Ben-Gurion Institute Press, 2026, ISBN: 978-965-510-166-9, 296 pages.

Peasants, Sons of Kings: Class Perspectives in Early Jewish Nationalism [Hebrew]

Who was the ideal “national Jew”? Why did some of the leading figures of Zionism envision an aristocratic—even monarchical—government at the helm of their utopian Jewish state? And why did the figure of the farmer become so central to the Zionist movement?

Peasants, Sons of Kings: Class Perspectives in Early Jewish Nationalism explores the influence of social ideas on Jewish nationalism in general and on Zionism in particular during its formative decades. Focusing on writings and major events from 1881 to 1904, Burns examines how national ideas were shaped by perceptions of class and how social aspirations came to be articulated in national terms.

Jewish nationalism generated a diverse range of interpretations, hopes, and aspirations. Different groups within Jewish society—including the wealthy, immigrants, intellectuals, students, and rabbis—instilled within it meanings of their own and saw in it an answer to their particular aspirations. Drawing on contemporary essays, letters, memoirs, utopian writings, and even the bylaws of settlement associations, Burns traces the emergence of Jewish nationalism and explores the blurred boundaries and tensions between class-based and national identities and forms of belonging.

https://bgri-press.bgu.ac.il/node/1128

Rhona Burns is a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University.