{"product_id":"the-invention-of-a-tradition-the-messianic-zionism-of-the-gaon-of-vilna-hardback-9781503634534","title":"The Invention of a Tradition; The Messianic Zionism of the Gaon of Vilna (Hardback) 9781503634534","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Invention of a Tradition\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eThe Messianic Zionism of the Gaon of Vilna\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eImmanuel Etkes (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781503634534\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 31 October 2023\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e234 pages, 14 halftones\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.417 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Immanuel Etkes's meticulously learned study demolishes the revisionist history of the origins of Zionism. Not only has Etkes set the historical record straight, but he has also exposed the falsifications of history that serve the pernicious political turn towards messianic and antidemocratic religious fundamentalism in Israel today. An exceptional work of sober historical scholarship that makes a real difference in our understanding of the contemporary world.\"—Allan Nadler, Drew University \"In concise chapters Etkes reviews and rejects direct personal involvement of the Vilna Gaon in the life of the first Zionist settlers. He persuasively argues that valid letters and literature suggest that the Gaon's teaching, not direct involvement, inspired return to Zion among his disciples and descendants.... Recommended.\"—Z. Garber, \u003ci\u003eCHOICE\u003c\/i\u003e \"Are [\u003ci\u003eHazon Zion\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKol haTor\u003c\/i\u003e] these works authored by students of the Gaon? Or were they written by Shlomo Zalman Rivlin, a 20th-century Jerusalemite, who attributed them to the Gaon's students?\u003cbr\u003e  \"In this important book, ... Immanuel Etkes puts the debate to rest. He meticulously documents the supposed evidence of the earlier authorship and discovers that none of it holds water.\"—Yoel Finkelman, \u003ci\u003eAssociation of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e \"Mr. Etkes's book is a painstaking demolition of Shlomo Zalman Rivlin's messianic Zionism.\"—Carl Rollyson, \u003ci\u003eNew York Sun\u003c\/i\u003e \"Etkes's book is a meticulously researched and carefully argued monograph. But it is more than that. It is also a case study in scholarly debunking, in how to do scholarship that (the author hopes) has clear political implications, and presented in the rhetoric of scholarly polemics.... Etkes's book is far from a mere academic study, of interest primarily to other scholars. Rather, it is also an intervention in a deeply complex political situation, one in which historical memory informs the present.\"—Brian Hillman, \u003ci\u003eH-Judaic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Gaon of Vilna was the foremost intellectual leader of non-Hasidic Jewry in eighteenth-century Europe; his legacy is claimed by religious Jews, both Zionist and not. In the mid-twentieth century, Shlomo Zalman Rivlin wrote several books advancing the myth that the Gaon was an early progenitor of Zionism. Following the 1967 War in Israel, messianic sentiments spread in some circles of the national-religious public in Israel, who embraced this myth and made it a central component of the historical narrative they advanced. For those who identified with the religious Zionist enterprise, the myth of the Gaon and his disciples as the first Zionists was seen as proof of the righteousness of their path.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this book, Israeli scholar Immanuel Etkes explores how what he calls the \"Rivlinian myth\" took hold, and demonstrates that it has no basis in historical reality. Etkes argues that proponents of the Rivlinian myth seek to blur the distinction between Zionism as a modern national movement and traditional messianic phenomenon—a distinction that underlies many of the central conflicts of contemporary Israeli politics. As historian David Biale suggests in his brief foreword to this English translation, \"what is at stake here is not only historical truth but also the very identity of Zionism as a nationalist movement.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eForeword by David Biale\u003cbr\u003e  Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e  Introduction\u003cbr\u003e  PART I The books \u003ci\u003eHazon Zion\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e and the Rivlinian myth\u003cbr\u003e  1. Hazon Zion, a Messianic Zionist movement\u003cbr\u003e  2. The main ideas of \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  3. Does \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e express a Messianic Zionist doctrine held by the Vilna Gaon\u003cbr\u003e  PART II The Vilna Gaon and his disciples as the first Zionists: The evolution of a myth\u003cbr\u003e  4. Why did the disciples of the Vilna Gaon immigrate to the Land of Israel?\u003cbr\u003e  5. How did the Rivlinian myth take form?\u003cbr\u003e  6. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher's \u003ci\u003eHa-Tkufah ha-Gdolah\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  7. The academic version of the Rivlinian myth\u003cbr\u003e  8. Did Shlomo Zalman Rivlin receive the text of \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e from Yitzhak Zvi Rivlin?\u003cbr\u003e  PART III Additional writings by Shlomo Zalman Rivlin\u003cbr\u003e  9. \u003ci\u003eMossad ha-Yesod\u003c\/i\u003e: The Old Yishuv recast as the beginnings of Zionism\u003cbr\u003e  10. \u003ci\u003eMidrash Shlomo\u003c\/i\u003e and the Department for Training Young Orators\u003cbr\u003e  11. \u003ci\u003eHa-Maggid Doresh Zion\u003c\/i\u003e: Rabbi Moshe Rivlin as a \"\u003cbr\u003eZionist\"\u003cbr\u003e leader\u003cbr\u003e  12. \u003ci\u003eSefer ha-Pizmonim\u003c\/i\u003e: Yosef Yosha Rivlin as a \"\u003cbr\u003eMessianic Zionist visionary\u003cbr\u003e  PART IV The creation of \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  13. Who was the author of \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e?\u003cbr\u003e  14. Shlomo Zalman Rivlin: The man and his literary motives\u003cbr\u003e  15. The embrace of the Rivlinian myth and \u003ci\u003eKol ha-Tor\u003c\/i\u003e in Religious Zionist circles\u003cbr\u003e  Conclusion\u003cbr\u003e  Appendix: Rivlin family members\u003cbr\u003e  Notes\u003cbr\u003e  Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e  Index\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Stanford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52656055550232,"sku":"9781503634534","price":41.89,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-invention-of-a-tradition-the-messianic-zionism-of-the-gaon-of-vilna-hardback-9781503634534","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}