A Look at Nationalism and the Jewish-Israeli Case
Keywords:
Nationalism, Middle Ages, Jewish People, History of the People of Israel, Jewish Nationalism, History of Nationalism, Old Testament, Awakening, Christian NationalismAbstract
Were Ancient Israel and the Jewish people a nation in the Middle Ages? This article critically examines the answers to this question according to the three major schools of contemporary nationalism studies.
The Modernist School regards Israel as a religion only and denies the nationalistic aspects of Israel’s history. Modernist scholars try to fit the Jewish- Israeli case to various theories that relate to nations very different from Israel. The Ethno-Symbolic School claims that Jewish nationalism is a major source of nationalism in general and that the Ancient Israel is the origin of nationalism. In other words, this approach is the extreme opposite of the Modernist School and ignores the national elements present in other ancient nations. The third school sees nationalism as a widespread human phenomenon that is not limited to a specific period or area. This school offers a balanced analysis of Israel’s place in the history of nationalism.
The article’s conclusion is that Jewish nationalism was not the only example of nationalism in antiquity, though its intensity was unique for several reasons. Furthermore, Ancient Israel produced the Old Testament, a religious text suffused with nationalistic elements that became a major source of inspiration for national awakening in medieval and modern Christian societies.
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