HST399: HISTORY OF ZIONISM TO 1948

Portland State University Prof. Natan Meir

Winter 2011 meir@pdx.edu
TTh 10.00-11.50pm, NH 209 Office: 315 NH
Office hours: Tues. 1-33 PM and by appointment

Zionism, definedd as “the national liberation movement of the Jewish people,” has brought about a
revolution in Jewish life over the past century and a half. This course will examine Zionism as both
nationalist ideology and practical solution to the so
so-called “Jewish Question”
tion” 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)
tionalism) that emerged at the turn of
the twentieth century, and the beginnings of settlement in
Palestine/Eretz Israel. We will explore the soci
society and culture that
the Zionist movement created under the British mandate of
Palestine, and understand the roots of the Arab
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
cture and discussion. This course uses a wiki at
http://zionismwinter2011.wikispaces.com
http://zionismwinter2011.wikispaces.com; please make sure you
register and familiarize yourself with it as soon as possible. You
will find documents, announcements, weblinks, and other resources
on the wiki.

"All those aged 17-25:

25: To the Service of the Nation”
TEXTS (available at Portland State Bookstore)
D. Engel, Zionism (Harlow:
Harlow: Pearson Education, 2009)
W. Laqueur, A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of
Israel (New York: Schocken, 1972, 2003).
P. Rakovsky, My Life as a Radical Jewish Woman: Memoirs of a Zionist Feminist in Poland,
Poland ed. P.
Hyman, trans. B. Harshav with P. Hyman (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002)

ary sources on the course wiki under the “Primary Sources” section.
You will find links to all primary
PLEASE PRINT OUT THE PRIMARY SOURCES AND BRING THEM TO CLASS WITH YOU.

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REQUIREMENTS:
1. Class attendance, completion of readings, and participation in discussions (10%)

2. Reading questions: Each Thursday (except for the first and last weeks of class, and the day
the paper is due), you will bring a short (~1 page or 2-3 paragraphs) reading response to
class, answering a question posed on your 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. These are graded on a
+ (A),
(B),
- (C),
Ø (no credit) basis. (3% x 6 = 18%)

3. Mid-term exam (in class, Feb. 1)

4. Paper (2000 words): An analysis of one work of Zionist literature or political writing from a
list that I will provide. Due Feb. 22.

5. Final exam (Tues., March 15, 10:15-12:05, in our usual classroom)

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%.

Some useful reference material:

Zionism reference
▪ Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (1971). 2 vols. DS149 .E597
▪ New Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (1994). REF DS149 .N56 1994
▪ Political Dictionary of the State of Israel (1987). DS126.5 .P62 1987

Atlases
▪ Nicholas de Lange, Atlas of the Jewish World (1984). MAPS DS117 .D4 1984
▪ Evyatar Friesel, Atlas of Modern Jewish History (1990). MAPS G1030 .F6513 1990
▪ Israel, the Historical Atlas: The Story of Israel From Ancient Times to the Modern Nation (New
York Times, 1997) MAPS G2236 .S1 I8 1997
▪ Zev Vilnay, The New Israel Atlas: Bible to Present Day (1968) MAPS G2235 .V52 1968

General Jewish Studies

▪ Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition: an excellent place to start for any research in Jewish studies.
REF DS102.8 .E496
▪ YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe: www.yivoencyclopedia.org
▪ Website: Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (based on PBS series); website includes timelines,
documents, interactive presentations, and other resources. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/

For more websites, see the course wiki.

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GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION
Disabilities: Students with disabilities who need additional consideration for the timely completion of any
of the course requirements should speak to the instructor at the beginning of the term, and must be
registered with PSU’s Disability Resource Center (drc@pdx.edu).

Laptops and cellphones: If you need your laptop in class to take notes, please let me know. Otherwise I
will assume that you are surfing the internet during my lectures. Please also do not use your cellphone
(i.e. sending or checking text messages) during class.

Grading: I use the American 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: Papers must be turned in as hard copies; e-mail attachments will not be accepted. Please make
sure you keep a copy of the paper. Material taken (quoted, paraphrased, summarized) from other
sources must be properly cited, and the 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 (http://www.pdx.edu/dos/conductcode) or come to office hours to discuss it with me.
Chicago/ Turabian citation style is preferred, but MLA style is also acceptable. Wikipedia is fine for
background reading, but may not be used as a source in papers.

Late work: 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
respond to 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,
at times, 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.

Please note that this syllabus is subject to change.

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 C O U R S E S C H ED U LE

WEEK TOPIC

1 Introduction to course
Who are the Jews? What is a Jew? The historical Jewish relationship to Palestine/Eretz
Israel

2 The Jews in nineteenth-century Europe

The emergence of Jewish nationalism; “forerunners” of Zionism

3 “The Love of Zion”

Herzl and Political Zionism

4 Ahad Ha-am and Cultural Zionism

Varieties of modern Jewish politics

5 MIDTERM EXAM (2/1)

Early settlement; growth of the movement
World War I, the Balfour Declaration, and beyond

6 The Yishuv and Labor Zionism

“The Arab Question”

7 Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism

Zionist culture

8 PAPER DUE(2/22)
Critics of Zionism
Zionism in interwar Europe

9 Zionism in the United States and Canada

World War II and the Holocaust

10 War and Independence

Conclusion and review for final

3/15: FINAL EXAM

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 Remember: The assigned reading for each class is divided into primary and
secondary sources. Primary source readings are marked with a  symbol.

Week 1
Tuesday 1/4
• Introduction to course

Thursday 1/6
• Who are the Jews? What is a Jew?
• Palestine/Eretz Israel in Jewish history and religion

Raymond Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People (New York, 1998), pp. 149-184 (course wiki)
Rakovsky, My Life as a Radical Jewish Woman, Introduction

PRIMARY SOURCES:
 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
 Psalms 122, 137
 Siddur (prayerbook): excerpts from the Amidah prayer: (“Praised are You… who blesses the
years”; “who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel”; “who builds Jerusalem”; “who assures
our deliverance”; “who restores His presence to Zion”) (Siddur Sim Shalom [1985]: 215-217)

Week 2:
Tues. 1/11
• The Jews in nineteenth-century Europe

Engel, Foreword (“To the reader”) and chap. 1

Laqueur 3-39; 56-70

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 1

 Moses Mendelssohn on Judaism and Enlightenment (1783) (Heritage: Civilization and the Jews:
Source Reader, ed. Hallo, Ruderman, and Stanislawski [1984], 213-215)
 The Debate Over Emancipating the Jews of France (1789) (Heritage 215-216)
 The Emancipation of the Ashkenazim [in France] and Response of the French Jews (1791)
(Heritage 217-219)
 The Reform of Judaism (1845) (Heritage 222-223)
 Gordon, “Awake My People!” (1866) (The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History,
ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, 2nd edition [1995], 384-385)

Thurs. 1/13
• The emergence of Jewish nationalism; “forerunners” of Zionism

Laqueur 40-55
B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (excerpt)
(course wiki)

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  Alkalai, “The Third Redemption (1843)
 Kalischer, “Seeking Zion” (1862)
 Hess, “Rome and Jerusalem (1862)
 Smolenskin, “It Is Time To Plant” (1875-77) (The Zionist Idea, ed. Arthur Hertzberg [1959], 145-
147)
 Ben-Yehudah, A Letter (1880) (Hertzberg 160-165)

WEEK 2 RESPONSE QUESTION: Why did some European Jews come to believe that the Jews
were a nation, in the modern sense of the term? Why was this a somewhat radical idea for the
day?

Week 3:
Tues., 1/18
• “The Love of Zion”

Engel, chap. 2
Laqueur 40-55; 70-83

 Pinsker, “Autoemancipation,” sections I-III, VI, and Summary (Hertzberg 179-188, 191-192,
198)
 Bilu Group: “Manifesto” (1882)
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BILU_Manifesto.html

Thurs. 1/20
• Herzl and Political Zionism

Engel 53-62
Laqueur, chap. 3 (84-135)

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 2

 Theodor Herzl, “A Solution of the Jewish Question” (1896) (JMW 533-538)
 The First Zionist Congress: The Basle Declaration (August 1897)
http://cojs.org/cojswiki/The_First_Zionist_Congress:_The_Basle_Declaration,_August_1897
 Nordau, “Jewry of Muscle” (JMW 547-548)

WEEK 3 RESPONSE QUESTION: Why did some Jewish thinkers and groups in both western
and eastern Europe come to the conclusion that organized Jewish migration to Palestine was
necessary?

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Week 4:
Tues. 1/25
• Ahad Ha-am and Cultural Zionism

Hertzberg, Introduction, pp. 51-72

Laqueur, 136-171

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 3

 Ahad Ha-am, “The First Zionist Congress” (1897) (JMW 541-543)
 Excerpt from Ahad Ha-am, “Slavery in Freedom” (Heritage 236-237)

Thurs. 1/27
• Varieties of modern Jewish politics

E. Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (Oxford, 1993), chap. 1 “Varieties”

 Bund, “Decisions on the Nationality Question” (1899-1910) (JMW 419-423)

 Dubnow, “Autonomism” (1901) (JMW 417-419)
 The Mizrahi, “Manifesto” (1902) (JMW 546)
 Zangwill, “A Manifesto” (1905) (JMW 55-552)
 Borochov, “Program for Proletarian Zionism” (1906) (JMW 552-554)
 Abraham Isaac Kook, “Lights for Rebirth” (Hertzberg 427-431)
 Agudat Israel, “Founding Program” (1912) (JMW 565-566)

WEEK 4 RESPONSE QUESTION: What is Mendelsohn’s typology for understanding the

varieties of modern Jewish identity?

Week 5:
Tues. 2/1 MIDTERM EXAM (1 hour)
• Early settlement; growth of the movement

Engel 62-76
Laqueur 136-162

 Rakovsky, My Life, chaps. 4-5

 Arthur Ruppin, “The Picture in 1907”
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin1907.html

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Thurs. 2/3
• World War I, the Balfour Declaration, and beyond

Engel 77-90
Laqueur 171-205; start reading chap. 9 (441-467)

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 6

 Sir Henry McMahon: The McMahon Letter (1915)
 League of Nations: The British Mandate (July 24, 1922)
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asp
 World Zionist Organization, “Zionist Manifesto Issued After the Balfour Declaration” (1917)
(JMW 582-584)
 White Paper of 1922 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asp

WEEK 5 RESPONSE QUESTION: What were Great Britain’s motivations in issuing the
Balfour Declaration?

Week 6:
Tues. 2/8
• The Yishuv and Labor Zionism

Engel 90-104
Laqueur, chap. 6; finish reading chap. 9

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 7

 Ahdut Haavodah, “Proposal to the General Assembly of the Workers of Eretz Israel” (1919)
(JMW 585-589)
 Arthur Ruppin's Article Discussing the Purchase of the Jezriel Valley “Buying the Emek,” (from
The New Palestine [New York]) (1929)
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin_Emek.html
 “Tel Aviv is Founded” from Rivkah Alper, One Family's Experiences
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode9/documents/documents_2.html
 Zionist posters – in class

Thurs. 2/10
• “The Arab Question”

Engel 105-122
Laqueur, chap. 5

 Epstein, “The Hidden Question” (1907) (JMW 558-562)

 Emir Feisal and Chaim Weizmann: Agreement (1919)
 Ben Gurion, “On the Arab Question” (1937) (JMW 603-608)
 The Peel Commission Report (1937) (JMW 611-613)
 MacDonald, White Paper of 1939 (JMW 613-616)
 Jewish Agency, Statement on MacDonald White Paper of 1939 (JMW 616-617)
 Letter from 'Maraat-al-Sherk' to Lord Plumer, Aug. 25, 1925 (http://bit.ly/f9BQz9)

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 WEEK 6 RESPONSE QUESTION: Why do many scholars believe that the Zionist
movement, as a whole, underestimated the challenge that the Palestinian Arabs would
present to the movement?

Week 7:
Tues. 2/15
• Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism

Laqueur, chap. 7

 Jabotinsky, “What the Zionist-Revisionists Want” (JMW 594-598)

 Jabotinsky, “Jewish Needs vs. Arab Claims” (1937) (JMW 609-611)
 Posters for the Jewish Brigade at http://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-a.swf
 Shaul Tchernichowsky, “I Know a Tune” http://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-b.swf

Thurs. 2/17
• Zionist culture

B. Mann, “Tel Aviv’s Rothschild: When a Boulevard Becomes a Monument,” Jewish Social Studies 7,2
(2001) 1-3 (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jewish_social_studies/v007/7.2mann.html)

 Avraham Shlonsky, “Toil” and “Late Adar”

 Hazaz, “The Sermon” (JMW 619-622)
 “The Language War of 1913” (JMW 567-568)
 FILM: “Land of Promise” (1924)

WEEK 7 RESPONSE QUESTION: What kinds of Jewish culture and community did
Zionist leaders envision in Eretz Israel, and how did those differ from the reality of
Jewish life in Mandatory Palestine?

Week 8:
Tues. 2/22
• Critics of Zionism PAPER DUE

Laqueur, chap. 8

 Protestrabbiner, “Protest Against Zionism” (JMW 538-540)

 Rabinowitz, “The Zionists Are Not Our Saviors” (JMW 544-545)
 Martin Buber and Hermann Cohen, “A Debate on Zionism and Messianism,” (JMW 571-577)
 Lenin, “Critical Remarks on the National Question” (1913) (JMW 428-430)

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Thurs. 2/24
Zionism in Interwar Europe
E. Mendelsohn, The Jews of East Central Europe Between the World Wars (Bloomington, 1983), chap. 1:
“Poland” (pp. 11-83)
J. Borut, “’Verjudung des Judentums’: Was There a Zionist Subculture in Weimar Germany?” in M.
Brenner and D. Penslar, eds., In Search of Jewish Community: Jewish Identities in Germany and
Austria, 1918-1933 (Bloomington, 1998)

 Rakovsky, My Life, chaps. 8-9 “Gegenwartsarbeit” (1906) (JMW 555-556)

 Frankel, “Kibbutz Hakhsharah: A Memoir” (c. 1935) (JMW 598-599)
 Gruenbaum, “Why Did We Create the Minorities Bloc?” (1922) (JMW 442-446)
 “Call of the Zionists to the Socialists” (1928) (Jewish Workers in the Modern Diaspora, ed.
Nancy L. Green [Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1998], 180-183)
 Moskovitsh, “The Last Meeting of the Community Council in Kutno” (From From a Ruined
Garden: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry, ed. and trans. Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan
Boyarin (New York, 1983], 91-93)

Week 9:
Tues. 3/1
• Zionism in the United States and Canada

H. Feingold, A Time for Searching: Entering the Mainstream, 1920-1945 (vol. 4 of The Jewish People in
America) (Baltimore, 1992), ch. 6: “Zionism and the Restructuring of Jewish Political Life”

 “A Cable to the Congress” (1903) (Green, 128)

 Brandeis, “Zionism Is Consistent with American Patriotism” (1915) (JMW 496-497)
 Schechter, “Zionism: A Statement” (1906) (Hertzberg 504-513)
 “The Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Working Masses” (1936) (Green 129)

Thurs. 3/3
• World War II and the Holocaust

Laqueur, chap. 10

 German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini: Zionism and the Arab
Cause (1941)
 The Biltmore Program (1942) (JMW 617-619) also at
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BiltProg.html
 The Last Days of the Zionist Youth Movement in Germany, 1942 (Yad Vashem)
 additional document on Zionism in the Holocaust TBA

WEEK 9 RESPONSE QUESTION: What impact did World War II have on the Zionist
movement and its perception in the eyes of the international community?

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Week 10:
Tues. 3/8
• The aftermath of the Holocaust; war and independence
Laqueur, chap. 11

 Hashomer Hazair, “The Case for a Bi-National Palestine” (1945) (JMW 622-625)
 Shertok, “Bi-Nationalism Is Unworkable” (1947) (JMW 625-626)
 United Nations General Assembly, “Resolution on Palestine” (1947) (JMW 626-627)
 UNSCOP's Plan of Partition with Economic Union
 Jamal al-Husayni, Testimony on Palestinian Arab Reaction to the UNSCOP Proposals, September 29,
1947
 Rabbi Hillel Silver, Testimony on Zionist Reaction to the UNSCOP Proposals, October 2, 1947

Thurs. 3/10
• Conclusion; review for final

Laqueur, Conclusion

 Rakovsky, My Life, chap. 10

 Proclamation of the State of Israel (1948) (JMW 629-630)

Final exam: Tues., March 15, 10:15-12:05

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