Zionism has been defined as “Jewish nationalism,” but what does this phrase mean? And how exactly should the “Jewish” element be combined with the “national” one? Cultural Zionists and political Zionists have debated these questions since the movement began in the 19th century, and Israel’s political schisms today reflect these arguments. In this course, we will read and discuss texts by Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook in order to understand each writer’s position. Herzl and Ahad Ha’am were early Zionists whose opposing visions set the tone for the Jewish state, which Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook’s vision has shaped in the past decades.

Our aim will be to understand the goals of these Zionist thinkers and how each understood the meaning of Jewish nationalism, and seek to understand their writings in their original context as well as how each reverberates today.