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The Individual in History

Essays in Honor of Jehuda Reinharz

Jehuda Reinharz, born in Haifa in 1944, spent his childhood in Israel and his adolescence in Germany, and moved with his family to the United States when he was seventeen. These three diverse geographies and the experiences they engendered shaped his formative years and the future of a prolific scholar who devoted his life to the study of the central role of leadership as Jews faced the challenges of emancipation and integration in Germany, the rise of modern antisemitism, the formation of Zionist youth culture and politics, and the transformation of Jewish politics in Palestine and the State of Israel. In this volume, eminent scholars in their respective fields extend the lines of Reinharz’s research interests and personal activism by focusing on the ideological, political, and scholarly contributions of a diverse range of individuals in Jewish history. Essays are clustered around five central themes: ideology and politics; statecraft; intellectual, social and cultural spheres; witnessing history; and in the academy. This volume offers a panoramic view of modern Jewish history through engaging essays that celebrate Reinharz’s rich contribution as a path-breaking and prolific scholar, teacher, and leader in the academy and beyond.

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Table of Contents

Introduction • PART I. IDEOLOGY AND POLITICS • Theodor Herzl: Charisma and Leadership—Derek J. Penslar • The President before Weizmann: David Littwak and the Politics of “Old New Land”—Michael Brenner • Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, and the Altneuland Debate: Between Utopia and Radicalism—Eran Kaplan • The Vilna Gaon and His Disciples as Precursors of Zionism: The Vicissitudes of a Myth—Immanuel Etkes • Me’ir Ya‘ari and Hashomer Hatza‘ir: The Movement Is Me—Aviva Halamish • “The Wise Woman of Givat Brenner”: Jessie Sampter on Kibbutz, War, and Peace, 1934–1938—Meir Chazan • Robert Briscoe, Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin: Revisiting the Irish-Jewish Connection—Frances Malino • The Zionist Leadership of Louis D. Brandeis—Evyatar Friesel • America’s Most Memorable Zionist Leaders—Jonathan D. Sarna • The Rise of Stephen S. Wise as a Jewish Leader—Mark A. Raider • PART II. STATECRAFT • Weizmann and Ben-Gurion: Portraits in Contrast—Anita Shapira • Role, Place, and Time: The Case of Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham in Palestine, 1945–1948—Motti Golani • Bold Decisions: Three Israeli Prime Ministers Who Went against the Grain—Itamar Rabinovich • Leadership in the Arab-Israeli Conflict—Shai Feldman • At the Crossroads: Ben-Gurion at War—Shlomo Avineri • Roosevelt, American Jews, and Rescue Attempts—Yehuda Bauer • Wasfi al-Tall: An Iconic Incarnation of Jordanianism—Asher Susser • PART III. INTELLECTUAL, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL SPHERES • Particularism, Exclusivity, and Monopoly: The History of a Talmudic Statement—Moshe Halbertal • “The Individual in Jewish History”: A Feminist Perspective—Shulamit Reinharz • Thomas Carlyle versus Henry Thomas Buckle: “Great Man” versus “Historical Laws”—Yaacov Shavit • The Evolution of Roza Georgievna Vinaver: The Making of a Jewish Liberal Politician’s Wife in Imperial Russia—ChaeRan Y. Freeze • Spatial Coherence as Sovereignty—Arnold J. Band • Exemplary Leaders: Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig—Paul Mendes-Flohr • PART IV. WITNESSING HISTORY • Inside Kishinev’s Pogrom: Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Michael Davitt, and the Burdens of Truth—Steven J. Zipperstein • Julian Tuwim: Confronting Antisemitism in Poland—Antony Polonsky • The Terrible Secret: Some Afterthoughts—Walter Laqueur • A Testimony to the World of German Orthodox Judaism: A Translation of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg’s Introduction to His Seridei Eish—David Ellenson • Authors/Survivors/Witnesses: Aharon Appelfeld, Abba Kovner, Primo Levi, and Elie Wiesel between Literature and Testimony—Dina Porat • PART V. IN THE ACADEMY • On a Desperate Postdoc and the Emergence of Modern German Antisemitism—Daniel R. Schwartz • Lawrence H. Fuchs: The Scholar as Citizen—Stephen J. Whitfield • Three Brandeis Presidents: Open Leadership in an American University—David Hackett Fischer • Jehuda Reinharz Select Bibliography • Editors and Contributors • Index

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