The English Calvinists who made the pilgrimage to early America, in order to practice tolerance and a faith denying the religious sanctioning of monarchies, considered themselves the New Israelites of their era. There are references to the colonies as "New Israel," and this is supported by the multitude of Hebrew biblical names of towns and counties. A few generations later, their descendants, the American Founders, expressed an affinity and identification with the ancient Hebrews, and King George III was widely characterized as the "Pharaoh" of the American Revolution.
On the heels of the Protestant Reformation, the 17th and 18th centuries were the highpoint of Christian Hebraism, the movement to understand the Hebrew, and sometimes even the Rabbinic, roots of Christianity. Anti-semitic beliefs and attitudes were common, but Hebrew itself was treated as a classic, seminal language for learning scripture, and prominent colleges in America required the study of Hebrew from its students. The Founders, and their political philosophical forebears in Europe, considered the governing principles mentioned in the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) and the books of the Prophets in the Old Testament as practical (, for some, even "perfect,") guidelines for the governance tof a free people.
The "Hebrew Republic" is the historical concept evoked by some American Founders, and previously by English political philosophers, when referring to the example of ancient Israel's governance. Today, two modern states, "Two Israels," may be considered philosophical legacies to the concept of the Hebrew Republic: the United States of America (, the geopolitical heir to the 250 year-old notion of "New Israel,") and the State of Israel.
In labeling the United States as one of the "Two Israels," I am not suggesting that the US has in any way replaced the Jews or the State of Israel as the embodiment of Israel. Very few Americans would even contemplate such a thing, despite the adoption by some Christian sects of "replacement theology," which argues that Christianity has replaced Judaism as the covenant of God's chosen people. I use the term only to express what might be a common philosophical inspiration, ancient Israel, in the governance of the two nations.
And so, I propose a project to discuss, explore, research, and document how the concept of the Hebrew Republic has influenced governance in Israel and the United State. What can the two grand experiments (as well as those of the individual 50 United States) teach each other? What values do they best serve? In what ways are they failing their missions and their peoples? How does an affiliation with the concept of a Hebrew Republic affect the American-Israeli alliance and navigation through geopolitics and global economics?
I hope that this "Two Israels Project" might be the start of a valuable and fruitful discourse, that we might discover and share insights which strengthen the bonds between Americans and Israelis, and which improve the value of governance in both countries.
