Hurban, Exile, and Diaspora in Jewish History
Jewish hopes for Return to the Land rest on a cyclical providential narrative: Hurban, Exile, Return. It was shaped from the Bible to the Rabbis. As post-Holocaust security wanes, Malachi Haim Hacohen’s project reconnects secular and traditional exile discourses to rethink the future of Jewry.
Malachi Haim Hacohen is Professor of History, Religion, Jewish Studies, and German Studies and author of Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902-1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna and Jacob & Esau: Jewish European History Between Nation and Empire.
Recent Critiques of Zionism and Israel have highlighted the diasporic character of the Jewish people: the Jews have been a Diaspora for over 2500 years. Their current acceptance as citizens in nation states is a post-Holocaust exception, a blip on the historical screen.