Writing Jewish History
What Is Jewish Historiography?
The study of Jewish historical writing is an important and meaningful endeavour.
Throughout time, the Jewish people have had a very unique relationship with their history and
their recording of it. The Jewish people live their history, it is an integral part of their religion,
holidays and daily practice. It is studied daily by thousands of Jews and is spoken about in their
daily prayers. Zakhor, by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, is a very famous text that studies and
analyzes Jewish historiography. In his writing, Yerushalmi brings many sources to claim that the
Jewish people actually lack histoicism and have an a-historical system. Yerushalmi bases his
reasonsings on a very specific definition of “historiography” that was accepted in the modern
era. The 19th century view of historiography emphasizes the acceptance of Enlightenment values
