Asael Abelman is the director of academic programs at the Tikvah Fund in Israel and head of the history department at Herzog College. His work appears in numerous Israeli journals and newspapers.
Two top Israeli observers examine the dominant Jewish personalities in Israel today, and how they compare to the ideas of pre-state Zionist writers.
What exactly did Moses Hess believe he was repenting from?
“It was one of the decisive events in human history. Never before had men been convinced, as they were then, that an idea was something to fight for and to die for.”
Gertrude Himmelfarb, historian of Victorian Britain and of the 18th-century Enlightenment, has lately devoted special attention to Jewish history and culture. What’s the connection?
Gertrude Himmelfarb, historian of Victorian Britain and of the 18th-century Enlightenment, has lately devoted special attention to Jewish history and culture. What’s the connection?
To its shame, the movement led by Ahad Ha’am missed the extreme urgency of the Jewish situation in Europe. Thankfully, the revival of his thought in today’s Israel is another matter.