TY  - GEN
AB  - The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the Zionist project of creating a “New Jew” (or “New Hebrew”) from the perspective of three of the founding fathers of Israeli historiography, all associated with the so-called “Jerusalem School” of Jewish historiography: Yitzhak Baer (1888-1980), the historian of the Jewish Middle Ages, who late in life turned to the study of Second Commonwealth Judaism; Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), the founder of the academic study of Jewish mysticism; and Yehezkel Kaufmann (1889-1963), historian-sociologist, and one of the foremost biblical scholars of the twentieth century. My purpose is not only to explore how these individuals related to the idea of creating a new Jewish identity, but also – and primarily – to assess how they participated in the process, and how their historical writings contributed to the new identity formation. As such, this is also a study of the relationship between historiography and political ideas, as well as a broader reflection on the nature of historiography and its place in political life. In the Introduction, I provide the historical background to the emergence of the idea of the “New Jew”, the history of the Jerusalem School, a review of current literature, and an overview of the aims and methods of this study. I then turn to the three protagonists of this study, Baer, Scholem, and Kaufmann, in individualized chapters. In my concluding remarks, I reflect on the enduring legacy of this first-generation of Jerusalem scholars, and suggest some ways by which their writings could continue to be relevant in the fields of history and political thought.
AD  - University of Chicago
AU  - Ofek, Yiftach
DA  - 2021-08
DO  - 10.6082/uchicago.3346
DO  - doi
ED  - Paul Mendes-Flohr
ED  - Na'ama Rokem
ED  - Shalom Ratzabi
ID  - 3346
KW  - Judaic studies
KW  - History
KW  - Baer
KW  - Historiography
KW  - Judaism
KW  - Kaufmann
KW  - Scholem
KW  - Zionism
L1  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3346/files/Ofek_uchicago_0330D_15875.pdf
L2  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3346/files/Ofek_uchicago_0330D_15875.pdf
L4  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3346/files/Ofek_uchicago_0330D_15875.pdf
LA  - en
LK  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3346/files/Ofek_uchicago_0330D_15875.pdf
N2  - The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the Zionist project of creating a “New Jew” (or “New Hebrew”) from the perspective of three of the founding fathers of Israeli historiography, all associated with the so-called “Jerusalem School” of Jewish historiography: Yitzhak Baer (1888-1980), the historian of the Jewish Middle Ages, who late in life turned to the study of Second Commonwealth Judaism; Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), the founder of the academic study of Jewish mysticism; and Yehezkel Kaufmann (1889-1963), historian-sociologist, and one of the foremost biblical scholars of the twentieth century. My purpose is not only to explore how these individuals related to the idea of creating a new Jewish identity, but also – and primarily – to assess how they participated in the process, and how their historical writings contributed to the new identity formation. As such, this is also a study of the relationship between historiography and political ideas, as well as a broader reflection on the nature of historiography and its place in political life. In the Introduction, I provide the historical background to the emergence of the idea of the “New Jew”, the history of the Jerusalem School, a review of current literature, and an overview of the aims and methods of this study. I then turn to the three protagonists of this study, Baer, Scholem, and Kaufmann, in individualized chapters. In my concluding remarks, I reflect on the enduring legacy of this first-generation of Jerusalem scholars, and suggest some ways by which their writings could continue to be relevant in the fields of history and political thought.
PB  - The University of Chicago
PY  - 2021-08
T1  - The "New Jew" of Zionist Historiography: The Social Vision and Historical Imagination of Yitzhak Baer, Gershom Scholem, and Yehezkel Kaufmann
TI  - The "New Jew" of Zionist Historiography: The Social Vision and Historical Imagination of Yitzhak Baer, Gershom Scholem, and Yehezkel Kaufmann
UR  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3346/files/Ofek_uchicago_0330D_15875.pdf
Y1  - 2021-08
ER  -