In 1939, Berl Katznelson wrote, regarding Nachman Sirkin: "The camp did not know its precursor," meaning that the Zionist labor movement in Palestine was unaware that Nachman Sirkin was the forerunner of its unique constructive-socialism.
Retracing his thinking, research reveals that as early as 1898, Sirkin, in his great essay `The Question of Jews and the Socialist Jewish State`, planted the seeds of what would develop into the unique Zionist socialism in Palestine, and future Israeli state. Later on, during the first decades of the 20th century, his relationship with the Socialist Zionist leaders in Palestine gradually grew. During this period, the "passing on of the torch" between Sirkin`s theory and the political act of the labor movement in Palestine was completed. This is a rare example of a direct link between the formulation of ideas and political action. Simultaneously, it illuminates a unique perspective of the relationship between American Judaism, which Sirkin had been part of since 1907, and the Zionist project in Israel.
Scholars have credited Sirkin as the main thinker of Israeli constructive-socialism. However, to date, no systematic research has been conducted that indicates the development of this relationship, its depth, scope and the extent of its influence. This lecture seeks to address this lacuna. To this end, we will depict the development of this connection, the labor movement`s leaders` vast appreciation of Sirkin who, in retrospect, attributed to him prophetic abilities, and delineate the reasons why they accepted him - the thinker from America – despite their general disapproval of theorists who did not participate directly in the establishment of the Zionist enterprise in Palestine.
Finally, we ask why, despite this deep appreciation, was Sirkin forgotten and how it came to be that Berl Katznelson was forced to state that "the camp did not know its precursor."