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 language | English |
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Title of host publication | Routledge Handbook on Zionism |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 11-21 |
Number of pages | 11 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781040025611 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781032320106 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2024 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences
- General Arts and Humanities