Revolutionary and Evolutionary Trends in Contemporary Jewish History
Yakov Rabkin
27/04/2017
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Contemporary Jewish history has been rich in both revolutionary events and more gradual but no less significant evolutionary processes. This talk will look from this perspective at several points in Jewish history, including the growth of Hasidism and the sharp opposition it provoked, secularization and assimilation, the emergence of Orthodoxy and non-Orthodox movements in Europe and North America, Zionism as well as the crystallization of a Jewish nationality in the Soviet Union and the State of Israel. An important and often neglected aspect of this history is the fate of Jews in the lands of Islam in the context of imperial expansion and colonialism.
Yakov M. Rabkin is Professor of History at the University of Montreal. His areas of interest include contemporary Jewish history and the history of science. He has published and edited five books as well as over three hundred articles and book chapters. His bestseller “A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism” (2006) is now available in fifteen languages. His most recent book is “What is Modern Israel?” (2016) published in French, Japanese, and Russian.
Современный Израиль привлекает большое внимание аналитиков и общественности, но понять его мешают идеология, предрассудки и мифы. Зачастую к обсуждению Израиля подходят осторожно, чтобы не быть обвиненными в антисемитизме. В одной из предыдущих статей я объясняю, что отличает антисионизм от антисемитизма. Однако основная трудность в понимании Израиля состоит в привычной ассоциации этого государства в Западной Азии с евреями. […]
(240812) — GAZA, Aug. 12, 2024 (Xinhua) — People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) (Image by Xinhua) Modern Israel attracts much attention from […]
(Image by Prensa Latina) Every year, Jews recite the entire Pentateuch aloud in synagogues. It is divided in weekly portions. Last week’s one (Vaet’hanan, Deuteronomy 3 :23 – 7 :11) contains passages that are central to Jewish liturgy, including the Shema, a declaration of loyalty to God, or more precisely, a declaration of love […]
Este artículo también está disponible en: Inglés, Francés Lakhta Center at night (Imagen de Wikipedia) La conferencia de prensa de Vladimir Putin con los responsables de las agencias internacionales de noticias a principios de este mes, recibió una cobertura mediática importante. Gran parte de la atención se centró en su respuesta a una periodista británica sobre el […]
Yakov Rabkin L’auteur est professeur émérite d’histoire à l’Université de Montréal et associé au CERIUM, Centre d’études et de recherchesinternationales.Publié le 13 juin Idées Idées La conférence de presse du président russe, Vladimir Poutine , avec les directeurs d’agences depresse mondiales célébrée au début du mois a fait l’objet d’une couverture médiatique importante. L’attention s’est […]
Nahostkonflikt: Antizionismus ist nicht Antisemitismus. Und die meisten Zionisten sind keine Juden. Antisemitismus ist momentan ständig in den Schlagzeilen. Israels Premier nennt nicht nur den Vorwurf, Israel begehe in Gaza einen Genozid antisemitisch, sondern auch amerikanische Studierende, die einen Waffenstillstand fordern. Was Israel tut, provoziert in der Tat antisemitische Akte gegen Synagogen, jüdische Schulen und […]
Biblical accounts teem with violent episodes. Just a few days ago, we read in the synagogue the story of Jacob’s two sons, Levi and Simeon, massacring the entire male population of a city in a devious scheme using a religious pretext. (Genesis 34) Their father was so aggrieved that even on his death bed, when […]
Hanukkah is, perhaps, the easiest Jewish holiday to celebrate. There are no restrictions on what one may or may not do—no fasting and, in fact, no prohibitions except one: the lights of Hanukkah must not be used for any practical purpose, not even for studying Torah or lighting the Sabbath candles. Hanukkah candles are symbols […]
This title borrowed from the memoirs of scientist and Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini should help us learn from the weekly reading Vayigashwhat makes a good leader. In the context of the 2024 presidential election in the United States, there is much debate around the world about the personal qualities of a leader. Judah, one of […]
By Yakov Rabkin and Yaacov Yadgar Abstract This article concerns the endurance of political traditions brought to Palestine at the turn of the 20th century from the revolutionary milieu in Imperial Russia. The Russian Empire and its neighbors, which form most of today’s Eastern Europe and large swaths of Central Europe, was the homeland of […]
There is something strange about the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which occurs a few days after Yom Kippur. One is required to leave one’s usual home and move to temporary, flimsy huts exposed to the vagaries of the weather. The holiday embodies the memory of protecting former slaves who dwelled in huts on their journey […]
“This past year has proven how fragile and precious life can be.” Rabbi Moshe Taragin, educator and author, begins his recent article with these words. It is written during the Hebrew month of Elul, which, this year, began in September. He mourns the death of some of his students who died as Israel’s soldiers in the war […]
Современный Израиль привлекает большое внимание аналитиков и общественности, но понять его мешают идеология, предрассудки и мифы. Зачастую к обсуждению Израиля подходят осторожно, чтобы не быть обвиненными в антисемитизме. В одной из предыдущих статей я объясняю, что отличает антисионизм от антисемитизма. Однако основная трудность в понимании Израиля состоит в привычной ассоциации этого государства в Западной Азии с евреями. […]
(240812) — GAZA, Aug. 12, 2024 (Xinhua) — People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) (Image by Xinhua) Modern Israel attracts much attention from […]
(Image by Prensa Latina) Every year, Jews recite the entire Pentateuch aloud in synagogues. It is divided in weekly portions. Last week’s one (Vaet’hanan, Deuteronomy 3 :23 – 7 :11) contains passages that are central to Jewish liturgy, including the Shema, a declaration of loyalty to God, or more precisely, a declaration of love […]
Este artículo también está disponible en: Inglés, Francés Lakhta Center at night (Imagen de Wikipedia) La conferencia de prensa de Vladimir Putin con los responsables de las agencias internacionales de noticias a principios de este mes, recibió una cobertura mediática importante. Gran parte de la atención se centró en su respuesta a una periodista británica sobre el […]
Yakov Rabkin L’auteur est professeur émérite d’histoire à l’Université de Montréal et associé au CERIUM, Centre d’études et de recherchesinternationales.Publié le 13 juin Idées Idées La conférence de presse du président russe, Vladimir Poutine , avec les directeurs d’agences depresse mondiales célébrée au début du mois a fait l’objet d’une couverture médiatique importante. L’attention s’est […]
Nahostkonflikt: Antizionismus ist nicht Antisemitismus. Und die meisten Zionisten sind keine Juden. Antisemitismus ist momentan ständig in den Schlagzeilen. Israels Premier nennt nicht nur den Vorwurf, Israel begehe in Gaza einen Genozid antisemitisch, sondern auch amerikanische Studierende, die einen Waffenstillstand fordern. Was Israel tut, provoziert in der Tat antisemitische Akte gegen Synagogen, jüdische Schulen und […]
Biblical accounts teem with violent episodes. Just a few days ago, we read in the synagogue the story of Jacob’s two sons, Levi and Simeon, massacring the entire male population of a city in a devious scheme using a religious pretext. (Genesis 34) Their father was so aggrieved that even on his death bed, when […]
Hanukkah is, perhaps, the easiest Jewish holiday to celebrate. There are no restrictions on what one may or may not do—no fasting and, in fact, no prohibitions except one: the lights of Hanukkah must not be used for any practical purpose, not even for studying Torah or lighting the Sabbath candles. Hanukkah candles are symbols […]
This title borrowed from the memoirs of scientist and Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini should help us learn from the weekly reading Vayigashwhat makes a good leader. In the context of the 2024 presidential election in the United States, there is much debate around the world about the personal qualities of a leader. Judah, one of […]
By Yakov Rabkin and Yaacov Yadgar Abstract This article concerns the endurance of political traditions brought to Palestine at the turn of the 20th century from the revolutionary milieu in Imperial Russia. The Russian Empire and its neighbors, which form most of today’s Eastern Europe and large swaths of Central Europe, was the homeland of […]
There is something strange about the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which occurs a few days after Yom Kippur. One is required to leave one’s usual home and move to temporary, flimsy huts exposed to the vagaries of the weather. The holiday embodies the memory of protecting former slaves who dwelled in huts on their journey […]
“This past year has proven how fragile and precious life can be.” Rabbi Moshe Taragin, educator and author, begins his recent article with these words. It is written during the Hebrew month of Elul, which, this year, began in September. He mourns the death of some of his students who died as Israel’s soldiers in the war […]