Introduction

It is with great satisfaction that we present to the reader the following essays dedicated to the topic of psychoanalysis in Israel. This satisfied feeling results not only from having completed the task I set for myself approximately 2 years ago of compiling such a series of papers, but also from having achieved sufficient volume as to require publishing the series in two parts, under the congenial auspices of the  American Journal of Psychoanalysis (Part I, 1998, Vol.  58[2])↗ and the Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis (Part II). For this I am deeply grateful for the interest, guidance, and commitment of my chief editors Douglas H. Ingram, M.D. and Jules Bemporad, M.D., respectively.

An additional source of satisfaction emanates from the fact that, to a certain degree, this second collection succeeds somewhat more than the first in conveying what one might want to call the “flavor” of the realities of Israel. Although I had initially decided, upon consultation, to allow authors to write about whatever topics they desired, the latter collection spontaneously evolved in such a way as to portray the intersection between psychoanalysis and characteristic elements of Israeli existence. Nevertheless, the ultimate value of the essays lies in their wider, if not necessarily universal, relevance and applicability.

In my introduction to the first section of the series, I compiled some brief historical notes regarding the history of psychoanalysis in Israel. By the time the second section began to take form, I was fortunate to receive Rafael Moses's paper on the history of psychoanalysis in Palestine and Israel, included here, thereby relieving me of the need to reformulate my earlier comments. Moses provides much of the basic details pertaining to the development of the psychoanalytic institution as such in Israel, and some clues regarding contemporary trends. Had it been possible, I would have of course preferred that this essay appear in Part I where it would ha