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Introduction
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Thefirstbiographicalchapterisconcentratedonthreemainstagesin
Thon’slife.DuringhischildhoodinLwów,theextremelytalentedpoor
boyfromatraditionalfamilylearnednewwaysofJewishthinking.First
throughHaskalahandthenwithnationalideashestartedtodevelophis
Zionistpassion.ThesecondstageinBerlinwastheshorterintime,but
itwasThon’sformativeyears.AsastudentinBerlinUniversityandin
HochschulefürdieWissenschaftdesJudentums,hebecameanintellectual.
Therehisphilosophicalandsociologicalthoughtandalsohisconceptsof
Judaismandnationalismweredeveloped.Hespentthethirdandthelongest
stageofhislifeinKraków(almostfortyyears)wherehehadamagnificent
careerasarabbiandapreacherandlaterasaleaderofPolishJews.This
chaptergivesinanutshellthemostimportanteventsandstagesinthelife
ofOzjaszThon.
ThesecondchapterportraysThon’sliterarycareer.Alreadyasastudent
inBerlinhetookpartinwhatisknowninthehistoryofHebrewliterature
“Tse’irimaffair.”TogetherwiththeHebrewwriterMichaYosefBerdyczewski
andhischildhoodfriendMordechaiEhrenpreisandasinoppositiontothe
ZionisttheoreticianAsherGinzberg(AhadHa-Am),Thontriedtomake
arevolutioninHebrewliterature;hewantedHebrewliteratureofhistimeto
becomemodern.However,withtime,a“contra-revolutionary”approachto
Hebrewliteraturecanbenoticedinhisthinking,whenhetightlyconnected
“goodliterature”withnationalideas.Anotherissueveryclosetohisheart
andstronglyconnectedtoHebrewliteraturewastheHebrewlanguage.In
hiswritings,aswellasinvariousactivities,heinitiatedmanyendeavors
forthepromotionofHebrewandunderlinedtheimportanceofHebrew
schoolingandHebrewperiodicalswhichhemadegreateffortstopromote.
Nevertheless,althoughhewasazealousHebraist,hecouldnotdetachtotally
fromhisloveofYiddish,andthisconflictwasverypresentin,ontheone
hand,promotingonlyHebrewasthenationallanguage,butontheother
hand,writingconstantlyinYiddishinordertoreachtheJewishmasses.
AsapersonwhogrewupinatraditionalorthodoxJudaismandreceived
hisordinationasanorthodoxrabbibytheageofsixteen,butwhowasalso
exposedtotheideasofHaskalahandwasfascinatedbyEuropeanculture,
andwhoinadditionreceivedhissecondrabbinicalordinationinthereform
institutionofhighereducationinBerlin,Thontriedtofindinhisperception
ofJudaismamiddleway.Thethirdchapterportrayshiseffortstodevelop
thisthird-way,orthegoldenmiddle,akindofasynthesisbetweenthetwo
oppositeapproaches.Thischapteralsodealsinlengthwithhisreligious