The Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State

by Shlomo Avineri

An expanded edition of a classic intellectual history of Zionism, now covering the rise of religious Zionism since the 1970s For eighteen centuries pious Jews had prayed for the return to Jerusalem, but only in the revolutionary atmosphere of nineteenth-century Europe was this yearning transformed into an active political Zionism. In The Making of Modern Zionism, the distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri rejects the common view that Zionism was solely a reaction to anti-Semitism and persecution. Rather, he sees it as part of the universal quest for self-determination. In sharply-etched intellectual profiles of Zionism's major thinkers from Moses Hess to Theodore Herzl and from Vladimir Jabotinsky to David Ben Gurion, Avineri traces the evolution of this quest from its intellectual origins in the early nineteenth century to the establishment of the State of Israel. In an expansive new epilogue, he tracks the changes in Israeli society and politics since 1967 which have strengthened the more radical nationalist and religious trends in Zionism at the expense of its more liberal strains. The result is a book that enables us to understand, as perhaps never before, one of the truly revolutionary ideas of our time.

Genres: History, Israel, Politics, Nonfiction, Judaism, Jewish

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1981

About the author

Shlomo Avineri (Hebrew: שלמה אבינרי;‎ born Jerzy Wiener) was an Israeli political scientist. He was a professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He also served as a recurring visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest, and as a fellow at Munich-based academic think tank Centrum für angewandte Politikforschung, offering advice to politicians.

Reviews

[Laila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well written and balanced in its analysis on the making of modern Zionism that focus on the intellectual origins of the Jewish State. I certainly learned a lot from reading this book because I haven't read any writings from that intellectual's angle before.

There are several scenarios that I think the author's had not consider:
1) The rise of antisemitism in Europe and North America will inevitably push or motivate the affected Diaspora Jewry to see Aliyah as the only liable option to live free from persecutions;
2) The robust anti-Israel/anti-Zionist movements within the Diaspora Jewry particularly those in the United States that support the like of BDS; and
3) The existence of non-Jewish Zionist movements that actively support the right of Israel to exist as the only Jewish State.
The Zionist founding fathers and mothers should be proud of what they'd helped to built and eventually materialized. Israel, in spite of the constant challenges and threats for its right to exist, is a vibrant Jewish state in which Judaism is practice freely, Jews live freely and Hebrew spoke widely. Don't forget the street signs in Hebrew. In my opinion, these factors are the "normative center" for world Jewry could relate and be proud of. No where in the world that one can experience all these elements in one place; certainly not in Brooklyn or Baghdad.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two books are often cited as foundational when it comes to tracing the intellectual history of Zionism: Arthur Hertzberg's The Zionist Idea and Jacob Katz's Out of the Ghetto. The essays of Simon Rawidowicz and Shmuel Ettinger are also great sources on the subject. Shlomo Avineri undoubtedly builds on the work of each, but for my money his The Making of Modern Zionism is as good of a basic introduction as there is. I particularly appreciate its interpretive approach that stresses continuity. This is not because I think Zionist history felt as teleological as his presentation might signal, but instead because chronological progression provides a really solid base upon which the sophisticated reader can later process and sort through the shards, the conundrums, and all the other conceptual detritus.

Avineri wrote his book just as Labor Zionism was giving way to the Western consumerism that characterizes Israel today. That makes it an interesting artifact in that it still takes seriously the revolutionary ideas of the left. The chapter on Borochov may be one of the least interesting ones in the book, but its a good reminder of the ideas that shaped Israel's founding generation. Throughout the book, that engagement with socialist ideas and the concept of labor (organized or otherwise) as a vessel for state formation is profitable. My favorite chapters are the ones on Graetz, Smolenskin, Nordau, Ahad Ha'am, Rabbi Kook, and Ben Gurion. The chapter on Jabotinsky, a bit baggy, was nonetheless worth a read. His integral nationalism looks a lot like the populist movements of our own day.

In the epilogue, Avineri describes Zionism as an ongoing revolution against Jewish history. I'm skeptical of the language of revolution, but I agree that the formation of the State of Israel, and the ideas behind that formation, is something ongoing. It was in 1981 and it is, no less, today.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Zionism? That’s Avineri’s question. What made 19th-century Jews, living in the best time to be a Jew since the destruction of the Temple, suddenly decide to return to sovereignty in their ancient, destroyed homeland? The usual answer, antisemitism, doesn’t suffice. Jews had faced that scourge before. No, Avineri says. The reason lay in the failure of Emancipation and the rise of nationalism, the former a push factor (to leave Europe), the latter a pull (to the Land of Israel). Through concise portraits of the main Zionist thinkers, he shows how the idea of a Jewish state arose and what animated its architects. In a time of much ignorance about Zionism, this brief and elegant book is essential reading.

[Marco Pierini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shlomo Avineri was among the finest Israeli intellectuals and public servants. This book is a thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to engage with Zionism, its development and many branches. At a time when many people distort history so easily for political purposes, this book is much needed and should be read extensively. Avineri has the ability to illuminate ideas, and you can tell from this reading.

[D]

School

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

i do not agree with a lot of the conclusions made in the epilogue, but I think overall this is a really good overview of Zionist thoughts.

[Maxim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic text, succinct yet comprehensive intellectual history of early Zionism. The book gives good introductions into the thought and main arguments of the most important Zionist thinkers. The focus is primarily on their texts on their own terms, with some biographical tidbits to better situate them in their time. All the “big names” are in here (Hess, Pinsker, Ben Yehuda, Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, Jabotinsky, Ben Gurion), plus another 10 a bit prominent ones.