AḤAD HA-ʿAM
(1856–1927), pen name of Asher Ginzberg, meaning “one of the people”; writer and Zionist philosopher. Born of a Hasidic family in the Ukraine, Ginzberg achieved the reputation of a brilliant young Talmudist before studying modern philosophy, which he understood as irrevocably undermining religious faith. In 1884 he moved to Odessa, where he came into close contact with the Ḥovevei Zion group and began in 1889 to write the occasional essays that made him one of the most prominent figures in modern Hebrew literature and the Jewish nationalist movement. In the debate over the future of early Zionism and modern Jewish culture, Aḥad ha-ʿAm called for intense educational efforts to strengthen Jewish national consciousness. Rejecting calls for the radical transformation of Jewish values, he advocated pursuit of Jewish continuity in secular terms, praising absolute justice as an essential Jewish value.... ...
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