Space, Place and Gender in German Cultural Zionism

Abstract

Abstract Resisting characterisations of cultural Zionism as a male intellectual movement located in the realm of ideas, Paula Winkler's Zionist writings foreground the role played by Jewish women in the home. Placing her writings in dialogue with those of her partner Martin Buber, this article argues that Winkler's vision of Zionism not only offers a more robust engagement with the concept of space, but also disrupts Buber's gendered division of Zionist labour and his view of the temporal unfolding of Zionism. In a significant contribution to cultural Zionist thought, Winkler anchors the movement in the material environment of the home, wherein the Jewish woman creates a transformative experience of the homeland that anticipates and facilitates the future success of Zionism.