An "inside intellectual": Remarks on the public thought of Nathan Rotenstreich

The essence of Nathan Rotenstreich's career may be adduced from an incident that took place in his early adulthood. In 1932, at the age of eighteen, he moved to Palestine. Rotenstreich was a member of the Socialist-Zionist youth movement Gordonia-a member of one of the first groups in the movement- and a faithful adherent of the halutsic (Zionist pioneering) ideology that the movement encouraged. In the natural course of events, he would have become a haluts (pioneer) along with the rest of the group. However, according to retellings by friends and family members, the leaders of the movement decided to treat him as an exception and have him enroll at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This, they thought, would allow him to make a more meaningful contribution to the nation.