Podcast: Asael Abelman on the History of "Hatikvah"
To mark the 76th anniversary of Israel’s founding, the historian looks at the national anthem’s story, mysteries, and paradoxes.
Daniel Gordis and Asael Abelman on the Personality of the New Jew
Two top Israeli observers examine the dominant Jewish personalities in Israel today, and how they compare to the ideas of pre-state Zionist writers.
How a Founding Socialist Inspired Karl Marx, and Then Went on to Herald the State of Israel
What exactly did Moses Hess believe he was repenting from?
What Zionist Historians Have Thought about Hanukkah
“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.”
Anglo-Jewish Attitudes
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?
The Failure of Cultural Zionism
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.