Zionism Before Herzl (1882-1896)

Jeremy Shuback as Leon Pinsker:

Kraut as Ahad HaAm:

Maps by Omniatlas:

Sources:

Ahad HaAm
Ten Essays on Zionism and Judaism

Neville J. Mandel
"Ottoman Policy and Restrictions on Jewish Settlement in Palestine: 1881-1908: Part I"
Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3

Leon Pinsker
"Auto-Emancipation"

Leon Simon
Ahad HaAm: A Biography
(out of print)

0:00 Omniatlas
1:00 Intro
1:47 Pre-Zionism (1099-1840)
5:02 Proto-Zionism (1840-1882)
8:00 Auto-Emancipation
12:56 Hovevei Zion
16:16 Abdulhamid II
19:10 The Panic Aliyah
21:12 Ahad HaAm

[SamAronow]

*NOTE:*
We’re now in a period of Jewish history that is much more well-known (at least within the tribe), and that means that I can’t mention every single important figure that you may have heard of. I’m limited primarily by (1) the need for a well-paced, narratively coherent video, which requires avoiding information that’s technically relevant but unnecessary, and (2) the amount of time I can spend on each video while keeping to a semi-monthly schedule that prevents the YouTube algorithm from burying me. This will become even more apparent in the next video, which theoretically could involve almost every public figure in the entire western world. So apologies for not mentioning The Perushim, Haim Bibas, Chaim Zvi Schneersohn, or Menahem Ussishkin.

[petergershon]

What fascinates me about Ahad Ha’am is that a lot of his criticisms of the early Zionist movement are still applicable to the modern state of Israel. Mistreatment of the Arabs, over reliance on foreign aid and foreign investment he was a smart guy

[MetatronsRevenge]

28:30 He predicted 100+ years of future conflict. That's insane

[Kraut_the_Parrot]

Many thanks for inviting me to be a part of this :)

[מ.מ-הד]

8:08
In 1939 Jews were the largest ethnic group in Odessa. In 1941 there were almost none.

[ajschlesinger]

Sam, I really appreciate your use of video game music throughout the series. It reminds me of the times I spent binge watching Jacob Geller's channel, then learning about our shared heritage through his essay on Wolfenstein.

It also reminds me of growing up as a little kid in long island. I never thought my older brother's Zelda obsession would lead me down a long winding path to this video series, ultimately reconnecting me to my ancestors. It's wild how we can all be on the same wavelength without ever knowing one another.

[marcello]

I'm doing an extensive research on Zionism in these days and these videos come right in time. Many thanks!

[EladLerner]

RISHON LEZION REPRESENT!!

Wow, what an episode. I got literal chills when you revealed Ehad Haam's name.

[derondo]

I wish you could make a clip about the continuity of Jewish presence in Palestine and the attempts, even by spiritual people alone, to come and settle there. Even before Christian
Zionism, for example the Vilna Gabon’s students in 1808 from Shklov. Only you could draw a timeline connecting the Bar Kokhva revolt, the Masoretes in 10th century Tiberias, the Ramban in Acres in 13th century, Shabtay Zvi in 16th century, etc.

[gyllenspetzfamily]

I love it when Sam does a video that connects with little pockets of history I know.

[thefisherking]

My goodness, your work is truly incredible.

[formulaone]

9:08 "But it came at a significant time in the Jewish history of Europe". Notice the map of France during the time of the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, which was around the time of the Odessa riots depicted in this video. The rise of Bismark's German Empire and the subsequent taking of Alsace-Lorraine would arguably play a pivotal yet accidental role in the development of Zionism less than 30 years later.

[senttiee]

I'm so excited to have finally caught up. Thanks so much for these videos!

[palsyr]

Well there were also many Christians in Palestine too, many likely being descendants of Jews and were persecuted by Islamic Caliphates for a time as well as the crusaders but still survived to this day as Palestinian Christians like my family and we still pray in the Aramaic language. We share many of the horror the Jews went through as a people including the Ottoman genocide with our Aramaic speaking communities in southern Turkey (where Aramaic speaking Jews also lived.) Yet now israel is persecuting us today and the israeli government does not recognize the ottoman genocide of our communities.

[schrodingersmoose]

A very informative look into an often misunderstood (to put it lightly) and interesting history. Great video as usual!

[icysaracen]

I was wondering if you can do a video on secular/non religious Jews who had taken up European ideologies like Fascism, Communism and anarchism and how they all interacted with one another in the new state of Israel.

[Grey]

Heretical is an overstatement. One could say it was against what the gemara said, but in terms of what constitutes heresy and what doesn't, no one would classify aliyah in those terms. Otherwise all those rabbinic figures who made aliyah never would've done it.

[LordScreech]

So hard-hitting and prescient, that line from Ha'Am... "This sudden change has planted despotic tendencies in their hearts, as always happens to former slaves..."

[tombirmingham]

that part about how people that were oppressed oppressing others really got to me. hurt people, hurt people.

[BS-vxdg]

I'm less than 20% into this video and you have already upended much of what I thought I knew. This is going to have major ramifications for my personal understanding of the 20th century history of the region.