Excerpt: The Christian Roots of Zionism
20th century Jewish aspirations for a revived national home were supported by three centuries of Christian enthusiasm—bolstered by biblical literalism—for the return of the Jews to "their land." In this excerpt from the newly-released Zeal for Zion, Shalom Goldman traces the Christian roots of Zionism.
Jewish Past/Israeli Future: A Review of The Invention of the Jewish People
The reactions to the English-language publication of a book deemed “a scandal” reveal as much about the politics of contemporary Israel (and of its relation to the American Jewish community) as they do about the history the book describes. It’s not that Shlomo Sand believes that the Jews are not the chosen people—he argues that they might not be a people at all.
The Revolution Will Be Whispered: An Excerpt From Everywhere a Guest, Nowhere at Home: A New Vision of Israel and Palestine
In this lyrical excerpt, author Kim Chernin envisions a new solution that rises up from the Sinai desert nurtured by two little girls.
The Arab, the Feds and the Flood: Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun Rescues America
A Muslim everyman paddles his canoe to the rescue of a drowned New Orleans, and gets, for his pains, locked up in a local version of Guantanamo. This novel—a chronicle of faith and romance, of crisis and conversion—demands not just reading, but recommending.