This work provides a vivid picture of the dichotomy between the ideology preached by the radical circle of the Brith Shalom Society and the nationalism of early twentieth-century Palestine. Many considered the Brith Shalom Society representative of the spiritual trend of Zionism.
This important book examines the aspirations and cultural sources of these men from Central Europe who met in Palestine as members of the Brith Shalom Society during the first half of the twentieth century, in the context of the political reality of a pre-independent Palestine and the new state of Israel.
The fact that this circle included well-known personalities, such as Samuel Hugu Bergmann, Gershom Scholem, Erenst Simon, Hans Kohn and ecumenists, such as Martin Buber and Judah L. Magnes, none of whom was a politician in the ordinary sense, makes this study all the more fascinating and compelling.

Shalom Ratzabi, Ph.D. (1994) in Jewish History, Tel Aviv University, is lecturer of History at Tel Aviv University and the editor of Zionism. He has published extensively on Spiritual Zionism and on the Orthodox and New Orthodox trends in modern Judaism.