A transnational millet in the Jewish state: A Judeo-Spanish diaspora between Israel and Turkey, 1948–1958

Between 1948 and 1956, 36,302 Jews migrated from Turkey to Israel, forming the largest Turkish diaspora hub at that time. Drawing on the nine newspapers published by Turkish Jews in Israel in their vernacular, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), this article sheds light on the complex nature of the migrants' transnational affinity to the Turkish Republic and on how it coexisted with their Jewish nationalism. In addition to situating this development within the broader context of post-WWII Turkish transnationalism, we also delineate their unique historic status as ethnic Jewish communities or millet. Examining the post-Ottoman era, we show how they leveraged their political, commercial and leisure-related ties with Turkey—deemed more developed in those terms than Israel—to empower themselves as an ethnic community and to facilitate their integration into the Jewish state. In so doing, this study bridges some of the gaps in the analyses of Muslim and non-Muslim migrations, and it suggests that we rethink the languages used to explore Turkish transnationalism as well as its geographical borders and underlying characteristics.     

Relations between Tel Aviv and Jaffa 1921–1936: A reassessment

From the founding of Tel Aviv adjacent to the Arab city of Jaffa, a new and unique reality arose in Palestine in the form of neighborly relations between a Hebrew city and an Arab city. A deep rift in these relations resulted from the riots of 1921 and 1929, and in Zionist historiography it is argued that from the 1921 riots onward, the ties between them weakened and deteriorated constantly. This article aims to shed new light on the question, and to show that there was, in fact, a clear tendency of continuous improvement in the relationship from the first half of the 1920s until the outbreak of the 1936 riots.     

The ingathering of (non-human) exiles: The creation of the Tel Aviv Zoological Garden animal collection, 1938–1948

This article examines the formation of the animal collection at the Tel Aviv zoological garden. Using Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, the article analyzes the images and practices of animal importation. It shows that in spite of the importance of Zionist enthusiasm in driving the establishment of the Tel Aviv zoo, and the attribution of Zionist vocabulary to animals living in it, its significance cannot be reduced to Zionist ideology and practice. The zoo’s animal collection was the product of the specific historical, colonial-imperial circumstances formed under the British Mandate. The gathering of the animals reflects the indispensable British contribution to the development of cultural endeavors in Palestine, and the coexistence of British and Zionist aspirations.     

Like an oasis in the desert: The Israel consulate in Munich, 1948–1953

Yosef Gorny, Zionism and the Arabs 1882–1948: A Study in Ideology Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987, 342 pp., U.S. $67., U.K.£35.

Robert S. Wistrich, The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Franz Joseph. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Littman Library, 1989, 696 pp.

Shabtai Teveth, Ben‐Gurion: The Burning Ground 1886–1948, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. 967 pages.

Jehuda Reinharz, Hashomer Hatzair in Germany, 1931–1939, Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim Publishing House, Ltd., 1987, 246 pp.

Benjamin Akzin: From Riga to Jerusalem — A Memoir (Hebrew), The Zionist Library, Jerusalem, 1989, 369 pp; Herzl Rosenblum, Drops from the Sea (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1987, 207 pp; Dr. Meir Kahan, Carry a Fire to Kindle (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1988, 221 pp.

Uri Bar‐Joseph, Best of Enemies: Israel and Transjordan in the War of 1948, Frank Cass Publishers, London, 1987, x+254pp.,£25.     

The formation of secondary education in Israel, 1948–1964

As in most areas of Israeli historiography, studies in the history of the educational system rely mostly on sources concerning the leaders of the system, and above all, the political arena. However, quite surprisingly, the Israeli government had almost no part in the formation of the secondary education system. With no legal or budgetary sanctions, the Ministry of Education had no authority over the multitude of institutions. High schools were founded according to the parents’ demand for education, and maintained by their tuition fees, without any governmental intervention. Thus, any historical account of the system and its ramifications should take into consideration that it was shaped not by politics and ideology, but by an “Invisible Hand.”     

From legalism to symbolism: anti-mobility and national identity in Israel, 1948–1958

The paper traces the historical roots of anti-mobility discourse in Israel and examines the changing policies and practices geared towards the prevention of mass Jewish departure during its first decade of statehood. It identifies two distinct phases in the battle waged against international mobility, under the headings of ‘Legalism’ (1948–1953) and ‘Symbolism’ (1954–1958). While the former was led by official agencies of the young state and required the passing of laws and other administrative decrees, the latter was mainly a society-led campaign of ad-hoc symbolic practices by groups seeking to de-legitimize international mobility and emigration in particular. Despite their qualitative differences, both were instrumental to the national identity formation project in postindependence Israel, assisting in the construction and maintenance of (physical and cultural) boundaries between Jews in Israel and others – both Diaspora Jews and non-Jews.     

The supreme court of Israel: Formative years, 1948–1955

In seeking to establish a paradigm of a literary “New Jew” for the early twentieth century, we must view the cultural developments of the time on the background of European modernist culture. During this period the European “New Jew” underwent many incarnations, including Max Nordau's muscular hero, Buber's “Renaissance” Jew, Berdyczewski's Nietzschean “new man,” Herzl's “authentic Jew,” and the Hebrew literary talush (rootless person). All the divergent ideas of Jewish renewal propounded in Europe were united in Shaul Tchernichovsky's poetry, either through deliberate reference or as a result of the tenor of the time. This article examines Tchernichovsky's implicit conception of the “New Jew” through two poems: “Lenokhah pesel Apollo” (Before a statue of Apollo, 1899) and “Ani – li misheli ein klum” (I have nothing of my own, 1937).     

The Holocaust and the birth of Israel in British,Swedish and Finnish press discourse, 1947–1948

This article examines the way in which the Holocaust was linked to the process of the birth of Israel between 1947 and 1948 in the mainstream British, Swedish and Finnish press. By utilising a framework of comparative cultural history, this essay seeks to understand why different countries responded to the suffering of the Jews during the Second World War in such diverse ways. This essay also seeks to question the popular belief that the two events were intimately linked, and that the link was recognised in a straightforward manner. Hence, the study argues that although the press coverage sometimes managed to establish the connection between the two events, more typically the news was domesticated. In other words, the news had a transcendental and meta-historical character, working as an extension to each country's own self-understanding of Jews, Zionism and the Holocaust.     

Buttressing the West in the North: The Atlantic Alliance,Economic Warfare,and the Soviet Challenge in Iceland, 1956–1959

MICHAEL MCCORMICK. Origins of the European Economy: Communications and Commerce, AD 300-900. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. xxviii, 1,101. $60.00 (US). Reviewed by Warren Treadgold