Language:
Hebrew
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
מורשת ישראל; כתב-עת ליהדות לציונות ולארץ ישראל
Angaben zur Quelle:
19,2 (תשפא) 205-232
Keywords:
Samson
;
Bible. Influence
;
Bible Use 20th century
;
History
;
Jews Identity 20th century
;
History
;
Zionism Philosophy 20th century
;
History
;
Ashkelon (Israel)
Abstract:
Four chapters of the Bible are devoted to the story of Samson ben Manoah: a questionable nazirite, a questionable judge, and a questionable leader. He is neither described as a national savior nor a national hero, and he does not release the tribe of Israel from the yoke of the Philistines. Rather, he acts on his own to satisfy his selfish needs. For example, after his marriage, he slaughters thirty Philistines and takes their belongings (Judges 14:19). In paintings and sculptures, his name is associated with the mythological Greek Heracles and the Roman Hercules. Every period, every culture, and every artist has a Samson – a national hero, a lover, or a man of God. The Sages see him as an ideal judge, leader, savior, and redeemer. The Israeli city of Ashkelon adopted Samson as one of its ancient myths and turned him into a tourist brand identified with the city. The founders of Ashkelon sought a historical biblical figure who would represent the “new Israeli” in the new city. By the early 1950s, Samson’s name was regularly linked to activities and events in the city, often spontaneously and without any official sanction. The biblical Samson is portrayed as wild and passionate, and he is immortalized in Ashkelon in a wide variety of ways: in mosaics, in sculptures, and in the names of streets, sites, institutions, and businesses. As in the story of the Jews in the Diaspora and the rebirth of Zionism in Israel, the reclamation of Samson in Ashkelon echoes one of the goals of Zionism – to shape a collective awareness of a new Jewish identity by means of mythological motifs from the past. Here, Samson is the strong and assertive “new Jew.”
Note:
With an English abstract.
URL:
אתר את הפרסום בקטלוג המאוחד של ספריות ישראל
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