Language:
English
Year of publication:
2006
Titel der Quelle:
Jewry between Tradition and Secularism
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2006) 248-276
Keywords:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
;
Universities and colleges History
;
Zionism History 20th century
;
Israel and the diaspora
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to show how acute differences among Diaspora Jewish communities - flowing from rivalries, tensions, disagreements, and disunity in view of the basic ideas and institutional frameworks of the nascent Jewish nationality - evolved into cooperation and the establishment in 1925 of an institutional common denominator, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This led to organized and long-term action that points to the existence of values (e.g. the concept of "Klal Yisrael") which promoted the development of responsibility and mutual commitment between Jewish communities and the Zionist enterprise. The purpose of this discussion is to investigate the mutual integration of the main elements in the Zionist reality, which aspired to dominance in the Zionist collective historical consciousness, and the self-organization of Jewish influence around the Hebrew University which was established in the pre-independence era. My argument is that it was the Jewish communities, especially those that did not identify with Zionism, that frequently demanded a role in shaping the national society in formation. I do not claim that those who took part in establishing and running the Hebrew University had identical interests and a uniform worldview. Instead, I point to several aspects of the effort to maintain an intertwining relationship between Jewish communities in modern societies and the Zionist Movement.
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