Western Jewry and the Zionist Project, 1914-1933

by Michael Berkowitz

Overview

This is the first study of the Zionist movement in Germany, England and the United States that recognizes "Western Zionism" as a distinctive force. It focuses on images of Zionist leaders and Palestine, on tours of Palestine, youth and women's organizations, the First World War, and the rise of the Keren Hayesod (Palestine Foundation Fund).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521470872
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/13/1996
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; 1. Manly men and the attempted appropriation of the war experience; 2. A new pantheon: the portrayal of Zionist leaders in the West; 3. Dollars and the changing sense of Zionism; 4. Fundraising and catastrophe; 5. 'From swamp to settlement': rural and urban utopian visions; 6. Nationalized tourism in Palestine; 7. Idealism, realism, and sociability in Western Zionist youth organizations; 8. Cold embrace: the reception of Hasassah and organized European women Zionists; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"‘If you love Israel so much, why don't you live there?' is a sentence that many Jews in the diaspora have heard. The history of diaspora Jewish support for a Jewish homeland by Jews who initially had no desire to actually move there is the subject of Michael Berkowitz's history of Zionism in the west (and the contrasts with the Zionism of the east). It puts his work at the forefront of writers in Jewish history in the west." Sander L. Gilman, University of Chicago

"A richly documented, lucidly argued, and singularly original analysis of Zionism's near-fatal ambivalence among ‘emancipated' Jewry in the last twilight decades before Adolf Hitler. Professor Berkowitz has produced a work of enduring scholarship." Howard M. Sachar, George Washington University

"This volume is a wonderful and welcome addition to the already excellent body of literature om Zionism. Berkowitz has combed the archives of three continents and is imaginative in the way he integrates new sources with existing ones as well as looking at old material in new ways. He has also included dozens of photographs which enhance the reader's understanding of the Zionists' vision. As in any volume that attempts to do as much as Berkowitz's does, the treatment is often going to be uneven in cases....There is little doubt that Professor Berkowitz has an excellent command of both the primary and secondary sources and has written a book that all scholars interested in the period will have to read." Glenn R. Sharfman, SHOFAR

"Berkowitz has written a book on a relatively little known aspect of Zionism. The fact that this book is a sequel to his previous volume establishes a continuity in the topic and shows an important evolution. I am certain that students of Zionism will find Berkowitz's work compelling in more than one sense." Rachel Feldhay Brenner, Int'l Jrnl of Middle East Studies

"...innovative and provocative, and open new paths for Zionist research." Jacques Kornberg, Central European History

From the Publisher