Ahad ha-ʿAm

views updated Jun 11 2018

Ahad ha-ʿAm (‘One of the People’). Asher Hirsh Ginsberg. (1856–1927), essayist and Jewish Zionist leader. His article Lo Zeh ha-Derekh (The Wrong Way), published in 1889, argued that educational work should take place before an immediate indiscriminate settlement in the land of Israel. He became spiritual leader of the secret order of Benei Moshe (‘sons of Moses’) and the editor of the monthly literary periodical, Ha-Shiloʿah (The Coming One) which contributed to the development of modern Hebrew literature. Although he had a role in the obtaining of the Balfour Declaration, he favoured group action rather than negotiation. His thought has been influential in Zionist thinking, both in Israel and in the diaspora.

Ahad ha-ʿAm

views updated May 29 2018

Asher Hirsh Ginsberg (Jewish Zionist leader): see AHAD HA- ʿAM.