Arthur Hertzberg

Historian and Rabbi

Arthur Hertzberg (1921-2006) was a Zionist historian, pulpit rabbi, author of the seminal introductory essay to The Zionist Idea (1959) anthology and president of the American Jewish Congress.

When that document finally appeared on November 2, 1917, it did not represent a complete victory for the Zionists. Palestine was not being designated as the territory to be set aside for the creation of a Jewish majority leading to statehood; the final language was that a Jewish national home would be created in Palestine, and the very imprecision of this formula was to help lead to all the troubles of the next three decades.

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