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NAHUM
GOLDMANN (1894-1982)
| Ben Gurion once
reproached me with being a wandering Jew, I answered
that some people have their roots in themselves and
have no need to put them down in any particular soil....
I once told Ben-Gurion that he considered problems from
the viewpoint of Sde Boker, his little kibbutz, whereas
I saw them from a plane flying twelve thousand metres
high. It is a different approach. (NG) |
Dr. Nahum Goldmann was one of the most prominent leaders
of the Jewish people and the Zionist movement during the
twentieth century. Among his many accomplishments, he was
one of the founders of the World Jewish Congress, which
he served as president for many years, president of the
World Zionist Organization, and one of the architects of
the reparations agreement with Germany. The story of his
life is an integral part of the history of the Jewish people
and of the State of Israel.
Goldmann was an unusual figure in the world
of international Jewish politics and the Zionist movement
— a Jew and a Zionist with a profound awareness of
Jewish culture and history, yet at the same time a "citizen
of the world." Though he was familiar with and esteemed
both the Jewish classics and modern Hebrew culture, he was
most at home in Western culture, well-versed in philosophy
and history, and a lover of the arts. In addition, he was
blessed with a gift for storytelling, a sense of humor,
a self-deprecating irony, openness and tolerance for the
opinions of others. These qualities won him the friendship
of many world leaders and made him an effective ambassador
of his people, despite the fact that he lacked any significant
political backing.
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The full feature
on the great Zionist leader and Jewish statesman
may be enjoyed in the Jewish
Heritage Online Magazine. The feature is based
on the exhibition, Statesman without a State: Nahum
Goldmann 1894 -1982, which opened at Beth Hatefutsoth,
the Museum of the Jewish Disapora (which Goldmann
helped found) in January 2003.
The exhibition accompanied
an international
conference on Goldmann, marking the 20th anniversary
of his passing (under the auspices of the Zionist
Research Institute at Tel Aviv University, in cooperation
with Brandeis University and with the support of the
Claims Conference and the Memorial Foundation for
Jewish Culture). |
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