Two Historiographies: Israeli Historiography and the Mass Jewish Migration to the United States, 1881–1914

The mass Jewish migration from Eastern Europe (1881–1914) was one of the seminal events in the life of the Jewish people in modern times. During this period, more than 2.5 million Jews migrated to countries across the sea. Two Jewish centers emerged as a result of the mass emigration from Eastern Europe: the State of Israel and North America. Despite the similar reasons for the development of the Jewish collectives in the United States and Israel, two completely different historiographies have emerged over the years. This article investigates how the Zionist narrative, which saw Jewish immigration to Palestine from 1881–1914 as an exceptional case in the history of Jewish migration, was constructed. try and understand the attitude of Zionist historiography towards the first aliyot to Palestine and why it ignored the large Jewish migration from Eastern Europe to the United States.