A skillful navigation through turbulent waters.
A penetrating if often redundant study of the original Zionist vision of an Israel that is both democratic and Jewish.
Rubinstein (The Zionist Dream Revisited, 1984) has been a member of Israel’s parliament or cabinet since 1977. Here he responds to the “post-Zionist” attacks on Israel’s ethnic schizophrenia by stating that Israel was meant to be, and should remain, a democratic and secular state—as well as a Jewish state. Fittingly, in his preface, Arthur Hertzberg traces the author’s thinking back to both the Whig party and the Talmud. Ehud Barak’s foreword, on the other hand, contends that “the Zionist idea is not carved in stone”—somewhat ironic given the source of both Zionism and that particular expression. Rubinstein’s opening chapters recall how Zionism was originally envisioned as a movement that aimed to replace the parasitical “Diaspora Yid” (the author quotes Jabotinsky’s harsh terms) with the historically corrected Hebrew, happily tilling his native soil. Herzl envisioned Israel becoming a kind of miniature Switzerland, rather than an insular, xenophobic ghetto transplanted to the Middle East. To the author, the Holocaust answered the question of the need for a Jewish haven or a Law of Return (offering instant citizenship only to Jewish immigrants). He is nevertheless wary of a growing Jewish fundamentalism, and he sees the Rabin assassination as the climax of current distortions of Judaism and Zionism. Far more than the early Zionists, Rubinstein tolerates religious influence—he merely wants such influence departmentalized behind walls that separate the State from the Temple. The author describes the Jewish national home as a condominium whose separate apartments belong to all the tenants, and argues that a Jewish state can balance and fly on twin engines.
A skillful navigation through turbulent waters.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-8419-1408-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
