Orthodoxy in the Age of Nationalism

While it is widely recognized that Zionism was inspired and shaped by modern European nationalism, Orthodox responses to Zionism (whether nationalist or anti-nationalist) are typically viewed as internal Jewish affairs. This dissertation argues that these responses, like Zionism itself, must be understood in their Eastern and Central European contexts. When appropriately contextualized, the anti-Zionist Agudat Yisrael and the Zionist Mizrahi movement take on a different meaning than that assigned them in the conventional narrative. In particular, these movements were not the natural and inevitable results of preexisting ideological differences but, rather, were a product of power struggles that, themselves, shaped and consolidated differing ideological positions.