The Invention of a Tradition

Rezensionen / Stimmen

"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, CHOICE "Are [Hazon Zion and Kol haTor] 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?
"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, Association of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews "Mr. Etkes's book is a painstaking demolition of Shlomo Zalman Rivlin's messianic Zionism."-Carl Rollyson, New York Sun "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, H-Judaic