Ahad Ha'am
Asher Hirsch Ginsberg ( born August 18, 1856 in Skwyra in Kiev, Ukraine, † January 2, 1927 in Tel Aviv), known by his pen name Ahad Ha'am (Hebrew "One of the People" ), was a Zionist activist, journalist and chief representative of the later so-called cultural Zionism, the doctrine of " spiritual center " (Hebrew Merkas Ruchani ) in Palestine.
Life
Asher Ginsberg, whose father was a Hasid and prosperous village merchant, received a traditional Jewish education at home. With a private teacher he learned Talmud and medieval philosophy, with emphasis on Maimonides ' Guide of the Perplexed. He also studied self-taught modern languages ( Russian, German, French, English ) and Latin. After his marriage in 1873 he drove his private studies continue, especially philosophy and natural sciences. He tried several times in vain to enroll at a university and was self-taught. Due to strong rationalist tendencies, he first gave to Hasidism and then turned completely from the religious belief from.
In 1884 he settled in Odessa down, which was a leading center of Hebrew literature at that time, and remained there, with brief interruptions until 1907., Where he joined the movement Hovevei Zion, which had co-founded Leo Pinsker. In his first important articles, Lo seh ha - Derech ("This is not the way ", in 1962 under the title "The Wrong Way " translated into English), which in 1889 under the pseudonym Ahad Ha'am ( "One of the People" ) appeared he sharply criticized the policy of Zion Hovevei of immediate settlement of Eretz Israel and called educational work instead as a prerequisite for a dedicated and permanent settlement. A secret society called Bnei Moshe ( "Moses ' sons " ), who for eight years had on hand and was led by Ahad Ha'am, trying to realize the views expressed in his first article ideas.
After two Palestinian trips in 1891 and 1893 Ahad Ha'am took the view that the establishment of a Jewish state would just lead there to many, some serious problems and favored by then on a course of action that once again the Jewish culture in the area anchor asked. Ahad Ha'am attitude, which was therefore also called cultural Zionism, differed so little in the analysis of the results of the so-called political Zionists. However, Ahad Ha'am had no confidence in the effectiveness of Theodor Herzl's diplomatic efforts and accused Herzl and Nordau to neglect Jewish values . The cultural work appeared to him as a sine qua non for Zionism and protection against assimilation. After a recent visit to Palestine in 1900, he criticized the employees working there by Baron Edmond Rothschild in Paris, her dictatorial behavior and the neglect of national values in the education system of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. While the political Zionists advocated the primacy of the founding of the state and would, if necessary dodged to other settlements, Ahad Ha'am limited and his followers prefer their political ambitions, but preferred for Eretz Israel as a destination. Zion as an intellectual and cultural center takes precedence over the political- economic structure and a Jewish statehood in Palestine. Although he had been involved in drafting the Balfour Declaration, he could not join the enthusiasm of the Zionist movement about disclosure, when he saw their limited effect, especially in the context of his required understanding with the Palestinian Arabs, for their national rights he championed. The cultural Zionist concern was later echoed by Martin Buber and other intellectuals and found in Zionist education also taken into account.
Only Weizmann succeeded in merging the two fallen apart Zionist factions again.
Ahad Ha'am in 1913 responded in a letter the question "What is Judaism? ": "I think religion itself is only one of the forms of culture. And Judaism is neither the one nor the other, but the national work force, which was expressed as a mainly religious culture in the past. In this form, Judaism is expressed in the future. "
Ahad Ha'am in 1903 gave to the work as editor of the monthly journal Ha - Shiloah and became a sales representative of the Wissotzky tea company. From 1907 he lived in London and settled in 1922, already physically ill, in Tel -Aviv down, the first honorary citizen he was and where you named a street after him. In 1927, he died in Tel - Aviv.
Ahad Ha'am was the creator of a new Hebrew style of Journalism and Science and is considered one of the best modern Hebrew writer and literary critic of his time.
Works (selection)
- Lo seh ha - Derech. ("This is not the way. ") Of 1889 in Odessa written, first essay on a Zionist theme.
- Al para chat ha - Drachim. ( " At the Crossroads. " ) Essays and papers, 4 volumes, 1895.
- Haschiloach. Scientific Journal, 1897 ff
- The Yishuv and his guardian. Acclaimed newspaper article, 1902.