Asher Zvi GinsbergBetter known by his pen name, Ahad Ha'am (lit. one of the people), Ginsberg was on
Asher Zvi GinsbergBetter known by his pen name, Ahad Ha'am (lit. one of the people), Ginsberg was one of the foremost Zionist thinkers and the father of cultural (spiritual) Zionism.Ginsberg was born in modern day Ukraine in 1856 to Hasidic parents. He excelled at writing at a young age, greatly influenced by Leon Pinsker, one of the founders of Hovevei Zion. In contrast to the accepted idea of political Zionism (the idea that Israel should be legally established as a safe-haven for Jews) that was developed by Theodore Herzl, Ginsberg put forth the idea of cultural Zionism, the idea that only in the Land of Israel the Jews could restore the Jewish culture and experience a national revival.His writings, emphasizing cultural Zionism and the revival of the Jewish culture and Hebrew language, became extremely popular among the Zionist movement, In 1889, Ahad Ha'am founded the group Bnai Moshe aimed at improving Hebrew education and literature while promoting Jewish settlement. The Bnai Moshe movement founded the city of Rehovot, a large city in the Israel’s center. In 1896, he became the editor of the Hebrew paper, Hashiloah, where he was able to promote his ideas by publishing many works. Ahad Ha'am’s works influenced whole generations of young Zionists, among them Haim Nahman Bialik and Chaim Weizmann. After moving to Mandatory Palestine in 1922, he contracted cancer and passed away on January 2, 1927.My Nation Lives עמי-חי -- source link