The sixtieth anniversary of Ahad Ha'am, the foremost Hebrew thinker of
his time, is a notable event in Hebrew literature, and will no doubt
be celebrated by Hebraists all over the world in a manner worthy of
the man and of the thinker. Next to Bialik, the great Hebrew poet,
Ahad Ha'am is today the most popular Jew among the Jewries of the
East and the best known representative of Hebrew thought among Jewish
intellectuals in the West. His name is identified with the formulation
of the program of Hebrew nationalism and the creation of a Hebrew
cultural centre in Palestine. Unlike other thinkers who consider their
convictions their own private affair, Ahad Ha'am had the courage of his
convictions and defended them against great odds. He had the courage to
take his stand against the giant, Herzl, and the powerful dialectician
and publicist, Max Nordau. He knew that the fight against Herzl, when
the great leader of Zionism was at his height, would not win him
friends, but he had the daring to take up the fight.
For Ahad Ha'am the question of political Zionism and that of cultural
Zionism as represented by himself, were matters of principle and had to
be fought out sooner or later. While Ahad Ha'am fought against Herzl
and Nordau and against the other powerful representatives of political
Zionism, he had no personalities in mind and fought for principles
only. The whole position of things was such that Ahad Ha'am could
at that time have had no hope to win the struggle because political
Zionism was at its height and because Theodor Herzl was the shining
star in the firmament of Jewish political life. But disregarding
the disadvantageous position in which he found himself, he fought
courageously until he believed the danger was passed.
We mention this fight against Herzl and Nordau because it best
characterizes the man, Ahad Ha'am. Though his philosophy of life is a
philosophy of abstract ideas, he is at the same time a man full of life
and temperament, a hard public worker and a political Jew in the best
sense of the term. A great deal of his popularity must be ascribed not
only to his philosophy and his system of Jewish politics, but also to
his manliness and wonderful qualities of character.
As a Hebrew thinker, Ahad Ha'am represents the last point in the line
of Jewish thought which can be characterized as Hebrew intellectualism
as distinguished from Hebrew irrationalism and mysticism, which found
its expression in the teachings of the Hassidic sect.
Since the rise of the theoretical Kabbalah in Spain in the thirteenth
century, which must be considered a reaction against the system of
intellectualism as laid down by Maimonides, we can observe in Jewish
history two spiritual tendencies striving for dominance: Irrationalism
in all its forms and Intellectualism in all its aberrations. Ahad
Ha'am represents the line of development, of Maimonides, the Gaon of
Wilna, Krochmal. The parallel line to the theoretical Kabbalah is the
practical Kabbalah which began in Palestine in the sixteenth century
and Hassidism which originated in Poland in the eighteenth century.
The intellectualists maintain that the prime essential of the soul is
intellect and that Judaism is based not on metaphysical will but on
intellectual cognition. For our mediaeval intellectualists and those
of the eighteenth century, this premise resulted in the conception
of a Judaism which lays more stress on knowledge (Torah) than on the
practice of the religious ceremonies (Avodah). It is, of course,
understood that the older representatives of Jewish Intellectualism
were as God-fearing and observing as their mystical opponents. But
basing Judaism on knowledge and cognition, they maintained that the
first thing a Jew should do is to study and accept the advice of old:
Thou shalt recognize the God of thy fathers.
In opposition to these teachings is the conception of Judaism as
represented by Kabbalists and Hassidim. These lay more stress on the
practice of Judaism, claiming that Judaism is primarily a matter of
will and not of knowledge. It is not a coincidence that while among
Jewish intellectualists in the East (Mithnagdim) the knowledge of the
Talmud and of Rabbinic Judaism is widely spread because they consider
this the first duty of the Jew, there prevails among the Hassidim
ignorance of the Talmud and of Rabbinic Judaism.
Ahad Ha'am is today the representative of Intellectual Judaism as
conceived by his time, as the Gaon of Wilna was in his day the
representative of intellectual Judaism. It is very characteristic of
this Jewish school of thought that a man like the Gaon of Wilna has
written a system of geometry and was interested in mathematics and
logic. With his logical mind he created a new method of studying the
Talmud which is marked by simplicity and clearness. Ahad Ha'am achieved
in the domain of Hebrew thought and literature what the Gaon of Wilna
had achieved in Talmudic methodology. As the Gaon of Wilna did away
with "Pilpul" sophistry, so Ahad Ha'am did away with the confusing and
unproductive "Hakira," unsystematic discussion of abstract thought, and
introduced economy of thought and of expression--a clear terminology
and a systematic formulation of principles and ideas. That is what has
given him the leading position in modern Hebrew literature.
Ahad Ha'am's greatness does not consist of these formal innovations
only. He has enriched Hebrew literature with a philosophic ideology
of his own which has greatly influenced modern Hebrew thought. Ahad
Ha'amism, as this system is called, was not less productive at the
beginning of the twentieth century than the Yeshibah of Volozhin, the
work of the Wilna Gaon, at the start of the nineteenth century. As a
matter of fact Ahad Ha'amism is the modern development of the ideas
which came from Volozhin. Without Volozhin there would be no modern
Hebrew literature, no modern Hebrew thought and no Ahad Ha'am.
While the Jewish teachings of Ahad Ha'am can easily be explained as
the continuation of a certain historical tendency in Judaism, the
philosophy of Ahad Ha'am consists of many different systems and cannot
be so readily surveyed. His own disciples claim that he is following
in the footsteps of Krochmal and that he is thus a disciple of Hegel.
This, however, is only partly true. One finds, moreover, in the
philosophy of Ahad Ha'am elements of Kant, Spencer, of modern French
sociology and even of Nietzsche. The unifying and productive mind of
Ahad Ha'am has absorbed these various philosophic elements and turned
them into an organic unit. For this reason Ahad Ha'am cannot be called
an eclectic. Even Kant had his predecessors, was influenced by various
philosophers and took up their suggestions.
Ahad Ha'am is one of the few modern Hebrew leaders who is as much
European as Jew, and who is not on less intimate terms with European
thought than with Jewish. Owing to these facts he succeeded in
Europeanizing Hebrew literature and in raising it to the high level it
now holds.
In the last few years Ahad Ha'am has made peace with Zionism because
he thinks that Zionism has accepted his views on Palestine. His
appearance at the 11th Zionist Congress at Vienna was thought by friend
and opponent alike to mean that he had made peace with the Zionist
organization. He has in any case supported the Zionist organization
in its efforts in Palestine and has approved the plan to establish a
system of Hebrew educational institutions in the Holy Land. But whether
Ahad Ha'am became more political or whether the Zionist organization
has come nearer to Ahad Ha'amism remains a question. The many pupils
of Ahad Ha'am, however, and the Zionists in all lands, are happy that
the uncontested leader of modern Hebrew thought and literature is to be
found today with the rank and file of Zionism.