"The People Do Not Understand": R. Ḥayim Hirschensohn and Political Elitism in Modern Judaism (The Vilna Gaon, Rabbi N.Ts.Y. Berlin, I. B. Levinsohn, and Herzl)
Rabbi Ḥayim (Chaim) Hirschensohn (1857-1935) was one of only a handful of Jewish thinkers to work out a Jewish political theology, and on account of his progressive stances he became a favorite of liberal circles within contemporary Judaism. Therefore, a passage in his book Malki Bakodesh, in which...
| Published in: | Harvard theological review |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
2022
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 2022, Volume: 115, Issue: 3, Pages: 441-465 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Hirshenzon, Ḥayim 1857-1935
/ Levinsohn, Isaac Baer 1788-1860
/ Herzl, Theodor 1860-1904
/ Political elite
/ Torah
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| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism HB Old Testament NCD Political ethics TJ Modern history TK Recent history ZC Politics in general |
| Further subjects: | B
Misnagdism
B political elitism B Ḥayim (Chaim) Hirschensohn B Zionism B Haskalah B Halakhic democracy B Jewish political theology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Rabbi Ḥayim (Chaim) Hirschensohn (1857-1935) was one of only a handful of Jewish thinkers to work out a Jewish political theology, and on account of his progressive stances he became a favorite of liberal circles within contemporary Judaism. Therefore, a passage in his book Malki Bakodesh, in which he expresses clear opposition to universal suffrage, "invited" mitigating interpretations. Yet, a survey of Hirschensohn’s various writings reveals that they contain a trend of political elitism. Is this surprising? Hirschensohn’s progressiveness notwithstanding, the article argues that his elitist sentiments are rooted in three major intellectual trends within modern Judaism: Mitnagdism, Haskalah, and Zionism. In the writings of seminal thinkers in each of these movements, we find political elitism and reservations about government "by the people." Hirschensohn’s personal history positioned him at the confluence of these trends, and so his elitist opinions should be viewed as the outgrowth of these intellectual traditions. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816022000268 |