A Study Of Russian Jewish Nationalist Intellectuals(1881-1914)

In the 19 th century,the spread of Haskalah broke the isolated life of Russian Jews and weakened the authority of Jewish tradition.At the same time,it also infused modern thoughts such as freedom,liberty and equity into Russian Jews’ mind,which gave birth to the modern Jewish press industry and promoted the emerge of the modern Jewish intellectuals in Russia.However,the Czar combined Russian spiritual culture,political system,customs and habits with Jewish life by compulsory or non-compulsory policies.These policies promoted the progress of acculturation of Russian Jews.And this trend has followed by the Jewish intellectuals’ advocate of assimilation.Furthermore,the government regarded Jews as scapegoats to eliminate social contradictions and start collective persecution to Jews.However,anti-Semitism strengthened the group identity of Russian Jews to a certain extent,made Jewish intellectuals suffered from spiritual confusion because lacking of national identity.The anguish they suffered awakened their national self-esteem and aroused their national awareness.Russian Jewish nationalist draw their theoretical foundation from Jewish tradition and modern thought.They inherit critically the inheritance of Jewish tradition and use historical and religious resources to awaken Jewish national consciousness.Modern nationalism and the establishment of a national state provide a reasonable and precious opportunity for Jewish nationalism.Russian Jewish nationalists combine socialism and Jewish nationalism to propagate the synchronization and unity of interests of human liberation and Jewish national liberation,attracting the Jewish working class and laid the foundation for the emergence of Jewish socialist nationalism.The Jewish nationalist group advocates that Jews are a nation and emphasizes that assimilation will not bring about the liberation of Jews.On the basis of this consensus,Jewish intellectuals put forward two different nationalist paths: Zionism and Diaspora nationalism.Among them,political Zionism is represented by Lilienblum and Pinsker.With modern nationalism theory,they advocate to establish a modern,western and universal nation-state,so that Jews can enjoy the same rights as other nations.Cultural(spiritual)Zionism,represented by Smolenskin and Ahad Ha-Am,emphasized that Jewish culture should be promoted and they criticized for the neglect of Jewish spirit and tradition by political Zionism.Socialist Zionism,represented by Syrkin,Borochov and Gordon,from the angle of class and economicbasis,hold that the solution to the Jewish problem lies in the establishment of a new Jewish State of working class guided by socialist theory.Religious Zionists,represented by Mochelewellever,Pines and Kook,attache great importance of jewish nation to the core position of Judaism,emphasize the natural connection between Jews and holy places,and advocate redefining the concept of Messiah from a secular perspective.Simon Dubnov’s diaspora nationalism places diaspora at the core of Jewish national history.He believed that the Jewish center in Palestine and in diaspora will coexist,and he hold the view of that Jews can obtain a complete national life in the “Galut”..Jewish nationalist intellectuals publicized the tragic situation of Jews through the news media to aroused the attention of Jews around the world to Russian Jews,and established links with the latter,disseminated Jewish nationalism.In the process of promoting immigration practice,Russian Jewish intellectuals participated in first "Aliya" and summarized it’s lessons.Then they and revised the immigration policies and guided the second "Aliya".Under different theoretical guidance,different Russian Jewish nationalist groups established their own party organizations,which injected new vitality into the development of the world Zionist movement;in Russia and Palestine,Russian Jewish nationalist intellectual revived Hebrew language and literature by writing literary works and teaching Hebrew in Russia and Palestine.Essentially,the Russian Jewish nationalist group is a unique group among the modern intellectuals of Czar Russia.They are one of the many opposing forces of the Czar regime which will collapse at the end of 19 th century and the beginning of 20 th century.They represent the demands of minorities against the Czar’s autocratic dictatorship for equality and freedom.Zionism provides a survival plan for Jews in worsening situation after the failure of the 1905 Revolution in ideology and practice,which makes Russian Jews linked with Jews in the world closely and become a nation again.The various nationalist theories constructed by Russian Jewish nationalist groups have changed the ancient Messianism and the view of chosen people,rebuilt the self-esteem of Jewish individuals and collectives,promoted the transformation of Jewish historical views and revived the Jewish national spirit,whose influence extends to contemporary Jewish life.However,the early Russian Jewish nationalists were not clear about the boundaries of Russian patriotism and their own Jewish identity,which weakened the power of the Jewish national movement and had certain limitations and vulnerabilities.