And Perhaps ..: The Story of Ruth Dayan,

by Ruth Dayan, Helga Dudman (Other Contributor)

Physical description; 275 p. : illus. ; 22 cm. Subject; Dayan, Ruth.

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until they divorced shortly before this memoir Ruth Dayan was the wife of Moshe Dayan, Israel’s celebrated one-eyed military man. They spent their first decades together on a collective farm, arguing, milking cows, and negotiating life before the state of Israel. Their lives of radical austerity and idealism quickly dissolve as Dayan becomes a war hero, rising through the ranks of the Israeli military and political establishment. Their home becomes lavish, filled with the archeological items that were Moshe’s obsession…along with womanizing. Ruth throws herself into the development of crafts—weaving and jewelry—organizing new immigrants and new Arab subjects for artisanal projects. The Dayans’ relationship with Arabs is in turn orientalist and genuine. Crucial chapters: on the ‘48 war, gives a sense of the human toll of the war; on the Mizrachim immigrants, as Ruth learns about different Arabic-speaking Jewish communities; on her ‘60 visit to Albert Schweitzer in the jungles of Gabon.