Abstract
In this course we will examine American Diaspora identity disputes from the perspective of both
cultural/spiritual Zionism of Ha'am and the political Zionism of Herzl, promoting secular and
completely emancipated Jewish identification. The course will start with a brief historical survey
of the development of the American Jewish community in Dutch New Amsterdam from 1654
and will investigate the most significant factors that determined the Jewish-Gentile relations,
based first on religious fanaticism and Christian prejuduce, and then on the 19th-century upsurge
of ideological anti-Semitism, which resulted in the spread of Herzlian Zionism as the only
political response that sought to provide a solution for the whole Jewish people.
We will specifically focus on the redefinition of the Jewish identity discourse after the
estsblishment and international recognition of the State of Israel which began to serve as a point
of reference for Jewish American community identification.We will make an attempt to analyse
three fundamental aspects of the development of Jewish American identity: Zionisms, considered
both as an intellectual current and as an ideological stance focusing on the establishment of a
Jewish state; Americanness (extolling such great American documents as the Constitution of the
United States and the American Bill of Rights), and international ties. In the course we will
examine the various streams of Zionism; its frequent disregard for realities, its mythical
character and romantic idealism that mostly attracted young people.
An important condition unique to the United States was a popular belief that America was a New
Zion, a belief shared not only by the mainstream Christian society but also by Jews themselves,
which was confirmed in April 1918 by the statement of the American Jewish Committee: "The
Jews of the United States have here established a permanent home for themselves and their
children, and recognize their allegiance to this country." This, however, was the bone of contention between Zionists and anti-Zionists, the latter claiming that Zionism and Americanism
were incompatible. And it was Louis Brandeis who first 'de-emphasized' that argument.
The examination of a heated public discourse which developed at the turn of the 20th century
within the Jewish American communities about the Zionist ideas will familiarize the students
with numerous challenges inherent in the topic of the course.
Although as a consequence of the Holocaust, the idea of the Jewish State seemed to have lost its
historical importance, the issue of a state for the Jewish people became even more topical. The
establishment of Israel was an ideological turning point in the history of Zionism(s). However,
there were also other factors that influenced Zionism after 1948: the destruction of European
Jewry during World War II and, later, the unfolding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Zionism
changed in the sense that the meaning of its components and their relative strength within the
Zionist movements became modified.