Ahad Ha'am: Elusive Prophet

A biography of the guiding intellectual of Zionism during the movement's formative years from the 1880s to the 1920s. Ahad Ha'am ("One of the People") was the pen name of Asher Ginzberg (1856-1927), a Russian Jew whose life intersected nearly every important trend and current in contemporary Jewry. A Hebrew essayist of remarkable knowledge and skill, through his writings he exerted a rare authority on every controversial topic, from Jewish Nationalism and clericalism to the issue of the Palestinian Arabs. Zipperstein offers a wide-ranging reassessment of Ahad Ha'am's life against the backdrop of his contentious political world. Ha'am is subjected to a penetrating examination of his relations, above all with Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, and with his devotees and opponents alike. Steven J. Zipperstein was awarded the Smilen Prize in Jewish History for "The Jews of Odessa" (1985).