The New American Jews

A century ago, the Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky offered European Jewry a nobler self-conception: the “New Jew.” The antithesis of the caricatured shtetl yid who cowered in fear as Cossacks violated his wife and town, the New Jew would be physically strong, brave, capable of defending his people and seeding Jewish life in unturned soil. The New Jew would shed his dependence on the goodwill of non-Jews and work toward his goals, returning to Zion and national sovereignty chief among them. A proud pioneer, the New Jew stood ready to impose his will on the world in service of the Jewish people.