ABSTRACT
There are then two kinds of memory: personal memory and historical memory. Everyone has personal memories; David Hartman's phrase "my whole historical memory" suggests that for him, and the author believes this is true for many Jews, a certain kind of historical memory is indeed memory, not merely knowledge, of the past. According to Yosef H. Yerushalmi, "Altogether the verb zakhar appears in its various declensions in the Bible no less than one hundred and sixty nine times, usually with either Israel or God as the subject, for memory is incumbent upon both". The role of these hukkim is to fuse what would otherwise be merely historical memory with personal memories. David Hartman is well aware that his commitment to Zionism might be seen as in a certain tension with his commitment to human dignity and freedom.
