History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology

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what did he think?
Eintein and Religion: Physics and Theology
Criticisms
A fascinating book (with some criticisms of my own)
Excellent discussion of an impersonal God

Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology
Max Jammer
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 069110297X

Book Description

The philosophy of religion and the quest for spiritual truth preoccupied Albert Einstein--so much that it has been said "one might suspect he was a disguised theologian." Nevertheless, the literature on the life and work of Einstein, extensive as it is, does not provide an adequate account of his religious conception and sentiments. Only fragmentarily known, Einstein's ideas about religion have been often distorted both by atheists and by religious groups eager to claim him as one of their own. But what exactly was Einstein's religious credo? In this fascinating book, the distinguished physicist and philosopher Max Jammer offers an unbiased and well-documented answer to this question.

The book begins with a discussion of Einstein's childhood religious education and the religious atmosphere--or its absence--among his family and friends. It then reconstructs, step by step, the intellectual development that led Einstein to the conceptions of a cosmic religion and an impersonal God, akin to "the God of Spinoza." Jammer explores Einstein's writings and lectures on religion and its role in society, and how far they have been accepted by the general public and by professional theologians like Paul Tillich or Frederick Ferré. He also analyzes the precise meaning of Einstein's famous dictum "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind," and why this statement can serve as an epitome of Einstein's philosophy of religion.

The last chapter deals with the controversial question of whether Einstein's scientific work, and in particular his theory of relativity, has theologically significant implications, a problem important for those who are interested in the relation between science and religion. Both thought-provoking and engaging, this book aims to introduce readers, without proselytizing, to Einstein's religion.

Customer Reviews:

what did he think?.......2007-01-18

By some accounts Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was the greatest theoretical physicist of the twentieth century, if not of all time. Max Jammer, Professor of Physics Emeritus and former Rector at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, has written an eminently readable account of Einstein's thoughts on religion, a subject that he insists has been ignored by the over 400 books on Einstein published in the last several decades. Einstein renounced accusations that he was an atheist, and railed against the intolerance of those whom he called "the fanatical atheists." In his three long chapters Jammer portrays Einstein as "undogmatic and yet profoundly religious."

In his first chapter Jammer treats the role of religion in Einstein's private life. Born to what he described as "entirely irreligious Jewish parents," Einstein attended a Catholic primary school where like all students he received religious instruction. From the influences of nature and music he developed pronounced religious feelings quite early, although by age twelve he became estranged from institutional religion (although not from religion as he would define it) through reading some popular scientific books. His first wife, Mileva Maric, was Greek Orthodox, and his last wishes were to be cremated rather than to be buried in any religious tradition. Einstein was decidedly irreligious in the sense that he rejected any and all institutional affiliations, never attended worship services or prayed, rejected all dogmatic theology (eg, miracles, the afterlife or prayer), did not believe that God was in any sense personal, and was a strict determinist. But he found it impossible not to think of himself as religious in the sense of humility and awe at the mystery, rationality and complexity of nature: "the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility." Behind the mystery of nature there seemed to be some superior intelligence: "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."

Chapter two explores what Einstein wrote about religion (he studiously avoided using the word "theology"). As a convinced determinist Einstein did not believe in human free will. He viewed science and religion as complementary rather than as antagonistic, seen in his famous aphorism that "science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Science cannot determine ethics or inform us of ultimate purpose or meaning, thought Einstein, for "knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be." Science could never, then, displace or supercede religion. In his final and longest chapter, Jammer examines the possible ramifications of Einstein's theory of relativity and rejection of quantum mechanics ("God," wrote Einstein in 1926, "does not play dice.") for theological ideas like time, eternity, creation ex nihilo, and the Big Bang. Einstein himself rather disingenuously denied that there was any relationship between his physics and theology.

Well-known for his aversion to social convention and defiance of authority, Einstein used a paradox to summarize his personal beliefs and professional thoughts about religion. About a year before he died Einstein wrote in a letter that he understood himself to be a "deeply religious unbeliever." He rejected any and all notions of traditional, institutional religion, but he just as vociferously repudiated atheists who tried to claim him for their cause. Rather, he embraced something like grateful and humble Cosmic Awe at the beauty and complexity of the world he strove so mightily to understand.

Eintein and Religion: Physics and Theology.......2005-08-28

Do not be deceived by the welcoming jacket on this book. This is primarily an academic text.

The subtitle is "physics and theology" and not the other way around. This may be deliberate, because although the book actually starts with an emphasis on theology it evolves (or devolves, depending on your perspective) into a treatise on advanced physics.

Despite Jammer's sometimes ackward English and despite the fact that portions read like a master's thesis in philosophy - the book is most accessible on the theological side. The reader gets insight into the spiritual side of Einstein. Jammer shows conclusively that Einstein did believe in God and does a reasonably good job presenting the philisophical underpinnings of Einstein's beliefs.

Unless you have studied advanced quantum physics the second part of this book is very tough going.

Criticisms.......2005-04-21

I think Jammer has not done a thorough enough job on Einstein's denial of free will. I have many books on and about Einstein and I know of many instances in which he made his strict determinism clear. Here is room for improvement.

Jammer is wrong to imply that Einstein's initial belief in a static universe was the result of reading Spinoza. The fact is, many scientists at the time believed in a static universe, and probably most of them had never read Spinoza. Indeed, when Hubble showed that our universe was (and still is) expanding, the scientifc community was taken by surprise. I don't think Spinoza had anything to do with this.

Jammer has said little about the importance of Hume and Schopenhauer to Einstein's philosophical and scientific views. This is a mistake. Hume and Schopenhauer were at least as important to Einstein as Spinoza. The neglect of Schopenhauer may have something to do with the philosopher's antisemitism. But Schopenhauer remained Einstein's favorite philosopher. In his study Einstein had pictures of Newton, Maxwell, Faraday, and Schopenhauer - the sole philosopher of the lot. Einstein quoted from him often on a wide range of subjects. If Schopenhauer was an antisemite, that's because he was such a misanthrope. In fact, he disliked Germans even more (and he was one of them).

I agree that locality and determinism were two of Einstein's fundamental beliefs. Jammer reports with glee that locality has been proven wrong. So therefore determinism may also be wrong, he seems to imply. But according to John Bell, nonlocality may actually prove strict determinism to be right! (I don't believe Einstein was wrong about determinism as an objective fact, even though his interpretation of quantum mechanics may be wrong. The fact is, Heisenberg uncertainty shows up only during measurements; isolated systems are strictly deterministic. Of course, no one knows where this uncertainty comes from - hence the mystery.)

I think that on the whole this book is good. But Jammer places far too much emphasis on Einstein's "Religion without science is blind; science without religion is lame" as though this remark, probably made tongue in cheek, summarized Einstein's religious views. I doubt it. Even if it does, this by no means imply this is an unassailable truth. Steven Weinberg believes that science and religion are antagonistic, one representing knowledge, the other representing ignorance. I agree with Weinberg.

A fascinating book (with some criticisms of my own).......2005-03-24

I think Jammer does us a fine service by writing a book about a subject that is too often neglected. Not that Einstein's religious views were ever unknown, but it is surprising that this seems to be the first book devoted to this subject.

The exchanges between Einstein and Rabbi Geller are for me an important new piece of information (see pp. 85-86), as is Einstein's denial of free will in his letter to Besso (p. 87). But interestingly, Jammer neglects to mention Einstein's letter to Otto Juliusburger, who in 1946 tried to assess Hitler's responsibility for the Holocaust. Einstein's reply would not now be considered politically correct (at least in Jammer's Israel): "You take a definite stance on Hitler's responsibility... Objectively, there is after all no free will. What need is there for a criterion for responsibility?" Einstein was of course a sworn enemy of Hitler (and so should he be). But this statement is so amazing that I think Jammer was wrong to omit it. He should have quoted this statement, while emphasizing that Einstein blamed Hitler and the Germans for their evil deeds and he never forgave them. (Most of these quotes, especially if from private letters, are kept in the multi-volume "Collected Papers of Albert Einstein" published by Princeton UP and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.)

In one of the more interesting quotes in this book, Einstein believed quantum mechanics has no practically relevant impact on his deterministic view of life-events. But in this connection Jammer fails to mention how Bohr's complementarity could be applied to Einstein's determinism with satisfactory results - even though Jammer has a third of the book devoted to speculation about how science now affects philosophical and religious matters. (Despite this, there are some important Einstein quotes in this chapter as well.)

It is obvious that Einstein rejected the notion that quantum uncertainty undermines his denial of free will because he rejected quantum mechanics itself. Jammer points out that Einstein was wrong about locality, which was one of his main objections to quantum mechanics. Jammer cites Bell's theorem (p. 226) and the Aspect experiments as proving nonlocality, and claims that Einstein's belief in locality and his determinism are two basic tenets of his philosophy, as they indeed appear to be. But Jammer's implication seems to be that if Einstein got locality wrong, perhaps he was completely wrong about quantum mechanics, hence about quantum uncertainty, thus about determinism, thus about...his denial of free will? In other words, if Einstein was wrong about locality, he might have been wrong about determinism too. If Einstein was mistaken about one basic tenet of his philosophy, what makes us think he was right about the other? What Jammer fails to realize is that it was John Bell himself who said that strict determinism could well be the only way to make nonlocality compatible with all those horrible paradoxes like faster-than-light signals which contradict Special Relativity. In Bell's opinion, Einstein might have been wrong about nature being local, but strict determinism of which Einstein was always convinced might not be wrong after all. This is such an important point that I think Jammer should have discussed it, especially in Chapter 3, where he discusses his (Jammer's) own views on Einstein's philosophy.

On a more trivial note, Jammer is wrong that Einstein picked up his denial of the freedom of the will from Spinoza. The fact is, Einstein got this idea first from Schopenhauer, then from Hume, and only later from Spinoza. I was disappointed how Jammer has throughout this book neglected the importance of Schopenhauer and Hume in Einstein's philosophical and religious development. I would agree though that Einstein's "cosmic religion" came from Spinoza.

Jammer is at pains to emphasize that he doesn't proselytize or paddle any religious or sectarian viewpoints. He succeeds in this regard, in my opinion. What he does clearly try to convey, though, is the impression that religion in general and science are not in conflict, and he quotes Einstein's facetiously ambiguous statement "Science without religion is blind; religion with science is lame" (or something to this effect) to prove this point, almost ad nauseum. I'm not sure Jammer has convinced me. But Einstein's statements about religion are often ambiguous and confusing enough to provide plenty of material for someone with a secret ax to grind to quote from. On the other hand, Einstein was quite adamant and clear in (1) his determinism, (2) his denial of the immortality of the soul (which Einstein did not believe exist apart from the brain), and (3) his denial of a personal God. Jammer does a good job of faithfully reporting these views. This is not as easy a task as it seems, because (1) clearly conflicts with the deeply held beliefs of most people and the basic dogmas of Christian, Catholic, and Jewish religions; because (3) conflicts with all major religions excepting Buddhism; and because (2) conflicts with ALL religions, past and present. So I think Jammer has shown his competence here.

A "B-" effort. I hope someday someone will come up with an even better one. Right now this is the best we have.

Excellent discussion of an impersonal God.......2003-02-10

Three chapters: two for the everyman and one for the brave physicist/mathematician. The first two chapters are an excellent discourse on a Universal and Logical but impersonal God, the creator of the Universe. Well worth reading for those confused by the inconsistencies in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Places forgiveness, ethics and morality squarely on the shoulders of the individual. And chapter three really nails it down even though it required six reads for this mathematician.

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Outwitting History
Aaron Lansky
Manufacturer: Souvenir Press Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel

ASIN: 028563724X

The Messianic Idea in Judaism: And Other Essays on Jewish Spirituality

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Discourse on Messianic Judiasm
Messianism, Antinomianism, and Jewish Spirituality

The Messianic Idea in Judaism: And Other Essays on Jewish Spirituality
Gershom Scholem
Manufacturer: Schocken
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ASIN: 0805210431
Release Date: 1995-05-10

Customer Reviews:

Discourse on Messianic Judiasm.......2005-04-03

The large majority of this book discusses the rise and fall of messianism through the medieval period and how it affects Judaism today. There are also other essays present that discuss the history of the Star of David symbolism and the mystical golems.

The author presents the case of how Sabbatianism and Hasidism influenced the messianic themes that are prevalent in today's Judiasm. Some of the more interesting readings cover the notion of Sabbatianism and its transformation to a sect that believes in a messiah that pointed the way to redemption through sin as a result of its heretical leadership.

Identifying some of the religious inadequacies of Sabbatianism and how they gave rise to Hasidism and the notion of a messianism that focuses on self and personal redemption, the author presents a plausible argument worthy of serious debate for years to come.

Messianism, Antinomianism, and Jewish Spirituality.......2004-11-29

Gershom Scholem, recognized as one of the foremost academic scholars of Jewish mysticism of the 20th century, presents here an excellent series of essays exploring the crises caused by fits of messianism in Judaism, especially the Sabbatian crisis.

The essays include:

Toward an Understanding of the Messianic Idea in Judaism- details the concept of the messiah (mosiach) in the Hebrew exoteric traditions throughout history.

The Messianic Idea in Kabbalism- explores the origins of kabbalistic messianism in Isaac Luria and how this paved the way for Sabbatai Zevi.

The Crisis of Tradition in Jewish Mysticism- discusses the antinomian tendencies of messianic movements (esp. in the Sabbatians and post-Sabbatians, such as the Frankists and the Donme) and how Jewish law is abridged by proclamations of a new law, which is further advanced in the next essay,

Redemption through Sin- a more thorough look at antinomianism in Judaism, and how it stems from the idea of Spiritual Torah vs. Written Torah.

Further essays explore the Donme movement in greater detail, takes a look at a rare Sabbatian will from a Sabbatian who lived in New York in the 1800's, further essays on Hasidism and it's retort to Messianism, as well as the mystical aspects of Devekut (Hasidic "Cleaving to God"), and further essays in Jewish scholarship and an essay on the birth of the Star of David as a Jewish symbol.

Highly recommended to all parties interested in more advanced scholarship in Kabbalah and Jewish Heresy.

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

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The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

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ASIN: 0521655749

Book Description

Influenced originally by Islamic theological speculation, classical philosophers and Christian Scholasticism of the Middle Ages, Jewish thinkers living in Islamic and Christian lands philosophized about Judaism from the ninth to fifteenth centuries. They reflected on the nature of language about God, the creation of the world, the possibility of human freedom and the relationship between divine and human law. This Companion presents major medieval Jewish thinkers in a comprehensive introduction to a vital period of Jewish intellectual history.

Redemption and Utopia: Jewish Libertarian Thought in Central Europe: A Study in Elective Affinity

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Redemption and Utopia: Jewish Libertarian Thought in Central Europe: A Study in Elective Affinity
Michael Lowy
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
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ASIN: 0804717761

Auschwitz and After: Race, Culture, and the Jewish Question in France

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Auschwitz and After: Race, Culture, and the Jewish Question in France
L. Kritzman
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Book Description

The memory of the Holocaust and the "Jewish question" have been key issues in French political, cultural and intellectual life for the past fifty years. Since Auschwitz, every word evoking its past either dissimulates guilt or simply denies the reality of the extermination that took place. Immediately following World War II, discussion of French participation in the "Final Solution" became taboo. Support for a massive inquiry into the many crimes of collaboration became an impossibilty because too many Frenchmen felt guilty because of their complicity during the war. Collaborators went back "into the closet" and the sins of the past were magically eradicated.

Beginning with Marcel Ophüs's documentary The Sorrow and the Pity (1970) there has been an attempt to question the idea of a totally unified, courageous and resistant wartime France. Even more startling have been the increasingly shocking revelations that the politics of collaboration were a mere extension of a deep-seated Frenchanti-Semitic tradition. In the shadow of these developments French writers and philosophers today are reflecting on the meaning of Jewish identity in the contemporary world.

Auschwitz and After analyzes for the first time how the memory of Auschwitz and the collaboration continue to haunt the French. These critical evaluations are accompanied by provocative essays on the "Jewish Question" and the politics of race as they have been studied by writers, historians, philosophers and film makers in postwar France. Auschwitz and After offers an extraordinary compendium of critics of French culture treating subjects as diverse as: the representation of the Holocaust and the politics of revisionism; anti-Semitism in contemporary France; the literature of Jews writing in French; the literature of the French writing on Jews; the post-Auschwitz philosophy of Blanchot, Derrida, Levinas and Lyotard; images of the occupation in the films of Ophüls, Chabrol, Truffaut and Malle; war memories and autobiographical writing; and the construction of Jewish identity in Sartre, Aron, Lévi-Strauss and Finkielkraut.

Contributors: Geoffrey Hartman, Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Elaine Marks, Susan Rubin Suleiman, Judith Friedlander, Alain Finkielkraut, Lawrence D. Kritzman, Jeanine Parisier Plottel, Allen Stoekl, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Emmanuel Levinas, Ora Avni, Jeffrey Mehlman, Warren Motte, Ronnie Scharfman, Richard Stamelman, Naomi Greene, Nelly Furman, Herman Rapaport.

The Broken Staff: Judaism through Christian Eyes

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The Broken Staff: Judaism through Christian Eyes
Frank E. Manuel
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The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader

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The Optimistic Jew
An excellent book about Zionism
splendid compelation
Richard A. Macales, columnist, "Mac's Facts"

The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader

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ASIN: 0827606222

Book Description

This intellectual history of Zionism is an anthology of works by the major Zionists, preceded by a long, illuminating introduction by Rabbi Hertzberg.

Customer Reviews:

The Optimistic Jew.......2007-08-31

This is an anthology of works by major Zionist thinkers. It introduced me to the fact that Zionism was primarily a radical project of self-criticism and not a whining diatribe against the Gentiles. The ruthless mode of thought and pitiless self criticism of the founding fathers of Zionism makes one realize that this is our strength in the face of our enemies, who clearly lack the ability to engage in self-criticism. I try to follow in the footsteps of this tradition of Zionist self-criticism in my own book "The Optimistic Jew: a Positive Vision for the Jewish People in the 21st Century"
The Introduction by Rabbi Hertzberg is brilliant and worth the price of the book alone. If you want to know something about Zionism, Israel, and modern Jewish history, buy this book and read the Introduction!

An excellent book about Zionism.......2004-12-26

What is modern Zionism? Is it Jewish nationalism? Is it simply an ideology of human rights for everyone, including Jews? These are questions that I hoped would be answered (and are answered) in a book that contains articles written from 1843 to 1948 by about three dozen leading Zionists.

A doctrine of human rights for all would permit any group, including Jews, to bid on land in and near Jerusalem and (upon obtaining it) pass laws ensuring their rights of life, liberty, and property there. As well as continued immigration. I wanted to see if most Zionists saw it that way, arguing that there are many Jews (and many Jewish nationalists) and that Zion is the Jewish homeland, with Jerusalem its capital.

Moreover, I wanted to know if any of these thinkers said or implied anything like the following:

1) We Jews don't care for Zion, but many non-Jews do, so we'll buy Zion and displace those who really love the land.

2) We Zionists love Zion, so we'll steal it from the rightful and legal owners.

3) We don't care about human rights. We want special treatment, so we can have privileges that are denied to non-Jews.

Not one of these authors displayed any of the above three attitudes. None of them advocated wastefulness, greed, destruction, theft, or unfairness. They did indeed argue for the rights of Jews to be equal to those of other nationalities. And they went on to discuss Jewish culture, Hebrew universities, Jewish religion, and the need for a people to have a common language and a state. These days, when the international information supply is saturated with antizionist misinformation, it's worth noting all this.

In this book, we see Theodor Herzl say that the Jews are a people, one people. A people that he thinks "will not be left in peace." And, most important, that he is not aiming to arouse sympathy on behalf of the Jews: "All that is nonsense, as futile as it is dishonorable." Those who ask that we make the dubious stipulation that Zionism is merely a claim of sympathy for what has happened to the Jews of Europe might want to note that!

We then see Ahad Ha-am say that he wants to focus on a national culture, with Zion providing merely a "secure refuge," rather than starting with a state and relying on it to produce a national culture. That's a good answer to those who ask today what Ahad Ha-am would have said about Israel's desire to continue to exist as a refuge for Jews.

Two other authors who are often quoted by "post-Zionists" are Judah Magnes and Martin Buber. I'd advise reading what they say as well. In particular, Buber splatters Mahatma Gandhi's argument that the Levant "belongs to the Arabs" by pointing out that "God does not give any one portion of the Earth away." A powerful comment for those who might otherwise think that the Jews, not the Arabs, are the ones who are regarding the Levant as theirs by Divine Right!

Vladimir Jabotinsky is often given as an example of someone who favored Jewish greed over Arab need. Guess again! Here we see him speak forthrightly about there being "no question of ousting the Arabs," And that Arabs will be a minority in Israel, but that is no hardship. And that he asks "only for the same condition as the Albanians enjoy."

If you want to learn something about Zionism, read this.

splendid compelation.......2003-07-14

the a hundred page introduction of this work is absolutely essential for people of every ilk who want to undertand the whole zionist idealogy in one fine, easy-read scoop. the rest of this work is a presentation of every important leader of zionism in the course of 19th and 20th centuries with a short description of the writers life, endeavors, and accomplishments in the beginning of every excerpt.
this book serves on two fronts which makes it into a bona-fide classic of zionist literature: (a) someone who wants to throughly understand the conception of the movement must read this book because without it even fine, scurpulous research is incomplete. (b) someone who wants to cursorly scan the movement to form a capsule of the zionist idea in his mind for all practical intents and purposes.
i'm not a zionist, but this book gave me a clearer percpective of zionism. now i'm confident to vouch that i know precisely what zionism holds and so should you!

Richard A. Macales, columnist, "Mac's Facts".......1999-06-18

If you are proud of the role that Orthodox Jews have played in developing the modern Zionist movement, you will love this reader compiled more than 35 years ago (and back in print). Orthodox rabbis and Zionist leaders Yehuda Alkalai, Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, Yechiel Michel Pines, Meir Bar-Ilan, Shmuel Chaim Landau, Samuel Mohilever, Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook and Isaac Reines take up a disproportionate amount of space in Hertzberg's rich work. And for good measure you will find the writings of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky.

Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the Jewish Man (Contraversions - Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture and Society , No 8)

Average customer rating:

Impressive in its ambitions, not so in its accomplishments
Boyarin is wild--Salkin goes one step further

Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the Jewish Man (Contraversions - Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture and Society , No 8)
Daniel Boyarin
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520210506

Book Description

In a book that will both enlighten and provoke, Daniel Boyarin offers an alternative to the prevailing Euroamerican warrior/patriarch model of masculinity and recovers the Jewish ideal of the gentle, receptive male. The Western notion of the aggressive, sexually dominant male and the passive female reaches back through Freud to Roman times, but as Boyarin makes clear, such gender roles are not universal. Analyzing ancient and modern texts, he reveals early rabbis--studious, family-oriented--as exemplars of manhood and the prime objects of female desire in traditional Jewish society.
Challenging those who view the "feminized Jew" as a pathological product of the Diaspora or a figment of anti-Semitic imagination, Boyarin argues that the Diaspora produced valuable alternatives to the dominant cultures' overriding gender norms. He finds the origins of the rabbinic model of masculinity in the Talmud, and though unrelentingly critical of rabbinic society's oppressive aspects, he shows how it could provide greater happiness for women than the passive gentility required by bourgeois European standards.
Boyarin also analyzes the self-transformation of three iconic Viennese modern Jews: Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis; Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism; and Bertha Pappenheim (Anna O.), the first psychoanalytic patient and founder of Jewish feminism in Germany. Pappenheim is Boyarin's hero: it is she who provides him with a model for a militant feminist, anti-homophobic transformation of Orthodox Jewish society today.
Like his groundbreaking Carnal Israel, this book is talmudic scholarship in a whole new light, with a vitality that will command attention from readers in feminist studies, history of sexuality, Jewish culture, and the history of psychoanalysis.

Customer Reviews:

Impressive in its ambitions, not so in its accomplishments.......2003-10-05

This was book I really wanted to like because Daniel Boyarin has such a great and fascinating task at hand--a re-thinking of the common universalizing assignments of the binarisms of active/passive, strong/weak to the male/female dyad in Jewish culture. His archive from Talmudic and other Jewish historical documents is terrific and proves his thesis amazingly well, but in other places his argument wildly goes awry. The introduction is a bizarre rounding-the-bases of feminist and queer scholarship, critiquing and praising other scholars whose conclusions seem to have nothing to do with his own, and his embracement of psychoanalysis seems especially wrong-headed since it always counteracts what he discovers in the historical record (he winds up constantly having to make what could have been very straightforward arguments in extremely circuitous ways so as to jibe with the current work doen among psychoanalytic literary and cultural critics). And his chapter on Freud and Fliess decends into very weak and flimsy psychobiographical speculative interpretation that isn't always borne out by the record. I felt this was an instance where a scholar's own ideas and findings were greatloy weakened by his constant need to defer to other scholars' work rather than bolstered by it--what is truly fascinating in Boyarin's work becomes buried under others' work.

Boyarin is wild--Salkin goes one step further.......1999-11-30

This is one of the best Jewish books that I have read recently. The best thing about Boyarin is that he has this ability to really synthesize the Jewish male ethos. I don't agree with his anti-Zionism, though...After reading this I read Rabbi Jeff Salkin's new book Searching for My Brothers: Jewish Men in a Gentile World. Salkin goes further than Boyarin, and even quotes him. Salkin believes that Zionism is Jewish macho, and he seems to approve. You will love Salkin's book if you love Boyarin's.

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