THE PANGS OF EXILE AND THE BIRTH OF THE ZIONIST IDEA

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Abstract

Although scholars have long pointed to the notion of “negation of exile” as central in Zionist thought, few have taken sufficient note of the centrality of exile itself – as both idea and experience – as a crucial causal factor in the emergence of modern Zionism. This chapter argues for precisely such causal centrality and contends that the birth of the Zionist idea can be attributed to the encounter between a long tradition of exile as a central fulcrum of Jewish theological, cultural, experiential and intellectual life, with the new circumstances of the modern world – modern antisemitism; the political–legal realities and failures of emancipation; pauperization in the Pale of Settlement; modern nationalism; cultural and identity crises in the Jewish world; and the European rediscovery of the Holy Land in the nineteenth century. These combined factors added new facets and urgency to the experience of exile, and this fusion became the soil upon which Zionism emerged.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRoutledge Handbook on Zionism
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages11-21
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781040025611
ISBN (Print)9781032320106
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences
  • General Arts and Humanities

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