Ze’ev Jawitz belongs to the pantheon of Jewish historians of the last century and has deserved an academic biography worthy of his stature. But as his approach to the organic development of Hebrew culture was too Orthodox for the non-religious; and the Orthodox considered his educational positions too innovative, it had to wait for a scholar working at the interstices of modern Judaism’s developments, who also had cosmopolitan interests. Asaf Yedidya, having established an international reputation in the fields of Orthodoxy and Wissenschaft and religious Zionism, is such a scholar. He has produced the long-awaited archive-based, comprehensive study, which follows Jawitz’s ideology-centered life-serving as a crucible for Orthodox-Zionist intellectual currents of his day.

Gershon Greenberg, American University

A wonderful and timely tribute to one of the neglected and controversial historians who was popular and influential in early 20th Century, especially among the Zionist Orthodox. Dr. Asaf Yedidya should be thanked for bringing Ze`ev Jawitz back into the complex and fascinating story of modern Jewish Historiography.

Shmuel Feiner, Bar Ilan University

The values of modernity challenged Jews across Europe. This deeply researched and deeply sympathetic biography of a singular Orthodox Eastern European intellectual and one of the founders of the Mizrachi Faction within the early Zionist movement is a fascinating contribution to understanding the multiple forms this wrenching transformation took.

Ismar Schorsch, Jewish Theological Seminary