Book Description
From the bestselling authors of The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism comes a completely revised and updated edition of a modern classic that reflects the dangerous rise in antisemitism during the twenty-first century.
The very word Jew continues to arouse passions as does no other religious, national, or political name. Why have Jews been the object of the most enduring and universal hatred in history? Why did Hitler consider murdering Jews more important than winning World War II? Why has the United Nations devoted more time to tiny Israel than to any other nation on earth?
In this seminal study, Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin attempt to uncover and understand the roots of antisemitism -- from the ancient world to the Holocaust to the current crisis in the Middle East. This postmillennial edition of Why the Jews? offers new insights and unparalleled perspectives on some of the most recent, pressing developments in the contemporary world, including:
• The replicating of Nazi antisemitism in the Arab world
• The pervasive anti-Zionism/antisemitism on university campuses
• The rise of antisemitism in Europe
• Why the United States and Israel are linked in the minds of antisemites
Clear, persuasive, and thought provoking, Why the Jews? is must reading for anyone who seeks to understand the unique role of the Jews in human history.
Customer Reviews:
The spreading mental virus.......2007-09-23
In the introduction, the authors point out the rising tide of antisemitism in European society and media by citing specific examples, the warning of Lawrence Summers about the eruption of the plague on campus, the 2001 UN conference on racism in Durban where Israel was demonized, the hatred emanating from the Arab and Muslim worlds, from Muslims in Europe and from the political Left around the globe.
The aim of this book is to confirm the age-old Jewish understanding of the condition, which the authors consider to be a response to Judaism. The intention is to refute attempts to deny the particularly Jewish reasons for the hatred and its contemporary manifestation of anti-Zionism.
Part One: The Explanation, demonstrates the uniqueness of antisemitism as the hatred of Judaism and ethical monotheism, considers other theories like the Chosen People concept, the higher quality of Jewish life, plus other theories and the frightening phenomenon of the hatred of Judaism by non-Jewish Jews like Marx, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Abbie Hoffman, Norman Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky.
The Historical Evidence is assessed in Part Two, from the Hellenic and Roman eras through the Christian, Islamic and Secular (Enlightenment) varieties, Leftist, Nazi and Anti-Zionist Antisemitism. For Christianity, the evidence encompasses the hate-filled words of Church Fathers like John Chrysostom of Antioch and Ambrose of Milan, massacres during the crusades, medieval libels, the Catholic and Protestant versions and the abominable words of Martin Luther. For a full treatment of this, please consult Our Hands Are Stained with Blood by Michael L Brown if you're not too sensitive to the description of atrocities.
Islamic Antisemitism looks at the history of Muhammad and the Jews, the actions of Islamic leaders from the prophet's death up to the modern period, the modern era with reference to Egypt, Syria and Palestine, the 20th century and Muslim hatred of Israel. Further evidence is available in the book Peace: The Arabian Caricature of Anti-Semitic Imagery by Arieh Stav.
Secular Antisemitism: The Enlightenment, demonstrates how the shape-shifting phenomenon re-emerged through Voltaire, De Mirabaud and D'Holbach; virtually every major figure of the French Enlightenment was hostile to Judaism. In Germany there were people like Johann Fichte and Immanuel Kant, but mercifully England proved to be a partial exception where the milder manifestations never led to violence.
Like all the aforementioned, socialism and Marxism were born with Jew-hatred. Marx's writing is full of it, but it was even more virulent amongst French intellectuals like Charles Fourier, Pierre Leroux, and Proudhon, with a few exceptions. Then followed Soviet antisemitism and that of the Western Left, including Leftist and Far Right churches and bodies like the World Council of Churches.
Nazism was not an outgrowth of racial ideology which was fundamentally irrelevant to Nazi antisemitism. Equating it with racism is just an attempt to dejudaize the phenomenon. It was the other way around; in their war against the Jews the Nazis employed racist arguments. The authors provide plenty of facts to substantiate their case. Nearly every popular ideology in German history contributed to the ideological roots of Nazi antisemitism. Furthermore, Europe has always harbored a widespread and profound strain. This was revealed during the Second World War when the only continental governments that protected their Jewish citizens were Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Bulgaria.
After the Holocaust, open anti-Semitism became taboo so a change of rhetoric took place following the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Anti-Zionism had its origin in the Soviet Union. The authors argue convincingly that Anti-Zionism is antisemitism in theory and practice. Examples are given from the writings of American Leftists, the Italian media, the UK author AN Wilson, the Arab media and the statements of Arab leaders.
In chapter fourteen, eight common lies about Israel are refuted: the accusations that Israel refuses to compromise for peace; stole the land from the Palestinians; is morally obligated to absorb the 1948 refugees and their descendants, that Jerusalem is as holy to Muslims as it is to Jews, Anti-Zionists being distinct from antisemites, that Jews and Christians in the Holy Land were well-treated under Islamic rule, that Israel illegally occupies the West Bank and that Palestinians embraced violence out of desperation.
Part Three considers ways of dealing with the problem, like assimilation, Zionism, making converts and combating specific outbreaks. The authors believe that Jews should resume their original mission of spreading ethical monotheism, helping to bring mankind to a universal God-based morality. In the tradition of the Hebrew Prophets, they ought to promote the concept of goodness tied to faith as God's major concern while also opposing secularists advocating political systems devoid of religious moral values. Antisemitism is a moral failing that can only be prevented by the moral values of non-Jews. It is significant that in the USA it currently issues overwhelmingly from the Left - religious like Jimmy Carter and secular academics like Walt & Mearsheimer - whose deceptions are brilliantly exposed by Abraham Foxman in The Deadliest Lies.
In the Epilogue, the authors warn that antisemitism never remains just a Jewish problem; as it metastasizes it inevitably brings terrible suffering to all societies under its spell. In history, treatment of the Jewish people has always served as a reliable barometer of humanity's moral state. Nowadays those who hate the Jewish nation are most likely to be anti-American too. Authoritarian regimes resent American success and covet the country's power and wealth; this hatred is shared by some Western Leftists and particularly the parasites infesting transnational bodies like the United Nations and the EU bureaucracy. It should now be clear to thinking people that Arab antisemitism forms part of a deep-seated hatred of the West that fuels jihad in many forms.
There are 23 pages of bibliographic notes, a 9 page bibliography of cited works and an index. I fear the hour is late; I urge all Christians who love our Jewish Redeemer to pray without ceasing and to consider supporting organizations like Christians United For Israel, Christian Friends Of Israel and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Lucid well-argued analysis.......2007-05-23
I have encountered Rabbi Telushkin's work before and in this (revised) text he agian brings tremendous clarity to his message. Never strident, never unkind that book is fair and balanced. The authors stand their theses on historical reactions to Jews aas a nation, as montheists, as successful, as a coheent social group. Many of the analyses are equally found in other texts but Praeger and Telushkin speak to the reader with exceptional simplicity and directness (by simplicty here, I mean unadorned jargon, not monosyllables). I have only two quibbles with the book. One is terminological and the other analytical. A fundamental thesis of the text is that anti-Zionism is a cloak for recompiled antisemitism. The authors use the term 'non-Jewish Jews' to refer to those Jews who are anti-Zionism. It is an awkward word cart and i hope the authros rethink its usage in subsequent additions. On the analytical front, the authors point out that while most Jews are not radicals, most radicals are Jews (ok, probablty stretching a statistic slightly, but only slightly). I would have liked to authors to have got 'stuck in' here and offer a detailed analysis as to why this occurs. There is some analysis along the traditional lines of Jews being somewhat on the outside and using their observer status, (which I find either suggests an exotic or even quixotic dimension to the Jewish character or else descends into just mythic waffle) It could have been plumbed more thoroughly connecting more with biblical exemplars possibly. Leaving those issues aside, the book is direct and thoughtfully free of propaganda.
The reason for Antisemitism.......2007-03-09
A comprehensive explanation of Antisemitism through the ages. All the lies and myths really answer the root question.
The roots and reality of Jew-hatred/Israel-hatred.......2007-02-02
In the last six years in particular, since Arafat launched a war of terror against Israel's people, I have often wondered what the reasons are for the intense hatred and violent rage, especially by Moslems and the Left, of Israel and her people.
The country where I live, is periodically rocked by nationwide paroxysms of vicious rage and murderous hate of the tiny nation of Israel,encouraged by the ruling party and it's allies, civil society, universities and the media.
This is the world's latest incantation of Jew-hatred, the world's longest and most intense hatred, as Dennis Prager explains in this fascinating and illuminating work.
Prager begins by outlining some of the violent attacks on Jews and Israel in Europe and elsewhere, which has become the disease permeating the world as we begin the 21st century.
Prager mentions the United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Racism, in Durban, South Africa in August 2001, which, while failing to mention human rights abuses and genocide in China, Rwanda or anyplace in the Arab world, turned into a violent fest of hate and rage against Israel.
While anti-Semitism was traditionally associated with rightwing populists, vicious anti-Israelism is becoming the culture and raison d etre of 'progressive' intellectual communities.
Prager illustrates that:
* Thousands of academics around the world, have called for an end to support for Israeli researchers, though not an end to support for researchers from any other nation.
* Israeli scholars in Spring 2003 were forced off the board of an international literary journal.
* And many at universities across the world, including North America, have called for their universities to single out Israel among all nations as the lone country where it is inappropriate for any part of the university's endowment to be invested.
Prager marvels how in a world filled with enormous evils-such as totalitarian states that make their countries into large prison camps (Iran and North Korea); that massacre and enslave millions of citizens (Sudan) , that wage deadly war against their own populations (Zimbabwe and Myanmar) that destroy entire cultures (As China is doing in Tibet), it would seem a puzzle as to why the Jewish State and America are the two most villified countries in the world.
Prager points this out as being a violent rejection of the American and Jewish values of Judeo-Christian civilization, justice, freedom, democracy and humanity as a source of light to the world. He explains the reason why the USA supports Israel as being because of the USA's Judeo-Christian values and her realization that Israel is a tiny island of democracy and human rights in a sea of totalitarianism.
It is against this background that Prager delves into the roots of Jew-hatred to attempt an explanation of this phenomenon.
The basic source of ancient Jewish history, the Bible, depicts two attempts at anihilation of the Jewish people: that of Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exodus 1:15-22) and that of Haman and the Persians.
On three occasions in the last 350 years, anihilation campaigns have been waged against the Jews, the Chmelnitzky massacres in Eastern Europe in 1648-1649, the Nazi destruction of Europe's Jews between 1939 and 1945 , and the current decades long campaign to anihilate the Jewish State by it's enemies.
Prager holds out four basic reasons for Jew hatred (and it's latest incantaion, Israel-hatred)
* The hatred of Judaism and ethical monotheism
* The chosen people idea as a cause of Jew-hatred
* The moral challenge posed by the Jews for a better world.
* The higher quality of Jewish life as a cause of Jew-hatred
Chapter 5 deals with the topic of Non-Jewish Jews and anti-Semitism. This is particularly interesting to me, because leftwing diaspora Jews who hate Israel, are a major source of anger and disgust for me.
Prager is also vexed by the question of explaining Jews who devote their lives to hurting Jews. He points out that "Among no group in the world are there so many individuals who so single-mindedly attempt to damage the group into which they were born".
He gives as examples the loathsome Noam Chomsky who has dedicated much of his life tro defending those who wish to destroy Israel, and to demonize Israel and her people, frequently comparing Israelis to the Nazis; and Norman Finkelstein who lectures throughout the world , calling Israel a Nazi State and demanding it's destruction.
Indeed many Jewish ultra-Leftists lead the "burn Israel" movement, sponsoring pro-Palestinian hate rallies, leading campaigns for divestment from Israel, and demoinzing Israel and her people in the media and universities.
The author expalins this phenomenon as being that Jewish radicals, like other radicals, lack roots, and hate Jews (such as the Jews of Israel) who do have roots and a national identity.
"The Ubermensch, which is how they see themselves, rises above such parochial indentities."
Also they likely believe that if they side with those who hate Jews, they will not be hated by them.
Prager refutes the Marxist view of anti-Semitism that it is caused by Capitalism, pointing out that in Communist societies anti-Semitism has often been at it's worst.
He also easily refutes the myth that anti-Semitism is purely a rightwing phenomenon, pointing to Soviet persecution of Jewry , and the new anti-Semitism of today, which eminates mainly from the Left.
Prager go's on to examine the historical evidence of anti-Semitism with histories of ancient anti-Semitism, Christian anti-Semitism, Islamic anti-Semitism, Secular Enlightenment anti-Semitism, Leftist anti-Semitism, Nazi anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist anti-Semitism.
He continually draws parralels between historic anti-Semitism and today's new anti-Zionist version, for example discussing the mediaeval libel that Jews poisoned wells, and deliberately spread disease , to lies by the Palestinian Authority and Leftist NGO's that the Israelis have poisoned Palestinian water supplies and deliberately infected Palestinian children with the HIV virus.
In the section on Islamic anti-Semitism, he outlines bloody pogroms carried out against Jews in Arab countries, in the 20th century. He also explains the real reason behind Arab hatred of Israel. The idea of Jews as free people in their own state cannot be tolerated, they can only be tolerated as subordinate or degraded. The basis of Arab hatred of Israel is the hatred of Jews refusing to accept an unequal, inferior status, that they lived under for centuries of Arab rule.
He also deals with the Arab-Nazi connection of World War II, and beyond.
In the chapter on Leftist anti-Semitism he observes how the further left one goes the greater the Jew-hatred. The propaganda peddled by far-left ideologues, academics and journalists today is a reproduction of the propaganda manufactured in the old Soviet Union, during the Cold War, when the USSR was persecuting Jews and working for the destruction of Israel.
Letwing anti-Semitism revolves around the denial of Jewish nationhood, and therefore of Israel's right to exist, leading to a hatred of all Jews who affirm Jewish nationhood and particularly of all Jews who live in the Jewish homeland. It also involves a gross Orwellianism whereby Israel is accused of genocide, when the truth is that the Arabs and their allies are the ones pushing for the destruction of Israel and thereby a second holocaust against Jews.
Because anti-Zionism's goal would lead to a second holocaust against five million Jews, it cannot be distinguished from anti-Semitism.
Furthermore there is only one posible reason why people isolate Israel of all the countries of the world to deny it's right to existence. Because Israel is a Jewish State. Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.
Finally Prager deals with the 8 most common lies about Israel, and the truth behind them, examines what the solutions are to Jew-hatred, and his epilogue ends with a warning that anti-Semitism/anti-Israelism is the problem not only of Jews, but of all decent human beings because what begins with the Jews seldom ends with the Jews. Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred is the moral litmus test of nations, regimes and individuals.
How old are the kids now, Isaac?.......2006-08-05
The doctor's four, the lawyer's seven.
That joke, cracked by a Jewish buddy, goes some way towards explaining the 'traditional' dislike of Jews in general, which has sometimes tragically spilled over into outright persecution and genocide.
One of the reasons I have always clicked with Jewish contacts, who later became friends, is that they are highly intelligent and goal driven.
Yet this desire to be the best they can be, in business, in education, has often triggered jealousies in others, who resent the successes of the Jews, even though they have been honestly earned.
I agree with Lucien, that the idea that Jew haters have somehow been driven by some theological wranglings regarding the nature of 'the Jews' God' and the requirements of worship, never enters the head of most knee-jerk Jew bashers.
While some of Prager's ideas regarding the early development of anti-Semitism are worthy of attention, I think he perhaps underestimates how much of it has now and for centuries been literally the result of habit and 'passed down' hate mongering.
Everybody knows everybody hates the Jews, so they still do.
Also, the suggestion, however worded, that only anti-Semites see America as being Israel's big brother and protector, is very shaky, as historically alone, the US has always clearly and unequivocally supported Israel, the landmark act being the unprecedented airlift of weapons to bolster a flagging Israel, during the Yom Kippur War (Operation Nickel Grass).
It's a good book, and Prager is a fine writer who does his homework; I'm just not sure that all of his conclusions are bang on.
Shalom.
Average customer rating:
- To laugh with the Baal Shem Tov . . .
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Why the Baal Shem Tov Laughed: Fifty-two Stories about Our Great Chasidic Rabbis
Sterna Citron
Manufacturer: Jason Aronson
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ASIN: 0876683502 |
Book Description
Jewish tradition is rich in stories, many of which center around the lives and work of the great chasidic rabbis, known as rebbes. As a child, Sterna Citron, who descends from distinguished rabbinic families, was surrounded by these stories. Each night at bedtime, her father, the late Rabbi Eli Chaim Carlebach, a member of one of the most outstanding rabbinic families of Germany, would tell her stories. Fifty-two of these stories, many of which appear here for the first time in English, are now collected in Why the Baal Shem Tov Laughed: Fifty-two Stories about Our Great Chasidic Rabbis.
Customer Reviews:
To laugh with the Baal Shem Tov . . ........2001-07-26
Why did the Ball Shem Tov laugh? Out of sheer delight in the way G-d had chosen to make His point: In the village of Koznitz, a tragedy has occurred. Reb Shabsai has earned no money whatever this week, and hence there is nothing with which to buy candles or even food for the Sabbath. Dispirited, he goes to the shul to welcome the Sabbath anyway. At home, his wife decides she could at least clean the house -- there may be no food, but the Sabbath Queen could hardly be welcomed in a dirty house! And what happens? While cleaning, she finds a packet of jewelry and money she had hidden away and then lost many years prior. The Sabbath was welcomed that week with both fish and chicken, and everyone shares the joy, including the Baal Shem Tov, who joins the laughter three separate times with Reb Shabsai and his wife. Once again, G-d has provided whatever His people needed.
This first of the 52 stories is typical of the others -- take simple people, in impoverished shtetl conditions, add sizeable doses of great faith, seasoned with joy, and what do you get? Moral lessons for today, well told in 2-3 page stories, together with a biographical note on the storyteller himself -- one of the Chassidic Rebbes who were the original followers of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760). The stories are perhaps intended for children -- one a week, perhaps? But Mrs. Citron has done her research -- most of these stories were new to me, even though I've been a fan of Chassidic stories for many years. Some of them will bring tears to your eyes -- we think WE have problems!
The book would have benefited from the inclusion of more information about the Rebbes whose favorite tales she retells -- maybe even some incident from their own persecuted lives and troubled times. Giving us their geneology -- who is whose son, grandson, father-in-law, etc -- is probably of limited interest to a general readership.
Nonetheless, this is a delightful book -- great Bar-Bat Mitzvah gift, too!
Average customer rating:
- good representation of a concerned Jewish community
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Bound upon a Wheel of Fire: Why So Many German Jews Made the Tragic Decision to Remain in Nazi Germany
John Van Houten Dippel
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0465091032 |
Amazon.com
The author of Two Against Hitler, Dippel follows the lives of six relatively prominent German Jews from January 30, 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor, until late 1938. The six are Hans-Joachim Schoeps, the leader of an extreme right-wing group; Nobel prize-winning chemist Richard Wilstatter; banker Max Warburg; Leo Baeck, who was Berlin's chief rabbi; columnist Bella Fromm; and journalist and editor Robert Weltsch. The thread that ties the six together is their decision to remain in Germany during the Nazi era.
Customer Reviews:
good representation of a concerned Jewish community.......2000-05-17
This book gives a good representation of what happened in the Jewish community as Hitler grew in power. This shows the transformation from a community that had little regard for a Jewish identity to being bonded together by that mere fact alone. Dippel shows the unfortunate internal struggles that prevented any full Jewish unity (from assimilation, emigration, & fighting back to denial and prejdice). It allows you to see just what was felt during a confusing time in Germany & what was being done about it.
Book Description
With the exception of Denmark, Bulgaria was the only country allied with Nazi Germany that did not annihilate or turn over its Jewish population. Here a prominent French intellectual with Bulgarian roots accounts for this singularity.
Tzvetan Todorov assembles and interprets for the first time key evidence from this episode of Bulgarian history, including letters, diaries, government reports, and memoirs--most never before translated into any language. Through these documents, he reconstructs what happened in Bulgaria during World War II and interrogates collective memories of that time. He recounts the actions of individuals and groups that, ultimately and collectively, spared Bulgaria's Jews the fate of most European Jews.
The Bulgaria that emerges is not a heroic country dramatically different from those countries where Jews did perish. Todorov does find heroes, especially parliament deputy Dimitar Peshev, certain writers and clergy, and--most inspiring--public opinion. Yet he is forced to conclude that the "good" triumphed to the extent that it did because of a tenuous chain of events. Any break in that chain--one intellectual who didn't speak up as forcefully, a different composition in Orthodox Church leadership, a misstep by a particular politician, a less wily king--would have undone all of the other efforts with disastrous results for almost 50,000 people.
The meaning Todorov settles on is this: Once evil is introduced into public view, it spreads easily, whereas goodness is temporary, difficult, rare, and fragile. And yet possible.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2003-01-04
The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust by Tzvetan Todorov (Editor) fails in the essential task created by the title - explainig how fragile was the set of circumstances that led to the Jews of Bulgaria being saved. The first 40 or so pages of the book is a concise history of Bulgaria and the Second World War with the remainer of the book restricted to primary historical documents and memories of the major participants.
The stated premise of the book is that goodness is fragile and that the saving of Bulgarian's Jews was not a forgone conclusion. The author ignores that fact that few historical events were forgone conclusions. Even the rise of Hitler was not preordianed and but for the acts of Hindengurg and a few Weimar leaders who thought that they could control Hitler there might not have been a Holocaust. Todorov does not explain why the events in Bulgaria are any different from every other historical event.
If one want to read a comprehensive history of Bulgaria during World War II, I would suggest Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar. The Fragility of Goodness is wothwhile for the presence of the primary sources, but not much else.
Ambiguous book.......2002-06-28
It is no big surprise that Todorov published a book on the Bulgarian Jews' salvation issue. First, it goes within the major topic of his later research: the value of ethics in extreme circumstances. Second, his Bulgarian origin should made him, even for simply methodological reasons, pay more attention to the country where he comes from (and which one would expect him to know well). The book follows a scheme that Todorov already employed ten years ago in compiling the witnesses' tales of three Bulgarian citizens severely (and unreasonably) persecuted by the Communist secret police in the early 60's: no place for comments, the floor is given to the "historical figures" themselves. Yet, while in the previous "Bulgarian" book the historical figures spoke with their own words, here Todorov is constricted to the existing documentation (no one of the participants in the '43 events is still alive). And this is why he, everything taken into acount, fails. The texts are insufficient to build a complete picture of WWII Bulgaria because of their "official" character: they do not present in detail the motivation even of those main figures that were most deeply involved in the salvation (or effective dispatch to the camps of death), yet they are not adjoined by any commentary by the author wich to elucidate them better. The author's position is limited (and this is quite a particular case!) to the title itself which, however, is misleading, too. Shall we interpret it literally in the sense that Bulgarians should not really boast about saving the Jews; or shall we understand it within the broader context of Todorov's work, as just one more argument in favor of Todorov's general concept of the relativity of morality? The truth is even now I cannot choose the correct answer.
Great historical factual analysis; makes a reader think.......2001-08-21
The author thoroughly explores the chain of events and actions that led to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Holocaust. In addition to his own remarks, the author provides a set of documents relevant to the period of persecution and possible deportation of Bulgarian Jews. The memoirs and diaries of political (and moral) adversaries describing the same events are put together. The clash of individual / group actions and opinions reveals the struggle between good and evil, courage and cowardliness in the Bulgarian society and government of 1940s. The author puts special emphasis on the brave attempt of Dimitar Peshev, the Vice-Chairman of National Assembly, to prevent Jewish deportation. His actions cost him the political post, but his goal was eventually achieved. I believe the author underestimated the role of Bulgarian king Boris in the eventual cancellation of deportation plans. Without his decision, the protests of Peshev, the opposition, and Bulgarian society would be in vain. I think his decision was more than just a calculated move done in Bulgarian national interests. His efforts to defend Jewish lives in the personal meetings with Nazi officials (including Hitler) are evident and should be recognized.
Book Description
Why did the Jews reject Jesus? Was he really the son of God? Were the Jews culpable in his death? These ancient questions have been debated for almost two thousand years, most recently with the release of Mel Gibson’s explosive The Passion of the Christ. The controversy was never merely academic. The legal status and security of Jews—often their very lives—depended on the answer.
In WHY THE JEWS REJECTED JESUS, David Klinghoffer reveals that the Jews since ancient times accepted not only the historical existence of Jesus but the role of certain Jews in bringing about his crucifixion and death. But he also argues that they had every reason to be skeptical of claims for his divinity.
For one thing, Palestine under Roman occupation had numerous charismatic would-be messiahs, so Jesus would not have been unique, nor was his following the largest of its kind. For another, the biblical prophecies about the coming of the Messiah were never fulfilled by Jesus, including an ingathering of exiles, the rise of a Davidic king who would defeat Israel’s enemies, the building of a new Temple, and recognition of God by the gentiles. Above all, the Jews understood their biblically commanded way of life, from which Jesus’s followers sought to “free” them, as precious, immutable, and eternal.
Jews have long been blamed for Jesus’s death and stigmatized for rejecting him. But Jesus lived and died a relatively obscure figure at the margins of Jewish society. Indeed, it is difficult to argue that “the Jews” of his day rejected Jesus at all, since most Jews had never heard of him. The figure they really rejected, often violently, was Paul, who convinced the Jerusalem church led by Jesus’s brother to jettison the observance of Jewish law. Paul thus founded a new religion. If not for him, Christianity would likely have remained a Jewish movement, and the course of history itself would have been changed. Had the Jews accepted Jesus, Klinghoffer speculates, Christianity would not have conquered Europe, and there would be no Western civilization as we know it.
WHY THE JEWS REJECTED JESUS tells the story of this long, acrimonious, and occasionally deadly debate between Christians and Jews. It is thoroughly engaging, lucidly written, and in many ways highly original. Though written from a Jewish point of view, it is also profoundly respectful of Christian sensibilities. Coming at a time when Christians and Jews are in some ways moving closer than ever before, this thoughtful and provocative book represents a genuine effort to heal the ancient rift between these two great faith traditions.
Customer Reviews:
Why have Christians persecuted Jews...read book to find out.......2007-06-08
The book certainly delivers on the title. But it is as biased against Christianity as some Christian thinking is and was biased against Jewish ideas. The author is certainly well read in scripture and the Jewish Talmud, but he can "spin" a verse just like Christianity does to prove his point of view, which he has already decided is the absolute truth. And the author does again and again, sometimes repeating his point numerous times in different ways. This book is okay but somehow I expected much more.
Heavily Researched.......2007-05-26
I found this book very heavily researched and presenting a lot of history and detail.I find it a rather interesting and worthy work. I personally feel V'da Mah SheTashiv .V'Da Mah SheTashiv: Know What To Answer (To Missionaries) A Thorough Jewish response To Missionaries , also on Amazon, to be a lot shorter and quicker to the point. The issue simply being if Judaism believes its idolatry to believe a man killed 2000 years ago can be a deity or Messiah, while rejecting more than an "iota" of the Law
a Good Book history.......2007-05-21
Very well written book with a lot of information about Jewish history, in addition to the relationship of Jews to Jesus and Christianity. I recommend the book.
He proves the subtitle. .......2007-03-30
Klinghoffer's thesis that the emergence of Christianity allowed for the west to develop is correct. But the majority of the book deals with numerous points a Jewish person might object to when it comes to Jesus as Messiah.
As with most serious religious debates, "authority" is usually the key element to the disagreement. The book appears to be a response to Mel Gibson's recent movie, "The Passion" and while his arguement might be plausible to Roman Catholics, those in reformed, ie, orthodox Christian denominations, would see otherwise. The Roaman Catholics hold Scripture, Church tradition and Papal infallibility as co-equals when it comes to authority. Similarily, it appears Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud also hold authority, but since Klinghoffer notes the Torah is "coded" and Mishnah and Talmud reveal the hidden meanings, then Talmud must be the prim authority. Orthodox Christians would bristle at that contention, as they do the Roman Catholic's view of authority, in that the Orthodox Christians believe Scripture interprets Scripture.
Numerous other presumptions Klinghoffer makes are essentially incorrect. These are too many to expound upon, but one is that there were many would-be Messiahs around in Jesus' time who were discredited. He implies that Jesus was one, but the size of the Christian church belies that proposition.
One interesting point Klinghoffer makes is that the new-founded spirit of cooperation between Jews and Christians is necessary. The real enemy of both faiths is the emerging secularization of society.
I have great respect for the Jewish faith. They have preserved G-d's mantle for thousands of years in the face of horrific persecutions. Whether there is covenantal pluralism as one rabbi opined, G-d has chosen to preserve the Jews. That must be comprehended and remembered.
A Worthwhile Read.......2007-02-14
David Klinghoffer's book is both thoughtful and thought provoking. His basic thesis, that had the Jews accepted Jesus Christianity would have retained its earliest, most Jewish form and Europe would have remained pagan until the coming of the Muslims, is an interesting one. However, others have theorized that the Roman world was gradually finding the old polytheistic religion essentially meaningless and had Christianity not come along when it did the Roman Empire would have become majority Jewish. As it was, quite a few Romans did convert to Judaism, which had been made an (not the) officially recognized religion of the empire by Julius Caesar.
I did learn quite a bit I never knew before about why the Jews rejected Jesus.
Still, I feel the author left out two basic reasons that come straight from the Torah. IN DEUTERONOMY 13 THE JEWS ARE ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN BY GOD TO FOLLOW A NEW RELIGION. Even if God manifested Himself as flesh and blood and taught a different religion (which by the very act of becoming a human He would have been doing, since it is no longer absolute monotheism) then the Jews would only have been doing what they were commanded by God to do if they killed him.
Deuteronomy 18:22 declares: When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass . . . the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him." In Matthew 24 Jesus describes events he predicted would occur at the end of the world as we know it. He concluded those prophecies by stating "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (Verse 34.) Of course that generation, to whom Jesus spoke, did pass from the scene long ago but those events that he prophesied have yet to be fulfilled.
Book Description
"Off the Derech," translated as "Off the Path," is the term used within the Orthodox Jewish community to describe those who have left Jewish observance. This groundbreaking new book by Faranak Margolese examines why Orthodox Jews stop practicing Judaism, confronting one of the most pressing issues in the religious Jewish world today.
Based on a study which involved over 500 Jews who left Orthodox Judaism, Off the Derech presents the first comprehensive examination of the causes of defection from Orthodox Judaism. It clearly and thoroughly explains those causes, and provides solutions to this increasingly common phenomenon. In doing so, Off the Derech enlightens not only the Orthodox but Jewish parents and leaders from all streams of Judaism as the research provides valuable insights into assimilation and Jewish continuity at large.
This highly anticipated work, over five years in the making, is certain to become the definitive handbook on what is emerging as one of the most difficult issues in the Orthodox and Jewish world today. It is a must-have, invaluable handbook for parents, teachers and Rabbis alike.
Customer Reviews:
If you like to blame yourself ..........2007-06-14
People who like to blame themselves will love this book.
Unfortunately, blaming other peoples behavior for your own failure to incorporate a belief system into your life, isn't particularly honest.
True, there are some Orthodox Jews who lead less than exemplary lives. But, this is not a function of their Orthodoxy as Ms. Margolese would like us to believe. People who blame others for their own failures, simply cannot confront their own problems.
Unfortunately, the truth is that people who leave Orthodoxy do so for a myriad of reasons, none of which are honestly explored in this book. As someone with a sociologist's background, I would have, at least, expected, a legitimate sociological analysis to support her conclusions. All she provides is carefully selected anecdotal evidence to support her thesis.
It's a MUST to read for all parents and educators!.......2007-01-12
Absolutely loved the book! To the point; right on!
filled with outstanding insights.......2006-12-29
"Off the Derech," which I read last spring and have recommended to a number of people since, deserves to reach a wide audience - not just clergy and educators, but anyone sincerely interested in the orientation and direction of traditional Judaism.
The question that Faranak Margolese poses in her book's subtitle, "Why Observant Jews Leave Judaism," may well be expanded to "Why Aren't More Jews Observant" - for in my view the reasons she gives for the former are the same as those for the latter. "Off the Derech," in fact, seeks to address one facet of a much larger issue, but actually reaches way beyond this by delving into the very meaning of what it means to be a religious Jew. In this respect, the author quotes Joseph Telushkin: "Among many Orthodox and non-Orthodox as well, the word 'religious' has acquired an exclusively ritualistic connotation. If two Jews are speaking about a third and the question is raised as to whether or not the person is religious, the answer will be based exclusively on the person's level of ritual observance... Ethics are treated almost like an extra-curricular activity - nice, but not that important in defining a person's religiosity." (pp. 222-223) The point Ms. Margolese makes by quoting Rabbi Telushkin, who opens his own most recent book, "You Shall be Holy," by making this same statement, is not that mitzvah observance in all of its forms is secondary, but that it is a means to an end, which is right behavior, and not a mechanical substitute for it.
The author's outlook is one of Torah-grounded, love-oriented, positive Judaism, and her many important observations are designed to support traditional religious thinking and practice. She doesn't loose sight of her original intention in writing "Off The Derech," which is to address the issues that drive people away (severity, narrowness, hypocrisy, judgmentalism etc); but her response to these things is to demonstrate that they are all in opposition to authentic Judaism. Every word is written in the spirit of constructive analysis, never criticism, and to support her viewpoints she draws on many sources, ranging from the classical commentators to Rav Kook and beyond.
Ms. Margolese's conclusions can be boiled down to this: "Solving these problems requires that we return to spirituality and connection to God, that we re-prioritize the internal life of mitzvot - not at the expense of the external expressions, but rather in conjunction with them." She poignantly quotes Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, who writes "Frum doesn't mean anything... There is no such thing as frum; there is no such thing as Orthodox.... Frum is a Yiddish word - there are no objective criteria.... Frum should be defined as 'someone who is doing their best.'"
Amen.
A Must-Read.......2006-03-28
The children in my family are all active within the Jewish community and the world at large - social work, the rabbinate, youth organization leader, etc etc. I not only recommended that they read "Off the Derech" - I feel it is mandatory reading for ANY Orthodox Jew. I confess I did not agree with all of the author's conclusions, but her thoughtful approach and attempt at deep analysis are not only meritorious, they force the reader to reevaluate him/herself and one's own approach to various tenets of Judaism as well -- even if one is very much *on* the derech and without conflict.
Real issues, concrete advices.......2006-03-20
The book addresses the issues that face most Orthodox parents when their kids become teenagers. I wish we read it ten years ago. Eloquently written, avoiding simplifications, this book clearly stands out from a mediocre pile of modern Jewish literature. One does not have to (and hardly can) agree with everything in the book to extract extremely useful practical ideas. In the Orthodox environment, where "the finest weapon is a cannon" the book that recommends to keep teens on the long leash, to treat them with love and not to severe the connection is a "must read".
Amazon.com
Boston's so-called white flight of the 1960s and '70s became a national symbol of the urban crisis. But what caused whites to move to the suburbs in such great numbers? Common knowledge holds that an influx of African Americans, assisted by the Boston Banks Urban Renewal Group, pushed Jews out of their neighborhoods and into the suburbs. In Urban Exodus, however, historian Gerald H. Gamm argues that the driving force behind suburbanization is not race but religion.
Gamm studies two remarkably similar Boston neighborhoods, Roxbury and Dorchester, and argues that, while the Jewish population left, the Catholics stayed because of religious rules--rules that "are real not because they are written down but because they are obeyed." Looking at canon law and Talmudic guidelines, he separates issues of membership, authority, and "rootedness." In brief, Catholic congregations are bound by the geographical lines of their parishes and the physical structures of their parish churches, as established by Church hierarchy. Jewish congregations, on the other hand, are more autonomous, with the power to create and dissolve synagogues--and worshippers are not bound by geography and can attend the synagogues of their choice. Gamm is quick to point out that he does not argue that Catholics are necessarily more likely than Jews to stay in urban neighborhoods, but that the Catholic parish is better able to sustain neighborhood attachments. He also notes that race is a newer issue--"only after the urban exodus had nearly run its course, emptying apartments and lowering rents, were blacks able to overcome longstanding barriers to entry." Indeed, it was the growing population of the automobile and automobile suburbs in the 1920s that pushed suburbanization, as middle-class whites left still-white urban neighborhoods. Urban Exodus is a thought-provoking look at the shifting populations in America's cities--and the role organized religion plays in those shifts. --Sunny Delaney
Book Description
Across the country, white ethnics have fled cities for suburbs. But many have stayed in their old neighborhoods. When the busing crisis erupted in Boston in the 1970s, Catholics were in the forefront of resistance. Jews, 70,000 of whom had lived in Roxbury and Dorchester in the early 1950s, were invisible during the crisis. They were silent because they departed the city more quickly and more thoroughly than Boston's Catholics. Only scattered Jews remained in Dorchester and Roxbury by the mid-1970s.
In telling the story of why the Jews left and the Catholics stayed, Gerald Gamm places neighborhood institutions--churches, synagogues, community centers, schools--at its center. He challenges the long-held assumption that bankers and real estate agents were responsible for the rapid Jewish exodus. Rather, according to Gamm, basic institutional rules explain the strength of Catholic attachments to neighborhood and the weakness of Jewish attachments. Because they are rooted, territorially defined, and hierarchical, parishes have frustrated the urban exodus of Catholic families. And because their survival was predicated on their portability and autonomy, Jewish institutions exacerbated the Jewish exodus.
Gamm shows that the dramatic transformation of urban neighborhoods began not in the 1950s or 1960s, but in the 1920s. Not since Anthony Lukas's Common Ground has there been a book that so brilliantly explores not just Boston's dilemma but the roots of the American urban crisis.
Customer Reviews:
book quite different from its title.......1999-11-02
The Book examines why white ethnics left the inner city of Boston which became almost exclusively minority. 50,000 Jews lived in the Franklin Park/Franklin Field Blue Hill Avenue area of Boston as recently as the 50s and today they are all gone.
The title suggests that Jews left and Catholics didn't. The author demonstrates that Jewish institutions such as synagogues were portable and that most of the major synagogues moved from Boston to the suburbs. The author shows that Catholic institutions cannot move and that parishioners must worship at the church where they live. However, the author shows that most white Catholics also left as the African-American population expanded south. The churches remained to serve a non-white Catholic population, particularly immigrants from Haiti and Central and South America. The author does not address how it might have been possible to build a stable, multi-racial community in Boston. He underestimates the effects of the BBURG line, blockbusting, and redlining in the process of neighborhood transition here. He devotes inadequate attention to efforts at community building, crime watches and such that would have assisted in attacking the breakdown of order which impacted the change in neighborhood.
The author does show that Jewish movement to be suburbs began as early as the 20s and that those remaining in Boston were largely older and poorer. As the institutions moved out, anyone who could moved as well, to Newton and Brookline, or south to Sharon and towns around it. Catholic movement south out of Boston accelerated with the school desegregation decision in 1975.
Worth reading for a provocative thesis, even if I don't agree with most of it. Should be compared to Levine and Harmon's Death of an American Jewish Community which is a different take on the same events. This is a sad description of the rather sudden end to a once viable urban community.
Book Description
This book is a practical and inspirational companion to the conversion process for Jews-by-choice and their families. It is practical in its explanation of the process and the pitfalls; inspirational in the stories it tells and the wisdom it shares.
Written primarily for the person considering the choice of Judaism, it provides highly personal insights from over 50 people who have made this life-changing decision. But it will also speak to their families--the non-Jewish family that provided the convert's spiritual beginnings and the Jewish "family" which receives him or her--and help them understand why the decision was made.
To those in the Jewish community who work with these "embracers of the covenant" as they explore new paths, and to other Jews by birth who want to welcome them, it will provide valuable guidance.
Customer Reviews:
Few Protestant to Jewish Conversions.......2002-10-31
This is a good book for anyone considering converting to Judaism and wanting to read about the experiences of others. There are many case studies of those who have converted to Judaism, their reasons for doing so, the reaction of their family and friends, and their feelings about the whole experience. The examples are overwhelmingly positive, but there are a few who report difficulties "feeling Jewish" afterwards or feeling that they are totally accepted by their new Jewish community.
The examples are mostly from those who either converted from Catholicism or had no real religious upbringing. I was disappointed that see few Protestant-to-Jewish conversion examples; the ones that were given, were mostly from those who had very limited Protestant upbringing as children, not really practicing Protestants who decided to convert to Judaism.
The other disappointment I found with this book was due to all of the white space. This book is definitely not as long as it appears, and it will be a very fast read.
Overall, I found this a helpful and interesting book that I only wished were a bit longer and had a few more examples.
Fabulous!.......2002-09-10
The stories in this book are sometimes hauntingly beautiful. One woman expressed my thoughts so well that I read her story aloud at my bat mitzvah. This is truly a book for making connections.
Gave me confidence in what I want!.......1998-05-03
I had this book posted to England where I was spending my year abroad. Part of the reason why I was looking forward to that time in England was the opportunity to find out whether Judaism was what I wanted in my life. This book helped immensely and gave me many thoughts to pursue in conversation with friends and my rabbi. I can only recommend it to people who contemplate conversion.
Wow! It spoke my language........1997-12-21
This book will sit prominently in my living room. I want everyone i know to read this book.
Book Description
In "Why Jews Should Not Be Liberals," Larry Sternberg explores why the majority of American Jews support Liberal values and beliefs, and then explains why he believes this is the wrong political philosophy for them. Sternberg believes that American Jews should instead embrace Conservative beliefs, which he says are more consistent with the traditional beliefs of Judaism. He ties together the Conservative principle of individualism with the Jewish commandment, set forth by God to Moses, of the individual's responsibility for his own actions. Sternberg also explains that the original Jewish immigrants from Germany and Western Europe supported Conservative views, and it was not until the 1930's that Jewish politics changed to support Liberals. Through the use of his conversational style of writing, Sternberg is easily able to draw the reader into such controversial subject matter as religion and politics without provoking hostility from the reader. While his convictions are sure and strong, Sternberg is able simply to state his beliefs in a non-confrontational manner, through which he hopes to educate and enlighten his readers about the history of the politics of American Jews. His purpose is not to discount Jewish liberal goals, but rather to bring into harmony their political philosophy with traditional Judaism.
Customer Reviews:
Politics and Judaism- Is a Change Needed?.......2004-07-22
Author Larry Sternberg is an intellectual man of the Jewish faith who dedicates this book to uncovering what he feels are certain mysteries to the Jewish personality. He cannot understand, given the past injustices at the hands of government, why his fellow American Jews are so willing to embrace government as a protector rather than an enemy. He also cannot understand why Jews almost always vote for members of the Democratic Party in elections at all levels.
I can understand Sternberg?s bewilderment and I, too, think it is unusual whenever any group of people is so loyal to one political party. But some of his reasoning in this book just doesn?t fly. First of all, he misses the mark right off the bat when he says that the Republican Party supports and works to make government smaller. This is, of course, one of the great falsehoods in politics, for Republicans are every bit as hungry for power and cash as their Democratic counterparts. The only difference between the two major parties is how they spend the loot, not whether or not they want to spend it. Liberal Democrats would rather spend the money on social programs while Republicans would rather spend on national defense. These spending preferences could be one of the key reasons why Jews tend to be liberal, but Sternberg fails to make this connection.
Different topics are covered in this book, like health care, education, gun rights, affirmative action, and many others. In each case, Sternberg argues why the limited government position is the preferable one. I agree with him once again, but I think his explanations regarding how these smaller- government measures would benefit Jews is too vague and not very well- thought. He doesn?t really provide any concrete examples of liberalism harming Jews. His basis for the small government argument is only that Jews need to be wary of government power so that events like the German holocaust never occur again.
This book has a solid premise and a catchy title, which is why I obtained my copy. But its argumentation is not the best and it?s doubtful that it will do anything to change anyone?s mind. Read it, if you want, but don?t be surprised if you come away with only a small change of heart. It isn?t profound enough to get people to reconsider their political leanings, like the author intended.
Very odd concept.......2004-05-23
The present conservative party, under George W. Bush, embraces bigotry, hate, and discrimination. Look at how they have treated Arabs, GLBTI minorities, and atheists and other non-Christians. It seems odd that after the persecution of Jews by Germans in the Twentieth Century and persecutions elsewhere, that they should embrace a party that persecutes other minorities. The conservatives also support the idea that the USA should be Christian country. All other people are not taken seriously and are generally shunned from the party.
Important ideas for everyone by a good and deep-thinking man.......2002-07-29
First, I must confess, I've been acquainted with the author since 1988 when I met him through mutual political interests. That being said, Mr. Sternberg is a class act - honest, forthright, devoted husband and father, military veteran, deep thinker, hard worker - and someone who embraces his faith, Judaism, with fullness of mind and heart. The latter quality, of course, is what inspired Mr. Sternberg to labor away at writing his tome as a sort of lifetime rebuttal to many of his coreligionists - and what a treat for us all his effort is.
Mr. Sternberg's central premise is that the Jewish people in America should not be political liberals because modern liberalism runs counter to the core of the traditional teachings of the faith (one can make a similar argument about Christianity - but in America, cultural Christians, i.e., the body of Christians who actively worship as well as those who don't, are split fairly evenly between political liberals and conservatives). Further, that freedom is the most important requirement for the Jewish faith to flourish - specifically, freedom from large, all-powerful government. The author's most poignant paragraph on the issue appears on page 187:
"Beyond all of this there must be the realization that socialism, and its twin liberalism, by granting more and more power to the state, by looking to the state to solve all of our social, economic, and even personal problems, in effect makes the state the "God" whom all should worship. By elevating the state to this supreme position, socialism or liberalism by definition, does thereby demote the eternal and One God, to an inferior position. In so doing these philosophies defy the Second Commandment, when God thundered to Moses and the Israelites on Mt. Sinai, `Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'"
This, then, sums up both the essentially spiritual nature of American liberalism while also explaining why liberals cannot be dissuaded from their beliefs with data and logic - for them, liberalism is faith - faith in a brighter tomorrow by applying raw government power in the service of theory.
In explaining this, and in imploring his readers to personal spiritual renewal, Mr. Sternberg has done a service for people of all faiths who may think of politics as a route for the salvation of Mankind on Earth, not simply those who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Recommended for Non-Jews, Too.......2001-12-10
Though the author wrote this book primarily for fellow Jews, I heartily recommend it for non-Jews as well. I am a non-Jew (as far as I know), raised Catholic and now more of a simple deist, but thankful for the Judeo-Christian traditions that are so important in preserving freedom (as this book well documents). As the author points out, Jews tend to be more ambitious, educated, intelligent, and impatiently active in seeking good for the larger community. I have found it frustrating that such capable and influential people, whom I do believe God chose to lead us all to freedom and redemption through ethical monotheism, who are so clearly intelligent and accomplished in other areas, can be such crackpots when it comes to policy and political philosophy. As the author explains, instead of leading us to God, they (or their self-appointed leaders) have in recent times been leading us toward the State as god, toward socialism and Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, who, when their great plans didn't work and they needed a scapegoat, ended up persecuting the very Jews who supported them. This book helps explain how Jews in this country were historically conservative, how FDR won them over by pushing the right buttons politically, and how they might be won back by explaining to younger Jews how central freedom is to Judaism. If Jewish congregations were less hostile to conservative/libertarian sentiments, and if Jews were a bit more evangelical and let us on the outside know more about them, as the author does with this book, I think there would be a great many converts to and increased respect for Judaism, and in the absence of conversion, deeper friendship.
Why Jews Should Not Be Liberals.......2001-09-18
The book was very informative and well written. The Auther has some strong views but and well written
Product Description
In this seminal work, an attorney puts Jesus on trial. He explains to Jews, Christians and the theologically curious; why Jesus did not qualify as the Jewish messiah; why believing in Jesus cuts Jews off from God forever in the World To Come; how the Christian Bible has strategically mistranslated key verses in the "Old Testament" to shoehorn Jesus into the text. This compelling new book calls "un-Orthodox" Jews back to Torah Judaism.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant, fascinating, and informative!!!.......2007-03-02
Asher Norman has meticulously researched and documented every point he presents in this extraordinarily powerful book. It is, quite simply put, THE definitive book on the topic of the historicity of Jesus, the development of the Christian Faith, and Jewish / Christian polemics. Mr. Norman has total command of all aspects of this complex subject yet uses his vast knowledge to make his points in an engagingly written and therefore easily understandable way. It is clear that he has enormous respect for the tremendous role that Christians (and in particular American Christianity) has played in helping to civilize the world. Nevertheless, this book is aimed at Jews who, through the dumbing-down of their faith and the creeping secularism rampant in American culture have lost touch with the core values of their faith - consequently making them ripe targets for the deceptive tactics of so-called "Messianic Jews". Any Jew who has been approached by a "Messianic Jew" should memorize this wonderful book. Even if that hasn't happened, though, it is just a fascinating read - a book you may not be able to put down. If this is an area of interest for you, I strongly urge you to buy it and to buy copies for your friends, as well. You will be glad you did!!!
Books:
- Without a Trace/A Race Against Time/False Notes/High Risk (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective 1-4)
- A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (Second Edition, Revised and Updated)
- A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet
- Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
- Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan
- An Introduction to Legal Reasoning (Phoenix Books)
- Anarchism: From Theory to Practice
- Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream
Books Index
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