This introductory course to Israeli culture seeks to familiarize students with the deep cultural codes that animate the exceptional achievements of Israel as "start-up nation." We will begin with a discussion of the theoretical concept of "deep codes," proceed to discuss cultural trauma and constitutions, and then move on to expound ten cultural codes that make "Israel tick." Some of those codes will serve as heuristics for explicating the motivations and modes of behavior underlying start-up nation; some of them will point to the challenges that it faces in moving from "start-up" to "expand and systematize."
- Teacher: Gad Yair
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Rothberg International School
Division of Graduate Studies
Spring Semester 2024
The Emergence of Israel
Course number: 01937
Prof. Israel Bartal
Spring 2024
Monday, 1300-1630
Office hours: Monday 1700-1800, or by appointment (e-mail to: bartalisr@yahoo.com)
Mt. Scopus Rabin building 6003
Office phone number: 0502789049
Course Description
This course examines the Zionist movement from the precursors of Zionism to the founders of the modern State of Israel. We will examine the origins of Zionist ideology and enquire into the historical conditions as well as the political strategies and the cultural developments that made its success possible. Topics of study will include the thought of Moses Hess, Theodore Herzl, Ahad Ha-am; Zeev Jabotinsky, R. Abraham Isaac Kook, and David Ben-Gurion. The varieties of Zionist thought (cultural Zionism, socialist Zionism, religious Zionism, Hebrew culture, and their critiques) will also be examined. The course will focus on the different ways in which Zionist ideas has shaped the changing reality in the Middle east. We will examine the politics of the movement re. immigration to Palestine/Israel 1840s -2000; the Israel-Arab conflict before and after 1948; Israeli politics of nation building: statehood, religion and ethnicity; and the emergence of modern Hebrew Culture.
The following books are required reading:
1. Arthur Herzberg (ed.), The Zionist Idea, Atheneum, New York 1979 (paperback) [other edtions available]. Overseas library 933.609 H576; Ebook
2. Gideon Shimoni, The Zionist Ideology, University Press of New England, 1995 (paperback). Overseas library 933.609 S556
3. Hillel Cohen, Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929. The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2015. Overseas library E329.2 C678; Ebook
4. Dmitry Shumsky, Beyond the Nation-State: The Zionist Political Imagination from Pinsker to Ben-Gurion, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. Ebook
5. Israel Bartal, Tangled Roots, The Emergence of Israeli Culture, Brown Judaic Studies, Providence RI 2020. Ebook
Course Requirements: Class participation is compulsory and students are required to prepare the course readings. All of the assigned reading, except for the required books, have been put on the Moodle website. There will be an in-class midterm examination and a take-home final exam which will encompass all the issues discussed during the semester. Exams will include both lectures and the required reading.
Final Exam. It will be a take home exam (a 4-6 pages essay) on one or two major issues that were discussed in this course
Grading:
Attendance and class participation, Mid-term Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 75%
Rothberg International School
Division of Graduate Studies
Spring Semester 2024
The Emergence of Israel
Course number: 01937
Prof. Israel Bartal
Spring 2024
Monday, 1300-1630
Office hours: Monday 1700-1800, or by appointment (e-mail to: bartalisr@yahoo.com)
Mt. Scopus Rabin building 6003
Office phone number: 0502789049
Course Description
This course examines the Zionist movement from the precursors of Zionism to the founders of the modern State of Israel. We will examine the origins of Zionist ideology and enquire into the historical conditions as well as the political strategies and the cultural developments that made its success possible. Topics of study will include the thought of Moses Hess, Theodore Herzl, Ahad Ha-am; Zeev Jabotinsky, R. Abraham Isaac Kook, and David Ben-Gurion. The varieties of Zionist thought (cultural Zionism, socialist Zionism, religious Zionism, Hebrew culture, and their critiques) will also be examined. The course will focus on the different ways in which Zionist ideas has shaped the changing reality in the Middle east. We will examine the politics of the movement re. immigration to Palestine/Israel 1840s -2000; the Israel-Arab conflict before and after 1948; Israeli politics of nation building: statehood, religion and ethnicity; and the emergence of modern Hebrew Culture.
The following books are required reading:
1. Arthur Herzberg (ed.), The Zionist Idea, Atheneum, New York 1979 (paperback) [other edtions available]. Overseas library 933.609 H576; Ebook
2. Gideon Shimoni, The Zionist Ideology, University Press of New England, 1995 (paperback). Overseas library 933.609 S556
3. Hillel Cohen, Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929. The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2015. Overseas library E329.2 C678; Ebook
4. Dmitry Shumsky, Beyond the Nation-State: The Zionist Political Imagination from Pinsker to Ben-Gurion, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. Ebook
5. Israel Bartal, Tangled Roots, The Emergence of Israeli Culture, Brown Judaic Studies, Providence RI 2020. Ebook
Course Requirements: Class participation is compulsory and students are required to prepare the course readings. All of the assigned reading, except for the required books, have been put on the Moodle website. There will be an in-class midterm examination and a take-home final exam which will encompass all the issues discussed during the semester. Exams will include both lectures and the required reading.
Final Exam. It will be a take home exam (a 4-6 pages essay) on one or two major issues that were discussed in this course
Grading:
Attendance and class participation, Mid-term Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 75%
- Teacher: Israel Bartal