Living with the Bible

by Moshe Dayan, Gemma Levine (Illustrator)

Illustrated, personalized recreation of the dramatic events of the Old Testament as told by Israel's legendary soldier/statesman. An exploration of the archeology of the Holy Land and a re-interpretation of familiar Bible stories.

Genres: Memoir, Israel, Jewish

232 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1978

About the author

Moshe Dayan (Kitaigorodsky) (Hebrew: משה דיין‎; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. He was the second child born on the first kibbutz. As the fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–58), he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new state of Israel. He went on to become Defense Minister and later Foreign Minister of Israel.

The Telem party won two seats in the 1981 elections, but Dayan died shortly thereafter, in Tel Aviv, from a massive heart attack. He had been in ill-health since 1980, after he was diagnosed with colon cancer late that year. He is buried in Nahalal in the moshav (a collective village) where he was raised. Dayan willed his personal belongings to his bodyguard.
In 2005, his eye patch was offered for sale on Ebay with a starting bid of $75,000 U.S. dollars.

Dayan was a complex character; his opinions were never strictly black and white. He had few close friends; his mental brilliance and charismatic manner were combined with cynicism and lack of restraint. Ariel Sharon noted about Dayan:

He would wake up with a hundred ideas. Of them ninety-five were dangerous; three more had to be rejected; the remaining two, however, were brilliant.

He had courage amounting to insanity, as well as displays of a lack of responsibility. I would not say the same about his civil courage. Once Ben Gurion had asked me – what do I think of the decision to appoint Dayan as the Minister of Agriculture in his government. I said that it is important that Dayan sits in every government because of his brilliant mind — but never as prime minister. Ben Gurion asked: "why not as prime minister?". I replied then: "because he does not accept responsibility".

Dayan combined a kibbutznik's secular identity and pragmatism with a deep love and appreciation for the Jewish people and the land of Israel—but not a religious identification. In one recollection, having seen rabbis flocking on the Temple Mount shortly after Jerusalem was captured in 1967, he asked, "What is this? Vatican?" On his religious views, Dayan was an atheist.

Dayan later ordered the Israeli flag removed from the Dome of the Rock, and gave administrative control of the Temple Mount over to the Waqf, a Muslim council. Dayan believed that the Temple Mount was more important to Judaism as a historical rather than holy site.

Dayan was an author and claimed to be an amateur archaeologist, the latter hobby leading to significant controversy, as his amassing of historical artifacts, often with the help of his soldiers, seemed to be in breach of a number of laws. Some of his activities in this regard, whether illegal digging, looting of sites or commerce of antiquities, have been detailed by R. Kletter from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In 2005, Moshe Dayan was voted the 73rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

More: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/...

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moshe Dayan was a great son of Israel- a General, who led the defence of Israel from her sworn enemies, for decades, a gentleman, an archaeologist, a lover of poetry and the Land of Israel, and a scholar of the Bible and the history of the Land of Israel.
In this phenomenal book, filled with photos of the landscape of the Land of Israel, and major landmarks, as well as watercolour paintings of events described in the Bible, throughout the ages, Dayan describes the history of the Land, the roots of the Jewish people in the Land, living with the history recorded in the Bible, and the struggle of the Jews to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland.
Dayan gives his "real and tangible homeland the added dimension of historical depth, to bring to life the strata of the past which now lay beneath the desolate ruins and archaeological mounds- the Israel of our patriarchs, our judges, our kings and prophets".
As he reminds us 'The people of Israel were exiled from their land, but their land was never exiled from their hearts".
He brilliantly juxtaposes the Biblical history of Israel with the modern history of Israel, and her strugle to survive.

In describing the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron the burial site of the patriarchs and matriarchs and one of the holiest sites, the author reminds us how for exaxtly seven hundred years, from 1267 AD to the 8 June 1967, the Cave of Machpelah was barred to Jews!
Under Israeli sovereignty it has been open to all faiths!
The first Jew to enter the site, after seven hundred years, was a pretty and clever twelve year old girl, Michal, who was able to wriggle her way through the narrow aperture in the Cave of Machpelah.
I have been to the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron for a synagogue service of the Jewish Sabbath, and have never been to such an amazing service, with such devout worship.
The Jewish community of Hebron is a beautiful and warm community.
It is clear from the accounts in this book of David Ben-Gurion and by Moshe Dyan, that as Ben-Gurion and Dayan' although not observant, were deep believers in the Allmighty.
As the biblical accounts are juxtpaosed with the struggle of Israel. during the 20th century, we read of the frequent Arab terrorist raids into Israel, during the 1950's and 60's in which a number of Israeli men, women and children were murdered.
He describes Varda Freedman, a young girl, murdered at her wedding, by Arab terrorists at the immigrant village of Patish in March, 1955.
Israel-hating revisionist historians have reffered to Israel's raid on a terrorist base in Kibya, in 1953, and labelled it as one of 'Israel's atrocities'.
A close reading of the history of the events, reveals that the raid on Kibya was retaliation for an Arab terrorist raid on the village of Yehudia, in which a Jewish mother and her two small children were murdered.
Dayan describes the struggle for survival during the 1948 War of Independence, where the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Jewish community of the newly re-born State of Israel (many of them holocaust survviors), was attacked by 7 Arab armies, and against all odds, survived.

He also describes the Six Day War, in which he was minister of Defence, and highlight that the War was effectively declared by Nasser, when after Syrian and Egyptian forces had been massed on Israel's borders, Nasser closed the starights of Tiran, blocking off Israel's port of Eilat.
Dayan describes how Israel longs and has always longed for peace: "The Arabs come to us with sword, dagger and spear, while we seek to live with them in peace, side by side, in terms of equality. We come to them in the name of the Lord G-D of Israel'.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting juxtaposition of 'modern' Israeli history (~1937-1973) with early Biblical history through about the reign of David (2 Samuel). Moshe Dayan of course knew the Holy Land intimately having been born in the first kibbutz in the1920s in the land that was to become Israel and roaming across the region in his military roles from WW2 through the War of Independence (1947-49) and the subsequent conflicts in 1956, 1967 and 1973. His descriptions of the varied landscapes from the Sinai to the Jezreel Valley are marvelous, as he roamed and fought over the land of Israel. Few would have the ability to understand the challenges of conquering this terrain as faced by the Biblical Israelis such as Joshua. He was also a keen observer of the people of his time both Arab and Israeli (especially Ben-Gurion) and comes off as fairly even-minded and even conflicted somewhat about the plight of the evicted Arabs (but not very, given their frequent terror attacks). He was also a collector of antiquities which added to his curiosity and insight into the history of the land. There are numerous anecdotes from his travels and illustrious career that illuminate aspects of Biblical history in a new and insightful way.

[Shelley Alongi]

fascinating. Good for me this book was a combination of many things and many names events and feelings I had picked up over my lifetime of reading both of the Bible and the struggle for the reestablishment of the state of Israel in 1948. I have always enjoyed reading the Jewish Bible. I find it contrary to other attitudes I have experienced quite stimulating. It helps to have a familiar Arity with the details of the story of the patriarchs and king David because he does mention several events and minute details that could conceivably go over one's head without it. It might help to stimulate an interest in the Bible especially when placed next to the settings of the landscape and the geography and people of the land. I did not percieve this as a serious dig into archaeological discoveries but rather an emotional tying to the familiar stories and modern experience with some of the names and geography of the land. I thought his perspectives were interesting especially when he talks about people he finds interesting and ideas that mirror in some way the stories that come to life in the pages of the Bible there were some other conflicts that I had not read about namely the smaller ones from a historical perspective between the different defending organizations. I would probably pick this book up again and I would also be interested in looking at different writings where participants not only give us a rundown of events but also tell us about how they are emotionally tied to them. I am glad I discovered this book.

[Dovofthegalilee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes people should stick to what they are good at. In Dayan's case it was leading men into battle but as a "gentleman" archaeologist he hastily gathered materials some defending him saying they would be lost if he hadn't and then there is the case of him writing. Save for the good pictures in this book the writing is very ground level and might hold the attention of a novice but beyond that it is severely lacking.

[Edi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This photo-essay of Israel's roots by Gen. Moishe Dayan is altogether beautiful.

[Yehudit Reishtein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting primarily for its historical perspective. Strengths: weaving events of the 1930s through early 1970s with Biblical events, photos of Israel as it was 30 to 50 years ago. Weaknesses: inaccuracies about the Biblical stories, lack of honesty about his own collection of antiquities (most of which were acquired illegally), the stories of his life and experience don't always fit well into the the Biblical narrative he is telling. Nonetheless, it was an easy, enjoyable read.