Ahad Ha'am's Idea of the Spiritual Center - Research Paper Example

Introduction: Ahad Ha’am was a Hebrew essayist, of singular power and ity, and one of the foremost pre Zionist thinkers. He was born on18 August 1856 at Skvira, Ukraine. His original name was Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg but was famous by his pen name Ahad Ha’am, which means one of the people. He is also known as the founder of Cultural Zionism and strived for "a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews.” He left an extensive impact on Hebrew culture, with his equivocal political imprint.

The collection of his essays comprises of the four-volume ‘Al Parashat Derakhim (At the Crossroads; 1895–1914), remain among the most influential ever written by a modern Jewish intellectual. The leading figures of twentieth-century Judaism labelled him as a ‘prime inspiration’. They include Israel’s first president Chaim Weizmann, Hebrew University chancellor Judah Magnes, poet Hayim Nahman Bialik, Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem, and theologian Martin Buber. Ahad Ha’am’s Cultural Zionism: Ahad Ha’am's idea was his most famous; this was known as cultural Zionism.

It was based on the establishment of small settlements in Palestine which aimed at resuscitating the Jewish spirit and culture in the modern world. According to Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs, Ginsberg saw what he called "absolute spirituality" (ruhani ha?muhlat) as the very essence of Judaism, which had always set its face against material concepts of the divine. In the vision of cultural Zionism, a small number of Jewish cadres speaking Hebrew as well as who were well-versed in Jewish culture would settle in Palestine.

He believed that religious Jews would replace their metaphysical attachment to the Holy Land with a New Hebrew cultural renaissance by residing in that ancient land. He believed that only through Jewish self-reliance and careful preparation would the Zionist enterprise succeed (Edgar S. Marshall, 2002). Leon Simon (1912) sates in his book Hebrew, ‘Ahad Ha'am travelled frequently to Palestine and published reports about the progress of Jewish settlements there. They were generally glum. They reported on hunger, on Arab dissatisfaction and unrest, on unemployment, and on people leaving Palestine.

’ He believed that rather than aspiring to establish a "National Home" or state immediately, Zionism must aspire to bring Jews to Palestine gradually, making it a cultural centre. At the same time, Zionism must inspire a revival of Jewish national life abroad; that would help to bring about a Jewish majority in Palestine. Then, and only then, will the Jewish people be strong enough to assume the mantle of building a nation state, according to Ahad Ha'am.’ Sources Cited Leon Simon (1912), ‘Hebrew’, Jewish Publication Society of America Rabbi Dr.

Louis Jacobs, Ahad Ha-Am: Leader of Cultural Zionism, The Jewish Religion: A Companion, Oxford University Press. Edgar S. Marshall (2002), Israel: current issues and historical background, Nova Publishers