In this volume, Arieh Saposnik examines the complicated relations between nationalism and religious (and non-religious) redemptive traditions through the case study of Zionism. He provides a new framework for understanding the central ideas of this movement and its relationship to traditional Jewish ideas, Christian thought, and modern secular messianisms. Providing a longue-durée and broad view of the central themes and motivations in the making of Zionism, Saposnik connects its intellectual history with the concrete development of the Zionist project in Israel in its cultural, social, and political history. Saposnik demonstrates how Zionism offers lessons for a politics in which human perfectibility continues to serve as a guiding light and as a counter-narrative to the contemporary politics of self-interest, self-promotion and 'post-truth.' This is a study that bears implications for our understanding of modernity, of space and place, history and historical trajectories, and the place of Jews and Judaism in the modern world.

‘… evocative exploration of overlooked corners of the Zionist past …’

Allan Arkush Source: Jewish Review of Books

‘Whether one is interested in debates about redemption among competing factions of the Zionist movement during the pre-state era or debates between this movement and non-Jewish others during that era, Saposnik’s monograph offers a first-rate introduction to the topic. His book, in short, is certain to become a core work insofar as concerns this dimension of Zionist thought.’

David Rodman Source: Israel Affairs

‘This [book] is a much-needed corrective in the historiography of Zionism.’

Motti Inbari Source: Israel Studies Review