TY - BOOK ID - 117699426 TI - In Search of Israel PY - 2018 SN - 1400889219 9781400889211 069117928X 0691203970 PB - Princeton, NJ DB - UniCat KW - Judaism KW - HISTORY / Middle East / Israel & Palestine. KW - Israel. KW - Israel KW - Dawlat Isrāʼīl KW - Država Izrael KW - Dzi︠a︡rz︠h︡ava Izrailʹ KW - Gosudarstvo Izrailʹ KW - I-se-lieh KW - Israele KW - Isrāʼīl KW - Isŭrael KW - Isuraeru KW - Izrael KW - Izrailʹ KW - Medinat Israel KW - Medinat Yiśraʼel KW - Stát Izrael KW - State of Israel KW - Yiselie KW - Yiśraʼel KW - Ισραήλ KW - Израиль KW - Государство Израиль KW - Дзяржава Ізраіль KW - Ізраіль KW - מדינת ישראל KW - ישראל KW - إسرائيل KW - دولة إسرائيل KW - イスラエル KW - 以色列 KW - Palestine KW - History. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:117699426 AB - A major new history of the century-long debate over what a Jewish state should beMany Zionists who advocated the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other. Yet for Israel's founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner--the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional-that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of "normalizing" the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal "New Society" that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers' collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today.Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal "other" in history, ironically, Israel-which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness-has become the Jew among the nations. ER -