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The Story of Israel
TWO AREAS OF STICKER DAMAGE ON FRONT COVER. SCUFFING, MINOR EDGE WEAR AND SOME DISCOLORATION ON COVERS AND SPINE. BLACKOUT ON FIRST PAGE. NO OTHER MARKING OR WRITING NOTED IN BOOK.
Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1972
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April 27, 2024
AN EARLY HISTORY OF THE JEWISH STATE
Author and novelist Meyer Levin wrote in the first chapter of this 1966 book, “What is it about this land of Israel, that had made it so desperately prized; to be fought over by Jews, Philistines, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, Arabs and Jews; to be the source of so much conflict, tragedy, and yet of elation?” (Pg. 15)
He asks, “Who would want to possess so strange a land? A people of extreme temperament, who would love it fiercely. And the story of Israel is the story of a people and a place, united, separated, again and again. In their times of absence from each other the people suffered and the land suffered, but always, in their times of reunion, the people and the land flourished together.” (Pg. 18)
He notes, “To the pious Jews of the Old City, Hebrew was the holy tongue, to be used only in prayer. To speak Hebrew in daily life, in commerce, in the streets, was to profane the language. Yiddish was the common tongue with admixtures of Russian, Polish, Romanian. There was also the Ladino of the Jews who had originally come from Spain, and the French and German of the elite.” (Pg. 43)
He points out, “The idea of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land was… not originated by Herzl; even Napoleon had toyed with such a plan. But it was to writers that it has always appealed; not only Laurence Oliphant… Disraeli had written about it in ‘David Elroy,’ George Eliot in ‘Daniel Deronda,’ and … Leo Pinsker had published ‘Auto-Emancipation.’ Had Herzl known of this book and of the Lovers of Zion, he later said, he might not have written ‘The Jewish State.’ But the movement had not penetrated his circles.” (Pg. 59)
He states, “[Arthur Balfour] was a statesman. The gratitude, the help of millions of Jews, he foresaw, could become a real actor in the darkening world scene.” (Pg. 75)
He acknowledges, “It might seem strange that unreligious and even anti-religious Jews should heed the call of the Holy Land. But Judaism was a religion of social justice, and whether they called it religion, or whether they called it socialism, these young pioneers were impelled to work out the Jewish idea in their own land.” (Pg. 80)
He reports, “The Jews would bring modern knowledge, and wealth, to Palestine, and all the surrounding Arab lands would benefit. Elated with this all-important understanding, Dr. [Chaim] Weizmann headed for Jerusalem. But there he ran into a peculiar atmosphere. Some of General Allenby’s staff officers seemed never to have heard of the Balfour Declaration. Instead, a few of them… carried in their knapsacks …a sinister little book called ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.' No one can exaggerate the effect of this dull-sounding ‘document’ on the fate of the Jews.” (Pg. 116)
During the War for Independence, “The Irgunists carried on a spectacular program of bombings, kidnappings and sensational jail breaks… During these ghastly years, the second terrorist group kept pouring gasoline on the flames. Known as the Stern … Gang, it has been founded by a poet-patriot who broke away from the Irgun because even the Irgun had, at the outset of the war, helped the British.” (Pg. 166)
He concludes, “Compacted into the small region of Palestine are all the tendencies, all the influences, all the possibilities for good and evil that activate modern man. The Israelis do not particularly care to be a symbol for all humankind. Yet if fate has cast them in this role they have demonstrated that they want not only in their private life as a nation, but in their symbolic role for the world, to become a model of man’s progress, a model of selfhood, and of constructive relationships with their neighbors and with the world.” (Pg. 232-233)
Well-written (it was written by a NOVELIST, after all), this book is sufficient for a ‘quickie’/early history of the State.
Author and novelist Meyer Levin wrote in the first chapter of this 1966 book, “What is it about this land of Israel, that had made it so desperately prized; to be fought over by Jews, Philistines, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, Arabs and Jews; to be the source of so much conflict, tragedy, and yet of elation?” (Pg. 15)
He asks, “Who would want to possess so strange a land? A people of extreme temperament, who would love it fiercely. And the story of Israel is the story of a people and a place, united, separated, again and again. In their times of absence from each other the people suffered and the land suffered, but always, in their times of reunion, the people and the land flourished together.” (Pg. 18)
He notes, “To the pious Jews of the Old City, Hebrew was the holy tongue, to be used only in prayer. To speak Hebrew in daily life, in commerce, in the streets, was to profane the language. Yiddish was the common tongue with admixtures of Russian, Polish, Romanian. There was also the Ladino of the Jews who had originally come from Spain, and the French and German of the elite.” (Pg. 43)
He points out, “The idea of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land was… not originated by Herzl; even Napoleon had toyed with such a plan. But it was to writers that it has always appealed; not only Laurence Oliphant… Disraeli had written about it in ‘David Elroy,’ George Eliot in ‘Daniel Deronda,’ and … Leo Pinsker had published ‘Auto-Emancipation.’ Had Herzl known of this book and of the Lovers of Zion, he later said, he might not have written ‘The Jewish State.’ But the movement had not penetrated his circles.” (Pg. 59)
He states, “[Arthur Balfour] was a statesman. The gratitude, the help of millions of Jews, he foresaw, could become a real actor in the darkening world scene.” (Pg. 75)
He acknowledges, “It might seem strange that unreligious and even anti-religious Jews should heed the call of the Holy Land. But Judaism was a religion of social justice, and whether they called it religion, or whether they called it socialism, these young pioneers were impelled to work out the Jewish idea in their own land.” (Pg. 80)
He reports, “The Jews would bring modern knowledge, and wealth, to Palestine, and all the surrounding Arab lands would benefit. Elated with this all-important understanding, Dr. [Chaim] Weizmann headed for Jerusalem. But there he ran into a peculiar atmosphere. Some of General Allenby’s staff officers seemed never to have heard of the Balfour Declaration. Instead, a few of them… carried in their knapsacks …a sinister little book called ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.' No one can exaggerate the effect of this dull-sounding ‘document’ on the fate of the Jews.” (Pg. 116)
During the War for Independence, “The Irgunists carried on a spectacular program of bombings, kidnappings and sensational jail breaks… During these ghastly years, the second terrorist group kept pouring gasoline on the flames. Known as the Stern … Gang, it has been founded by a poet-patriot who broke away from the Irgun because even the Irgun had, at the outset of the war, helped the British.” (Pg. 166)
He concludes, “Compacted into the small region of Palestine are all the tendencies, all the influences, all the possibilities for good and evil that activate modern man. The Israelis do not particularly care to be a symbol for all humankind. Yet if fate has cast them in this role they have demonstrated that they want not only in their private life as a nation, but in their symbolic role for the world, to become a model of man’s progress, a model of selfhood, and of constructive relationships with their neighbors and with the world.” (Pg. 232-233)
Well-written (it was written by a NOVELIST, after all), this book is sufficient for a ‘quickie’/early history of the State.
Displaying 1 of 1 review