertzberg’sTheZionistIdea)
Kalischer,“SeekingZion”(1862)(alsoinTZI)
Hess,“RomeandJerusalem(1862)(alsoinTZI)
Smolenskin,“ItIsTimeToPlant”(1875-77)Ben-Yehudah,ALetter(1880)(alsoinTZI)
Week3:
WEEK3RESPONSEQUESTION: WhydidsomeJewishthinkersinbothwesternandeasternEurope come tothe conclusionthatorganizedJewishmigrationtoPalestine wasnecessary?
Tues.,4/16
• “TheLoveofZion”
Engel,chap.2(top.46) Cohen,chap.2
Hertzberg,Introduction,pp.40-45
Pinsker,“Autoemancipation,”sectionsI-III,VI,andSummary(TZI)
BiluGroup:“Manifesto”(1882)
Thurs.4/18
• HerzlandPoliticalZionism
Engel46-62
Hertzberg,Introduction,pp.45-51
Cohen,chap.3(fortodayandTues.)
Rakovsky,MyLife,chap.2
TheodorHerzl,“ASolutionoftheJewishQuestion”(1896)(JMW533-538)
TheFirstZionistCongress:TheBasleDeclaration(August1897)
Nordau,“JewryofMuscle”(JMW547-548)
WEEK4RESPONSEQUESTION: Whatiscultural Zionism?
Tues.4/23
• AhadHa-amandCulturalZionism
Hertzberg,Introduction,pp.51-72
Rakovsky,MyLife,chap.3
AhadHa-am,“TheFirstZionistCongress”(1897)(JMW541-543)
ExcerptfromAhadHa-am,“SlaveryinFreedom”(Heritage236-237)
Thurs.4/25
• VarietiesofmodernJewishpolitics
E.Mendelsohn,OnModernJewishPolitics(Oxford,1993),chap.1“Varieties”
Bund,“DecisionsontheNationalityQuestion”(1899-1910)(JMW419-423)
Dubnow,“Autonomism”(1901)(JMW417-419)
TheMizrahi,“Manifesto”(1902)(JMW546)
Zangwill,“AManifesto”(1905)(JMW55-552)
Borochov,“ProgramforProletarianZionism”(1906)(JMW552-554)
AbrahamIsaacKook,“LightsforRebirth”(TZI427-431)
AgudatIsrael,“FoundingProgram”(1912)(JMW565-566)
Week5:
WEEK5RESPONSEQUESTION: How didLaborZionismenvisiontheJewishhomeland
that itstrovetoestablishinPalestine?
Tues.4/30 MIDTERMEXAM(1hour)
• Earlysettlement;growthofthemovement
Engel62-76
Cohen,chap.4
W.Laqueur,AHistoryofZionism:FromtheFrenchRevolutiontotheEstablishmentoftheStateof
Israel(NewYork:Schocken,1972,2003),277-297
Rakovsky,MyLife,chaps.4-5
ArthurRuppin,“ThePicturein1907”
• WorldWarI,theBalfourDeclaration,andbeyond
Engel77-90
Laqueur171-205;441-456
Rakovsky,MyLife,chap.6
SirHenryMcMahon:TheMcMahonLetter(1915)
LeagueofNations:TheBritishMandate(July24,1922)
WorldZionistOrganization,“ZionistManifestoIssuedAftertheBalfourDeclaration”(1917) (JMW582-584)
WhitePaperof1922
Week6:
WEEK6RESPONSEQUESTION: WhatwastheHistadrutandwhydiditplaysucha
centralroleintheYishuv?
Tues.5/7
• TheYishuvandLaborZionism
Engel90-104
Cohenchaps.5-6
Laqueur,308-337,490-504
Rakovsky,MyLife,chap.7
AhdutHaavodah,“ProposaltotheGeneralAssemblyoftheWorkersofEretzIsrael”(1919) (JMW585-589)
ArthurRuppin'sArticleDiscussingthePurchaseoftheJezrielValley“BuyingtheEmek,”(from
TheNewPalestine[NewYork])(1929)
“TelAvivisFounded”fromRivkahAlper,OneFamily'sExperiences
Thurs.5/9
• Zionistculture/Hebrewculture
B.Mann,“TelAviv’sRothschild:WhenaBoulevardBecomesaMonument,”JewishSocialStudies7,2(2001)1-3(
AvrahamShlonsky,“Toil”and“LateAdar”
Hazaz,“TheSermon”(JMW619-622)
“TheLanguageWarof1913”(JMW567-568)
FILM:“LandofPromise”(1924)
WEEK7RESPONSEQUESTION:How didZionistleadersview thePalestinianArabs
andwhatrole (ifany)didtheyenvisionforthemwithinthe Zionistplan?
Tues.5/14
• “TheArabQuestion”–guestlecturebyProf.LauraRobson
Engel105-122
Laqueur,chap.5
Epstein,“TheHiddenQuestion”(1907)(JMW558-562)
EmirFeisalandChaimWeizmann:Agreement(1919)
BenGurion,“OntheArabQuestion”(1937)(JMW603-608)
ThePeelCommissionReport(1937)(JMW611-613)
MacDonald,WhitePaperof1939(JMW613-616)
JewishAgency,StatementonMacDonaldWhitePaperof1939(JMW616-617)
Letterfrom'Maraat-al-Sherk'toLordPlumer,Aug.25,1925(
Thurs.5/16
• JabotinskyandRevisionistZionism
Cohen,chaps.7-8
Jabotinsky,“WhattheZionist-RevisionistsWant”(JMW594-598)
Jabotinsky,“JewishNeedsvs.ArabClaims”(1937)(JMW609-611)
PostersfortheJewishBrigadeat
ShaulTchernichowsky,“IKnowaTune”
Week8:
SUNDAY,MAY19:PAPERDUE
Tues.5/21
• CriticsofZionism
Laqueur,chap.8
Protestrabbiner,“ProtestAgainstZionism”(JMW538-540)
Rabinowitz,“TheZionistsAreNotOurSaviors”(JMW544-545)
MartinBuberandHermannCohen,“ADebateonZionismandMessianism,”(JMW571-577)
Lenin,“CriticalRemarksontheNationalQuestion”(1913)(JMW428-430)
ZionisminInterwarEurope
Mendelsohn,chaps.2-3(top.78only)
Rakovsky,MyLife,chaps.8-9
“Gegenwartsarbeit”(1906)(JMW555-556)
Frankel,“KibbutzHakhsharah:AMemoir”(c.1935)(JMW598-599)
Gruenbaum,“WhyDidWeCreatetheMinoritiesBloc?”(1922)(JMW442-446)
“CalloftheZioniststotheSocialists”(1928)(JewishWorkersintheModernDiaspora,ed.
NancyL.Green[BerkeleyandLosAngeles,1998],180-183)
Week9:
WEEK9RESPONSEQUESTION: WhatroledidZionismplayforAmericanJews?
Tues.5/28
• ZionismintheUnitedStatesandCanada
H.Feingold,ATimeforSearching:EnteringtheMainstream,1920-1945(vol.4ofTheJewishPeoplein
America)(Baltimore,1992),ch.6:“ZionismandtheRestructuringofJewishPoliticalLife” Mendelsohn,78-91,132-139
“ACabletotheCongress”(1903)(Green,128)
Brandeis,“ZionismIsConsistentwithAmericanPatriotism”(1915)(JMW496-497)
Schechter,“Zionism:AStatement”(1906)(TZI504-513)
“TheJewishNationalFundandtheJewishWorkingMasses”(1936)(Green129)
Thurs.5/30
• WorldWarIIandtheHolocaust
Engel122-130
Cohen,chap.10
Laqueur,chap.10
GermanChancellorAdolfHitlerandGrandMuftiHajAminal-Husseini:ZionismandtheArab
Cause(1941)(LaqueurandRubin,eds.,TheIsraeli-ArabReader[1985],80-84)
TheBiltmoreProgram(1942)(JMW617-619)alsoat
TheLastDaysoftheZionistYouthMovementinGermany,1942(YadVashem)
additionaldocumentonZionismintheHolocaustTBA
Tues.5/4
• TheaftermathoftheHolocaust;warandindependence
Laqueur,chap.11
HashomerHazair,“TheCaseforaBi-NationalPalestine”(1945)(JMW622-625)
Shertok,“Bi-NationalismIsUnworkable”(1947)(JMW625-626)
UnitedNationsGeneralAssembly,“ResolutiononPalestine”(1947)(JMW626-627)
UNSCOP'sPlanofPartitionwithEconomicUnion(BickertonandKlausner,eds.,AConciseHistoryoftheArab-IsraeliConflict,3rded.[1998],110-111)
Jamalal-Husayni,TestimonyonPalestinianArabReactiontotheUNSCOPProposals,September29,
1947(AConciseHistoryoftheArab-IsraeliConflict,85-86)
RabbiHillelSilver,TestimonyonZionistReactiontotheUNSCOPProposals,October2,1947 (CharlesD.Smith,PalestineandtheArab-IsraeliConflict:AHistorywithDocuments[2010])
Thurs.5/6
• Conclusion;reviewforfinal
Rakovsky,MyLife,chap.10
ProclamationoftheStateofIsrael(1948)(JMW629-630)
Final exam: Tues., March 15, 10:15-‐12:05
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