CISH 2026
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Jewish Historiography after 100 Years: The Emergence of the Israeli School?

  • Date

    V. Friday, 28.08.2026, 08:30-10:30

  • Location
    House 3 - SR224
  • Theme
    C - National and Regional Schools of Historiography

Abstract

The beginning of the scientific research of Jewish history dates back about two hundred years, when a group of brilliant Jewish students in Berlin established the Verein für Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden. The driving force was the philologist Leopold Zunz, who believed that in the era of emancipation and integration, it was urgent to preserve the spiritual treasures of the Jewish people. One hundred years ago, historical research migrated to the Land of Israel. At the initiative of the East European-born historian Ben-Zion Dinur, the Historical Society of Israel was established. Shortly thereafter, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was founded. At this stage, the history of the Jewish people played a central role in nation-building, and the orientation was distinctly Zionist. Since then, the horizons of historical research in our generation have expanded greatly both in terms of subjects and methodology. Historians of the Jewish people in Europe, the United States, and Israel share a series of significant turns in historiography. In light of all this, this session seeks to ask whether an Israeli school in the study of Jewish history has emerged. The participants in the session are senior historians at universities in Israel who engage in various research fields (including Jews in the Greco-Roman world, Jews and the Enlightenment, Jews in Germany, antisemitism, Zionism, and Jewish-Arab relations).

Convenor

  • Shmuel Feiner   (Historical Society of Israel and Bar Ilan University)

Panelists

  • Jonathan Price (Tel-Aviv University)
  • Shulamit Volkov (Tel-Aviv University)
  • Orit Rozin (Tel-Aviv University)
  • Mustafa Abbasi (Tel-Hai College)
  • Yair Mintzker (Princeton University)

Papers

  • Jewish Rebellions against the Roman Empire – Views from Within and Outside Israel during the Last Century

    Jonathan Price

  • Jewish and 'General' History: The German Case and the Israeli Solution

    Shulamit Volkov

  • Israelis and Palestinians and the ignoring of shared historical episodes -The service in mixed units in the British Army during World War II

    Mustafa Abbasi

  • What do we do when we talk about antisemitism?

    Yair Mintzker