Language as Salvation: Ludwig Zamenhof, Esperanto, and the Solution to the Jewish Question

Online conference by Joshua Fogel, Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at York University and fellow for a one-month writing residency at the Paris IAS in December 2026, as part of the "Paris IdeAS" series.

The "Paris IdeAS" online talk series features short and stimulating presentations from fellows of the Paris Institute for Advanced Study, marking the beginning of 1-month writing residencies.

Online only and in English. Open to the public. Free event but registration required. 
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Presentation

Esperanto was invented in the late 19th century by Ludwik Zamenhof, a Polish Jewish doctor, as a way to overcome ethnic strife and unite peoples for a peaceful world. It was also less well known as Zamenhof's solution to the particular difficulties facing by Jews in Eastern Europe at the time. At the same time, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda reached the conclusion that a revived Hebrew was the answer. Of these two dreamers, the latter was seen as less realistic, although his plan ultimately succeeded. Zamenhof saw Esperanto as the first step in a process of devising a universal religious philosophy initially dubbed Hilelismo (based on the views of Rabbi Hillel in the first century C.E.) and later Homaranismo (humanitarianism). He was met with opposition even among fervent Jewish supporters of Esperanto in Europe, men and women who feared anti-Jewish backlash. What was it about the times that encouraged people to see language as a potential solution to existential crisis? What then was at the heart of Zamenhof’s motivation? This project will examine his writings in Russian and Esperanto, as well rich secondary scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, English, French, German, and Polish. It will also closely examine his translations, particularly those from Yiddish (Sholem Aleichem stories) and Hebrew (the Old Testament).