Israel Books

In this massively researched, lucidly written, and cogently argued narrative, as Edward Alexander of the University of Washington wrote, Levin tells the appalling story of what has been called the greatest self-inflicted wound of political history: Israel's embrace of Yasir Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the Oslo accords of September 1993 and its dogged adherence to its obligations under them even as its "peace partner" was blatantly flouting its own.

The book has two parts. The first recounts Jewish political failure in the Diaspora, where Jews lived with a constant burden of peril; Levin presents this as the background for the self-deluding rationales that engendered Oslo. The second part traces the same perils in the history of Israel itself. Levin shows how a tiny nation, living under constant siege by neighbors who reject its very existence, was induced by its intellectual classes to believe that its own misdeeds had incited Arab hatred and violence, and that what required reform was not Arab dictatorship and Islamist Jew-hatred but the reform of (other) Jews. Reversing cause and effect, Israeli leaders blinded themselves to the obvious fact that it was Arab hatred and aggression that repeatedly led to Israeli occupation, not occupation that caused Arab hatred and violence.

Although Levin argues strongly that Israeli leaders like Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, and the ineffable Shimon Peres hallucinated moderation in a murderous enemy, his book is not a polemic that excludes all opposing points of view; on the contrary, we get the fullest possible account--and "in their own words"--of those Israelis (and their American-Jewish supporters) who deluded themselves into believing that Oslo would bring a new heaven and a new earth. When the accords were signed in 1993, Minister of Education Shulamit Aloni announced that "no more parents will go weeping after the coffins of their sons," and Israeli novelist and peace activist Amos Oz said confidently that "death shall be no more." And all this because Arafat had--not for the first time--promised to renounce terror and recognize Israel's "right to exist," that used Buick he had already flogged several times over. By autumn 2000, and as a direct (and in Levin's view entirely predictable) result of Israel's endless unreciprocated concessions to Arafat's demands, the country was faced with intifada II, "the Oslo war," in which all Israel became a battlefield and getting on a bus or going to a cafe or a disco meant risking your life.

One of Levin's most relentlessly pursued themes is the influence of Israel's cultural elites on the governments of Rabin and Barak. In Israel (as in America) many intellectuals seem to subscribe to the motto, "the other country, right or wrong." But if American leftist intellectuals are confined to universities and a few other institutions, in Israel they have come close to taking over the government. Israelis thus learned the hard way what Churchill said of England's leading appeaser: "Mr. Chamberlain was faced with a choice between surrender and war; he chose surrender, and he got war."

This is, by far, the best written analysis of the apparently mindless descent into potential oblivion that Israel appears headed to. It begins by setting the stage of Jewish self-hatred and self-effacement as a reaction to anti-semitism, as it developed in the Diaspora during this last millenium. Specifically, there is a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the "civilized" world of 19th and 20th century Germany, as contrasted with the more "primitive" Eastern European Jewish experience. The author shows how the constant self delusion of the Jews - in its myriad of forms and expressions - is the basis for the present day erosion from within that the Jewish State is undergoing. I believe that this book should be mandatory reading in any Middle Eastern course, or for that matter, for anyone seeking to understand this unique group psychological phenomenon. As a proud Jew and a Zionist, I wish that this book would be sent - gratis - to journalists, academics, politicians, and to other people who collectively can influence the course of history.

Why would the Israelis and the Jews sacrifice everything for a shallow peace accord with a "peace partner" who increases terror attacks, indoctrinates intensely virulent anti-Semitism at all levels of education and the media, and continues to vow annihilation of the state they feign to be negotiating peace with?

Kenneth Levin's answer approaches a perspective that is different from much of the current histories of the region. Levin illuminates a delusion that is the result of the stress of five decades of being under siege, and the result of centuries of demonization in Europe. He explores the history of the responses of the Jews in Europe to the hatred that spanned centuries and the futility of the Jews who vainly sought to appease their state sponsored tormentors by trying ever harder to assimilate. Ultimately the more they tried to assimilate the more the host nations persecuted them. Thus in spite of serving heroically in the German army in WWI they were ultimately rewarded with the holocaust.

The delusion that was Oslo was just a continuation of a desire of the Jewish community to either fit in or be left in peace. But it was also a delusion that the Jews could control the will of another party by giving more and more concessions, even when nothing is given in return. It is a unique form of arrogance and is ultimately self destructive.

The siege is not likely to end soon and Levin's prescription for Israel's survival is to educate its people on the history and moral purpose underlying the existence of the nation. Under Oslo many in the Israeli educational establishment pushed a curriculum that diminished the Jewish history and culture in favor of a more universalist approach. Revisionist historians embellished this approach with an anti Zionist slant to the story of Israel's history. Levin retorts the revisionists, but draws parallels to much of the self criticism from the Jews in Europe hoping to appease their state sponsors. Meanwhile the Palestinian educational structure, in clear defiance of Oslo, taught that the Jews had no right to the land or any historical connection to it and that it was their divine moral purpose to drive the Jews from their homeland.

The results of Oslo have taught what the Jews should have learned from centuries of oppression: that while it takes two people to make peace; it only takes one to make a war.

This book is a wonderful addition to the writings and analysis of the situation in Israel and is uniquely illuminating. I highly recommend it.

Kenneth Levin is a smart man that can analize the situations in a simple easy logical way. buy this book!

This is a seminal book, that should be must reading for anyone interested in the Israel-Arab conflict. The author is a psychiatrist with a Ph.D in History from Princeton. It is a very thoroughly researched, carefully documented review of the long history of Jewish wishful thinking responses to oppression and aggression directed against them, starting long ago in Europe and brought up to date in the Middle East. The lessons for the current situation in the Middle East are clearly drawn, and demand thoughful consideration by the reader.
Dr. Levin uses the psychodynamic concept of "identification with the aggressor" [Anna Freud]to try to explain the mental mechanism so often resorted to in justifying appeasement of implacable enemies, despite its history of self-defeating and often lethal ineffectiveness. This mechanism is used to explain the failure of appeasers to take any accurate measure of their enemy, since they are serving an internal need that becomes self-delusional.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Glen Yeadon, author of Nazi Hydra in America, had this to say about The Transfer Agreement:

I found it very boring--it was steeped with internal Jewish politics and very little about the actual negotiations with the Nazis or the actual deal and its results. It is geared to Jewish historians and only vaguely to the war and the Nazis... I liked IBM and the War against the Weak - both were good and I bought this one on the strength of the other two. It tried to remain neutral rather than to place the blame on the Zionists. For example, there was no mention of the Zionist who helped load the trains in Hungary to Auschwitz, who was hanged in Israel in the 50s. That type of material was neatly sanitized by omission.

This was an area of World History that I had no clue about prior to reading this book. This is indeed a tragic story of the plight of Jews in Europe during Hitler's regime. This book was so suspenseful I simply could not put it down. Black does an excellent job of engaging the reader and does not reveal the details of unfolding events until the last moment. Simply WOW!

As person who is not Jewish I think it is important for everybody to learn the lessons of the Third Reich and the Holocaust. However, equally important is that there were greedy and ideology zealots that contributed to the growth of the Third Reich via the Transfer Agreement, i.e., Sam Cohen and even Hoffien and Landauer. The Transfer Agreement was just that a business arrangement to transfer German Jews to Palestine in return German exports would be bought through Zionist entities to ensure the economic growth and wealth of Palestine. Moreover, what was incredibly stunning was the ability of the 18th Zionist Congress to go against the international boycott movement by suppressing the Revisionists- strong arming them into abandoning their ideology.

This makes me wonder what would have happened if the boycott prevailed and the Third Reich "cracked"? Would there still be a Germany today? Would we even have had the Holocaust? I know it may sound harsh and I am sure I will be labeled an anti-Semite because of this, but the reality is according to Black, the Zionists contributed significantly to the rise of the economic and military might of the Third Reich.

This book is simply a phenomenon in and of itself. It completely forces one to reshape how they view events during that time period. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about a different dimension of relationships between the Third Reich, German Jews, and Zionists. This will definitely throw you off and have you thinking for days. Definitely one of my top 10 books of all time.

Readers of this book must be going out of their way to avoid its nightmarish implications; even the author sidesteps them. Indeed, the book is mis-titled. It should properly have been called 'The Great Boycott and its Tragic Abandonment.' The transfer agreement was simply the rationale for the staggering historic blunder whereby Jewish organizations in the diaspora allowed themselves to be persuaded by Zionist forces to puncture the spontaneous and swelling worldwide Jewish boycott of German goods taking place in 1933, a movement with enormous and growing non-Jewish support as well, which, had it been supported rather than undercut by major Jewish organizations, could very well have toppled Hitler from power by the spring of 1934. Not only would this have spared 5-6 million Jewish lives, it would have spared another 45 million or so non-Jewish lives lost in the Nazi holocaust. I once believed like many that the Holocaust led to the fulfillment of Zionism; this book shows rather that it was the fulfillment of Zionism which led to the Holocaust. And it was all for nought. Israel would still have come into being and moreover would have had several million extra potential immigrants to draw from. This book is all about a simply horrific wordwide catastrophe that resulted from an incredibly BAD choice based on ethnic nationalism, and it is made instead to appear as merely a somewhat sordid chapter re. a road to nationhood that featured a few nasty bumps along the way. Mind-boggling!

I cannot praise the author, his research, his explanations and his writing enough for this singular tome. Like other reviewers have said, the reader goes into this book, whether Jewish or not, with their mouth open at the incredibility of this occurence. It's easy enough in hindsight to make judgement calls about what the the leaders of the Jewish community world-wide should have done about Hitler's rise to power. However, given the economic situation of the time and the Reich's strategems to place all blame for Germany's economic hardships on the Jews throughout Europe, it's hard to determine that even had the massive boycotts been organized and on schedule, would they have work? And even more important, if Hitler was ousted due to the economic stranglehold on Germany,who or what would have taken his place? And would that have been any less devastating for the Jews in Europe.

There are few obvious heros and anti-heros in this book, except for the Nazis as being the ultimate in villains. One man paid dearly for his attempts to save European Jewry...with his life. It was not conclusive as to whome the assassins were and who put out the price on his head. It's all too easy to blame the reactionary groups, but there are obvious questions about whether his death was one of convenience so that blame could be placed by the leading group of Mapai at the door of the reactionary Jewish groups.

Sam Cohen was a businessman through and through. His reasoning to press The Transfer agreement was purely motivated by money, and not the need to either save European Jewry or to establish Israel as a separate state. It is this 'selling' of the agreement by so many that is so mind-boggling. So many were willing to take the wealth of German Jewry (and later the funds that were supposed to be used to save the lives of Jews who had no homes or businesses to return to) and use it to set up a home in Palestine...it's beyond my ability to pass judgement on these men as to their motivation, yet I am not certain I could possibly decide to shake the hands of these men. The fact that there was a need to set up a Jewish state, and that there was all this money to fund its establishment is beside the fact. At no other time, was any other method even considered to rescue the millions of Jews trapped, even the children...this is so reprehensible as to curdle anyone's blood.

And though this happened, our countries, including the U.S. and Britain were equally at fault for closing immigration quotas, even though they knew what was going on in Germany. It was easier to merely close their eyes and ignore The Holocaust, until it became obvious that no one was safe from Hilter and his cronies.

This story is just so incredible that I wish there was some way to make it into a movie that does the story justice. I don't suppose that is a possibility. But it is a tremendous story that needs to be included in European history, as it's impact was great. Edwin Black did a fantastic job. (...)

Researchers have recently unearthed `directives' sent from Heinrich Himmler to Dachau, and Mauthausen concentration camps to the effect that all inmates were to be bathed in showers providing insecticides, their heads cleared of hair, their heavy garments that bore Wool Collars were to be burned outright. The reason for such directives was to prevent lice, and leprosy from spreading among all other inmate prisoners.

Gypsies, Polish, Slavs, Soviets (Christians and Jews) who had been incarcerated during the war and routed into the five main Concentration Camps, {which had been established throughout the years 1933 to 1939}, were in their majority suffering lice parasite, notably on youngsters. Himmler ruled "they should be showered in insecticides twice per week in order to remove the nits attached to their hair - difficult to remove without specialized products."

Many inmates were homosexuals' prisoners of war, suffering from venereal diseases - transmissible. This parasite was widely spreading at the time Germany was lacking enough doctors to take care of the prevention process or even to guard against casual means of transmission.

Most doctors were preoccupied with war related engagements; on their priority list was first and foremost to take care of injuries from battles, research, and the last was to worry about concentration camps per se, unless in absolute emergencies like `fear that certain virus might not be contained and would be causing widespread damage'.

In very few pages of this book did the author speak of Concentration Camps - dispersed on ten pages? Even there he did it casually in the context that ""workers were rushed to construct a mysterious political concentration camp at a pastoral village called Dachau...."" """Every train entering Denmark was crowded with German Jewish refugees..""" indicative that the `Transfer' from Germany to Palestine (in transit through neutral Europe - France had fallen by then) gives credence to this book.

Perhaps written books on the `Pogrom' will soon be revisited and be traced back with more up to date material on these most fateful human tragedies of WWII.

I saw a reference to this book on a "things that could wrong and end civilization as we know it" website. To be very brief, I bought it, read it, and gave it away. Could the crazies in the Middle East hatch a plot like this? Yeah, sure. Are they so crazy they would sacrifice millions of people--I hope not, but only time will tell. What annoyed me most was the projected American response. Once again, technology will save us. Oh, there aren't enough "boots on the ground"? Never mind, technology and mass destruction will save us. Although there are a few characters that come alive a little, most of the characters are, in my opinion, stereotypes with whom I had a great deal of difficulty identifying. The author could also be accused of a very selective study of Islam, but that's not my area of expertise, so I'll let that pass.

If you are looking for something to reinforce your paranoia, read this book. If you are looking a piece of literature, look someplace else.

I disagree with description of people's reactions to certain events that take place in this book. It seems odd that our leader would be authorizing apocalyptic events with a smile on his face. It also seems odd when members of the media cheer in joy observing in real time what's happening in the last chapter of the book. This is something middle eastern crowds would, not us. We are fundamentally better in our humanistic values and I seriously doubt it any person born and bred into Western civilization culture with an IQ of at least 75 would be happy about what we have to do to survive the psychotic fanatics attacking us. I would agree that some folks would be in awe or maybe feel anger about what had been done to our cities, but once it gets to the point of making an executive decision of the unprecedented magnitude and then witnessing the onslaught, there will be anything BUT joy. Sadness, more like it, will be the underlying emotion. Sadness because it had to come to this.
This is my only gripe with this book that detracts form the plausibility a bit

There is a similar book written more recently by Joel Rosenberg (I spent some time wondering if the Boyland book had been read by Rosenberg given some of the similarities) - Dead Heat - which has an underlying Christian ethos - but is more tightly written and I found hard to put down.

The information he provides is good and some is new to me, but the book so far is slow and somewhat awkwardly written and has a number of typos.

If you are interested in a non-fiction take on Islam and terrorism, including nuclear terrorism, I would recommend Rosenberg's Epicenter.

The writing is clunky, but the argument is fantastic. This should be done before we lose our cities. I do expect this scenario if Obamessiah is elected. I don't live near a big city.

The authors have created a complex novel of epic proportions. They skillfully develop subplots, and weave them together like a master weaver, creating a captivating, frightening, and spellbinding tapestry--a story of an all too possible future. A story comparable to Tom Clancy's best works.

The nerve racking sequel to The Rings of Allah begins minutes before the attack occurs. Master al-Qaeda terrorists Mohammed, now know as the Keeper of the Rings, and his American born companion, Ralph Eid, hid five gun-type nuclear devices in five American cities. The timers are running and zero hour approaches. Mohammed gives America a two-hour warning in a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera at 2 p.m. EDT.

The story opens with a bang, a very big bang. Zero hour is viewed from several locations in the opening scenes. Muhammad, sitting with the Shura in Qom, Iran eagerly watches the president of the United States leaving the Capitol building. Secretary of Homeland Security MG (retired) George Alexander, his wife Jane, and several Air Force officers watch from a conference room in Kirkland AFB. Great Brittan's prime minister watches in London. Alexander, alerted by Mohammed's video, tried to warn the president of the impending nuclear attack, but she would not listen.

Alexander, an intelligent, tough, pragmatic man who is also a weapons expert, will do whatever is necessary to save the nation. After the attack, Alexander, the sole survivor inline to succeed the president, assumes the office, issues orders to protect the nation. Alexander, Air Force officers, and civilians view Mohammed's second video, provided by Al-Jazeera. Scheduled for broadcast early the next morning, the video calls for a worldwide jihad. Alexander begins to organize a government, deals with domestic terrorist attacks and jihads, and establishes contact with Russia and China. He seeks qualified men and women to fill the vacant Cabinet positions, and develops a team that will lead America back from the brink.

Special Agent Teresa Lopez catches a group of jihadists planning to detonate a dirty bomb. Her actions catch the president's eye and she is given an important assignment--find out how the terrorists did it. Her adventures take her to Russia, then Argentina. USAF Captain Taylor and Russian FSB Major Vanin add spice to her adventure.

Muhammad, Grand Ayatollah Khomeini's puppet, is named Caliph of the new Islamic Empire. Moderate Arab governments are overthrown and Israel is attacked. Alexander, and his SecWar, retired General Harry Simpson intervene in the attack on Israel. Syria uses chemical weapons and Israel replies with nuclear weapons. Oil is cutoff and the U.S. economy spirals toward collapse. A recovery plan is hatched: all assets of hostile Islamic governments will be seized and used to rebuild the U.S. The Swiss object, an a Marine general explains it so they can understand.

Alexander worries that the U.S. will be seen as weak, inviting attacks. He conveys his message to China, and requests China keep Kim Jung-il in line. A Chinese admiral plans to take advantage of America's weakness to seize Twain. He encourages Kim to invade South Korea. Chavez also smells blood and sets about to cause trouble.

Jihads spread across Europe. Civil war is close in Indonesia, Pakistan, and Turkey. A coup is planned in Pakistan. If successful, Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons, will join the Islamic Empire. Will India allow this to happen?

A couple of comical characters break the tension. Congresswoman Betty Chatsworth, M.D. provides the liberal voice in Alexander's acting Cabinet.

Alexander and his Cabinet must decide if the U.S. is fighting radical Islam or Islam. A religious advisory committed is formed to provide guidance and an understanding of Islam and its goals. The committee's report occupies most of one chapter, and is a penetrating analysis of Islam.

Operation Flare is planned and implement. The U.S. and its allies invade North Africa to get oil. Kim launches two nuclear missiles at the U.S. as a prelude to his invasion. America's ABM system gets its first operational test. The Islamic Empire plans to attack the U.S. fleet with nuclear armed Soviet cruise missiles. Sophisticated battles and deceptions ensue. Advanced weapons and technology are employed by the U.S.

The story's already fast tempo increases as the final battle with the Islamic Empire draws near. Alexander and Simpson plan Operation Brimstone--the destruction of the Islamic Empire. The ending is definitely not for the faint of heart, and it is a warning to Islam of what could occur if its radical succeed in making a nuclear 9/11.

The author, a weapons expert, breathes life into his battle scenes and his accurate descriptions of lasers, nuclear and thermonuclear bombs, chemical and conventional munitions, and aircraft and missiles. He paints a vivid picture of America's power and a possible future--a future he says must not be allowed to occur.

Every time I read one of the Thoene's books I learn a little more about history. I always wonder which of the characters are fiction and which are real life.

The Key to Zion is the culmination of everything that has happened to the Jewish people throughout the ages. I became very angry when I realized what it took for these brave characters in the book to stand firm in the love of God and their faith in Jesus as they fought to simply have a land in which to exist. I cannot believe that mankind can hate as we do. Despite all the trials and tribulations the love and power of God comes through. This book lifted my spirits and renewed my faith.

I believe this book is very good and accurate. I did not like the way the series kept you hanging at the very end, until I found out about the Zion Legacy Series which takes up right where this book leaves off.

This series as well as the previous, the Zion Covenant, are fantastic. You truely feel like part of the story, and most facts are accurate. I love reading about this time period in history, and the Thoene's do a fantastic job. Enjoy!

I read this series when I was in the seventh or eight grade. I found this to be a REALLY good series. It has a little bit of everything to make it a truely captivating book. It has historical facts in it, along with some of the Jewish language, romance, and lots of adventure! While I was reading this series, my father and I would sit around and discuss the books at night. I definatly recommend this book if you want something really good to read!

The book is wonderful and very well published. I received it in record time. Thank you very much.

The Tabernacle: Shadows Of The Messiah, Its Sacrifices, Services, And Priesthood by David M. Levy examines the description and ministries of the Tabernacle as portrayed in fifty chapters of the Old Testament. This extensively researched presentation, offering full-color photographs and a wealth of archaeological evidence as well as close study of the Old Testament itself, sheds new light on the sacrifices, services, and priesthood of this ancient institution which figures so prominently in Judeo-Christian religious history. The Tabernacle is a welcome and highly recommended addition to Biblical Studies reading lists.

It's very good information regarding the entirely tabernacle. The typology of the tabernacle is much learned. The book is recommended if you want to know more about Jesus Christ. It is enjoyably read. :-)

Many Books on the Tabernacle but this one is such detail of describing of Christ. Uses alot of scripture. Awesome book. Well not resell. I will use as a refrence book along with the Bible

A pretty good book. But, if you are not Protestant you might be in for a slightly rough read. The author dwells heavily on the notion of legal imputation of the righteiousness of God. The book is not as organized as I hoped it would be. I was left with some unanswered questions about the priesthood and the sacrificial system. Also, there were not enough diagrams here for my liking. But still and all, I got a lot out of it.

I read Holocaust memoirs because of my need to learn more of what my people went through during this time of hell on earth. How hard it must be to write down and re-live this part of one's life. After reading many such memoirs, Ruth Elias's story was extremely powerful to me, in that she is a woman (like me), married (like me) and a mother (like me). She survived through the most horrific and unspeakable horror that can befall a human being. How many of us could survive under these conditions, and yet continue to live, really live, and experience more of the good in other people and in life? She was capable of literally starting over and telling others about her experience. What a wonderful, strong and intelligent woman she is! Don't miss this one. I'm going to make it a permanent part of my book collection.

This memoir goes to show that, despite what some people might say, it really is true that no two Shoah memoirs and experiences are exactly alike. Rutinko Huppner (now Ruth Elias) grew up in a rather wealthy family in the former Czechoslovakia, and after her young mother divorced her father when she was 6 years old, Rutinko and her older sister Edith were raised by a single father, with help from their uncle Hugo (their father's brother) and his wife Irma, along with a whole slew of grandparents and other aunts and uncles. Later on their father remarried, though Ruth and her sister, teenagers by then, really resented their stepmother and tried everything they could to make her life miserable. Being wealthy, Rutinko and Edith had access to things that their friends, neighbors, and classmates could only dream about, such as sausage for school lunch, a car, being driven to and from school, vacations in the mountains, musical instruments and music lessons, and a lot of other great stuff. They even had the money and connections to get permission and papers to leave Czechoslovakia for England after the Nazi takeover in 1939, though she and her sister decided not to go through with it due to their father's ill health and wanting the family to stay together through this difficult time.

The family were able to go into hiding in a few different cities, where they enjoyed a relatively secure and happy life. Ruth and Edith even found the time to have romances and to be active in a secret Jewish youth group. However, there was eventually a raid on the area, and Ruth, Edith, their father and stepmother, and their aunt Irma were taken away to Theresienstadt (Terezin). Their uncle Hugo wasn't taken because he was very sick in the hospital and dying of cancer. Once in the large ghetto, they found themselves separated from their father, since men and women were quartered separately. However, shortly before they arrived, Ruth's boyfriend Koni and his own family had been deported, and this relationship ended up saving her life, since if Koni hadn't married her while she was sick in the hospital, she would have been deported along with the rest of her family when they were. From this point on out Ruth was along but for the friends she made, and she and Koni weren't even able to properly live together as husband and wife for some time. However, even in the ghetto love blossomed, and eventually Ruth discovered she was pregnant. After doing absolutely everything to try to find a doctor who would give her an abortion, she ended up being deported when she was two months pregnant, and was one of the few women who survived in that condition instead of being murdered on arrival. A lot of circumstances came together to save her life and to keep her alive even in spite of her condition, many of them decisions she had only a split second to make if she wanted to live. Eventually she had to make the most difficult and heartrending decision of all when her baby was born, so that the infamous "Dr." Mengele wouldn't kill them both.

Once she was no longer pregnant, Ruth was viewed as a healthy fit young worker, and was transferred, along with her friend Berta, who had also been pregnant, to Taucha, a subcamp of Buchenwald. In this camp, they were put into a special privileged work detail, which accounted for their eventual survival. After being liberated, their group of Czechs made their way home and found that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, their loved ones just were not coming home and that they'd had to start over again from scratch. I was surprised to learn that many young people like Ruth and her boyfriend Kurt just lived together after the war instead of getting married, since they had to wait two years before their missing spouses could legally be considered dead, even though everyone knew what had most likely befallen them. Ruth also had to make the difficult decision to divorce her husband, who had survived as well, because they'd just grown apart and she felt he hadn't acted very appropriately towards her when they were in the Family Camp at Auschwitz. A few relatives came back, but no one from her immediate family. It was with this new family of two that she left Czechoslovakia for Israel shortly after independence was declared, and just in the nick of time, before the Czech borders became closed.

Mrs. Elias went through some of the worst things imaginable (a number of times she even writes about how hard it was to just almost matter-of-factly type such heavy words like "None survived" or "They were probably all gassed"), and yet she came through everything alive and determined to start again, to make a new life for herself in her own homeland, to make sure that no one ever looked down on her or abused her ever again. It just goes to show that the human spirit is an amazing thing.

This book never lags and never loses your interest. It is very well written. It is an inspiring and insightful account of a woman's courage and determination to survive the Holocaust. I only wish the book continued because I wanted more. Very highly recommended.

I finished reading Triumph of Hope this morning, after starting it two days ago. I simply couldn't put it down. The author, Ruth Elias, is nothing less than extraordinary. The way that she expresses her memories, through her style of writing and description, helps us to get one step closer to understanding an experience, which we can never really comprehend, because we were not there. Mrs Elias's life is remarkable, and through reading her book I thoroughly believe that she is a genuinely lovely, kind and warm person. It is such a tragedy that the Jewish people of her generation went through turmoil and absolute hell. But through this book, Ruth's aims - to spread the message that the discrimination and racism they experienced should never be repeated - are being achieved when a single person reads her book. Her message is being spread over the world, and I am glad that i was able to read Triumph of Hope. I intend to share this book with my family and friends, so that they can read of such an incredible woman, and a generation of people who refused to give in. I sincerely recomend this book to anyone who is thinking of buying this, for themselves or for others.

I have read dozens of Holocaust memoirs, and although they are always touching and intense, none have caused me to feel such grief for the author as this one. I literally had to stop reading and bawl my eyes out for a good 10 minutes. This woman endured so much, and with such grace, that you cannot help but be invested in her story. Highly recommended.

I can't say I enjoyed this book, because the subject matter was so sad. Read it for book club, and I do appreciate the writing and characters because they were so well done.

I could not put it down once I started. It is very riveting and made for a greater understanding of a complex issue.

Yasmina Khadra is the nom de plume of Mohammed Moulessehoul. This Algerian army officer wrote under this female name because he feared censorship due to his position. He revealed himself in 2001 after an already impressive body of work.

What can I say that the others reviewers haven't already said? "The Attack" is a short, powerful, extraordinarily well-written book. Protagonist Amin Jaafari, an Arab surgeon raised within Israel's borders, has worked hard to overcome stereotypes throughout his career. He's obtained his surgical residency and is by all accounts a top-notch emergency room doctor. Now, his wife is slowly revealed to be a suicide bomber, a fact he cannnot get his arms around. As the facts and evidence pile up, the latent feelings of his peers rise quickly to the surface.

Writer Moulessehoul takes us on chilling trips into Jenin and Ramallah. The details of these gripping passages tell me that the book could not have been written without the author himself walking those same steps. These are the best parts of a uniformly outstanding novel.

I liked learning about the Middle East, my book club reads a lot about the region. This was a very interesting and deeply personal story. You almost felt that he really lived this story. Suicide bombing confounds us, especially in the United States. I really felt like he understood the reasoning behind it. Then you add the issues of predjudice, and his marriage (the secret lives of spouses), and you have a rich book. This will make you think.

Great CD for students who have trouble reading and need to listen to the book while reading. It is word for word matching the book. Still difficult to understand the content but better than trying to read the book alone. Narrated by someone with an accent that may be difficult to be understood by younger students.

I truly loved this book. My husband and I have considered making Aliyah with our children on many occasions. This book provided a realistic and honest prespective on the challenges of undertaking such an endeavor.

It is easy to lose perspective regarding the importance of Israel in light of so many disheartening recent events in Israel. Yet Mr. Gordis's portrayal of Israeli society adds a much necessary positive spin to (as Gordis reffers to Israel) "the enterprise".

Understanding Israel does not only mean eating falafels in Tel Aviv and swimming in the Dead Sea - rather, it's the understanding that the State of Israel is the most important historical development of the Jewish people in 2000 years, and that we can (and will) never lose it.

Kol Ha'Kavod, Mr. Gordis, for this excelent book.

I read this book on the airplane from the US to Israel during the summer of 2006. It helped to prepare me for the attitudes which I found while in Israel.

In this volume Daniel Gordis writes of his life in Israel from when he family moved from Los Angeles to Jerusalem.
It covers the events of the Terror War (2000-2005), after Barak's offer of Gaza, half of Jerusalem and almost the entire West Bank to the Arabs was met by a bloody war of terror against Israel's population, launched by mass murderer Yassir Arafat.
He describes the wave of terror attacks, which engulfed Israel during this period, in which thousands of Israeli men, women and children were butchered in a war by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades the Popular Resistance Committees and the PFLP, to get the Jews out of the Land of Israel by killing them.
The experience of parents not knowing if that morning when their children left the house to go to school it would be the last time that they ever saw them.
Gordis reminds us that the Jews have no place to go other than Israel, and that the war is not about land but about the existence of the Jews in Israel.As the author writes "We are not leaving. Where could we possibly go? Does Europe want us back? It didn't work very well the last time we where there.
He describes the international furor over the security fence that enemies of Israel and her people the world over refer to as the 'Apartheid Wall', which has saved thousands of lives in Israel, which is probably why much of the world wants it taken down, so that terrorists can get into Israel to murder Jews.
The trial by the International Court of Justice' at the Hague, is not about the fence but about the existence of the Jews in Israel.
Arab inconvenience is treated as more important than Jewish lives.
The author describes the internal conflicts through the eyes of his family, and Israel, including about the forced removal of the Jewish population of Gaza in 2005.
I don't agree with the author's conclusions that there was no alternative.
I also disagree with the author that the idea of transfer of the hostile Arab population out of the Land of Israel is in any way more horrific than the expulsion and forced removals of Jews from parts of the Land (eventually all of the Land, accompanied by a Second Holocaust?)
The Gaza disengagement led directly to the Israel-Hezbollah War of 1996, and the destruction of the town of Sderot. Hamas attacking Israel with thousands of Kassam rockets in the last few years.
As Gordis' son Micha observes 'And right that every time Israel does something after they attack us, the world thinks Israel was wrong?'.
We get an overwhelming illustration of a Nation struggling to survive in a world in which millions would rather it did not exist.
The book affirms the extraordinary spirit of the people of Israel,
the most humane, giving, life-affirming people on the planet--
whatever sick propaganda you might have read to the contrary.

Coming Together is a vast improvement over Home to Stay. The writing is absolutely beautiful, the ideas provocative. The heart of the book is Gordis's account of his family's adjustment to life in Israel, beginning at the tail end of the Second Intifada, when the Gordis family is kept awake in its Jerusalem home by gunfire at night, and terrified by suicide murders that take place in their favorite haunts, and ending with mild optimism when the evil Arafat finally passes.

In the pages in between, Gordis, a liberal but not a "leftist," manages to efficiently and eloquently take down those Jews who ignore Israel's obligations to preserve Jewish moral values in its conflict with the Palestinians, as well as those Jews who reflexively oppose the very existence of Israel, because they prefer perpetual Jewish victimhood and the accompanying moral high ground to the inevitable moral compromises and errors that come with power and statehood. He also conveyed to me, as a "serious Jew" who has never had any significant desire to live in Israel, why he would uproot his family from a comfortable upper middle class life in L.A. and expose them to danger to fulfill his Zionist dream. As he expresses it far more eloquently than I can, I won't try to summarize it here. [UPDATE: I should point out that while Gordis emphasizes the very palpable dangers faced by Jerusalemites durng the Second Intifada, raising one's teenagers in L.A. carries some very real, though perhaps less palpable dangers [much higher crime rates, drug use rates, auto accident risk, and likely suicide rates], such that I doubt that Jerusalem in 2002 was more actually more dangerous for kids than West L.A. at the same time.]

One important caveat about this book: Israel is a country composed primarily of first, second, and third generation immmigrants, so there is really no such thing as a "typical Israeli". But to the extent there sort of is, Gordis surely isn't it. In one scene in the book, an Orthodox Jewish American says that Gordis isn't living in the real Israel because he lives in an "Anglo-Saxon" (what Israelis call native English speakers) community, hangs out mostly with British, American, and South African Jews, and works for an American-funded foundation employing yet more Anglos. Gordis bristles at the suggestion, and he's right that having moved to Israel and with a child in the army, he has as much claim to Israeliness as anyone. But in reading the book, one must keep in mind that you are getting the perspective of a relatively well-to-do American Jewish liberal Conservative rabbi/philosopher who recently moved to Israel, lives and works in in Anglo enclaves, and that the outlook and experiences of such an individual is pretty far removed from that of the "typical" Israeli. It's hard, for example, to imagine Gordis expressing serious concern about the "evil eye," a superstition that this spouse-of-an-Israeli finds to be pervasive in Israel. (I used to think that Israelis complain a lot, but I've since learned that refusing to acknowledge good fortune is a way to ward off the evil eye!)

Another interesting aspect of the book is that though it virtually drips with concern about Israel's future, Hizbollah only makes the obliquest of appearances, and Iran is never mentioned at all, not once. Instead, the book is preoccupied with the Palestinian question. A good example, I think, of how Israelis were so preoccupied with the Second Intifada that they paid too little attention to the looming fundamentalist Shiite threat until Hizbollah missiles starting raining down on them in June.

There is a high value to do this devotional. Writing out your prayers helps you to remember to pray them more thru the day. Also you can go back and write when they are answered and how.

Beth Moore's insights never stop amazing me. The length is just right for a daily devotional. The book is so high quality you feel as if you have an old world treasure in your hands.

Very well written and thought provoking book with plenty of room for contemplative notes ans exercises to help one evaluate and study David. My only problem, and hence the 3 not 5 stars, is she relates and compares, way too often, David to Jesus. It is a book about David according to its title and yet she falls in the same trap as most Christian authors. Everything in the bible is NOT about Jesus nor is there any need to try and force every verse, person, etc. to fit to some explanation or elaboration of him. It is about GOD and his message via his prophets. I would love to see some of the great Christian authors, Mrs. Moore included, give the Bible its just treatment especially when dealing with the Hebrew Scriptures portion (aka OT).

This is such a personal devotional that will take you through the life of David even after all the other studies you may be doing on the Life of David. I cried as I came to the last 2 days - as I did not want it to end. This is a 'must have' - but also a perfect gift for the "woman of God" on your list this Christmas. I encourage all the women I teach in Bible study to get this devotional and go through it one-day-at-a-time for the full 90 days! So good! God will bless you!

I just bought this devotional about a month ago and am thoroughly enjoying it. The book itself is beautifully made and I think anyone would feel special receiving this as a gift.

It is a rather large book (in terms of dimensions), however the daily readings are not overwhelming at all. You read one passage of scripture and are asked two simple thought provoking questions. Beth then gives a one-to-two page devotional related to the passage and questions. It probably does not take more than 15 minutes to finish a daily devotional. But I find myself spending a bit longer just meditating on the message. I usually say to myself, "Wow, I've never seen that before," or "Thank you Lord for giving me new insight."

If you are new to Bible reading and are not familiar with the story of King David, I would recommend reading 1 and 2 Samuel before beginning this devotional because Beth just dives right in.

I highly recommed this devotional.

I just finished the 90 day journey on a walk with Beth discovering things through the amazing life of David. This book took me 10 to 15 minutes a night and was a great way each evening to close out my day. You learn so much from this book and there is not the level of homework as with the Daniel study, for example, so you can do this book while doing another study and it will not stress you out!

What I love is learning all about the intricacies of David's life -- what mistakes he made, the feelings he had, what he went through as a father, husband, and leader. David was one of God's chosen -- a man truly after God's own heart -- yet he too made very human mistakes. This alone can give you great hope as a sinner and Christian.

If I could rate this book a 6, I would! I've learned so much through my nightly readings about David. This book is also attractively done with large scroll-like pages and a great layout that also just welcomes you into it. It's a book you can place out on the bookshelf after you're through and it will look very nice. You'll want to pull it out later and go through it again also. There are places to put your own thoughts so it can become a journal of sorts for this 3-month period in your life.... You won't regret these 90 days!

Natan is a hero to the human race. He is wise beyond his years and his wife really proved what true love is. No wonder our Oresident sticks to his convictions. We should all be like Natan

In this classic, in the tradition of The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956, Prisoner of Zion, Natan Sharansky, one of the greatest Jewish heroes of our time, tells of his nine years in Soviet prisons and gulags, because of his desire to live in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.
Sharansky was first denied an exit visa to Israel in 1973. Seperated from his wife, Avital, a day after thewir marriage, in 1974, Sharansky fought for the rights of Jews in the Soviet Union as well as the rights of other persecuted minorities such as Pentecostals, Catholics, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars and ethnic Germans, which disproves the repulsive charge by anti-Semites that Zionists only care about their own people.
He worked as a translator for Soviet dissident and human rights champion Andrei Sakharov, and his spokesman.
Sakharov never stopped fighting for Sharanky's freedom, for human rights and for the Jews of the Soviet Empire.
Sharanky describes his life in the preface as a Jews growing up in Russia, and his mental liberation from Soviet thought slavery, by his discovery of his Judaism and Zionism. He then details his 1977 arrest, and his nine years of brutal incarceration.
He never bowed to his captors and refused to have anything to do with the perfidious KGB.
A variety of mental and physical tortures were used to try to break Sharansky, but he never flinched.
Always given courage by the word of the G-D of Israel, and particularly guided by Psalm 23:
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
For though art with me..."
Indeed he did not fear the evil of the Soviet tyranny.
His wife Avital tirelessly fought for his release as his cause became known in the free world, and fought for by all freedom-loving people.
The book ends with Sharansky's release in 1986 and his aliyah to Israel, where he was reunited with his wife.
The book is a testament to the evils of a one party tyranny.
It is a testament to the eternal endurability of the Jewish people, and their unbreakable bond wit the Land of Israel.
Unltimately it is a testament of hope and of freedom of the human spirit.
Today the same Communist ideology that persecuted Sharansky is waging a jihad of intellectual terrorism against Israel and her people.
But the courage of people like Sharansky and the people of Israel has shown that Israel can and will prevail.

Having met Sharansky in Israel (Birthright alumni!), and having had a long time interest in the Soviet Jewry dissident movement - which allowed my own (Jewish) family to emigrate from the Soviet Union in '91 - I had little doubt as to the outcome of Sharansky's imprisonment. As someone who has read a number of books on similar subjects - in particular the Alexander Solzenytsin "Archipelag Gulag" series - I was a bit dissapointed with "Fear no Evil". (Nevermind that Solzenytsin is widely believed to be an anti-semite; I'm speaking of the literary aspect only.)

In contrast to Solzenytsin's breathtakingly vivid literary style and powerful analysis of the core of the Soviet regime and it's criminal code, Sharansky's book read rather like an eagle's eye view of a convoluted social and political order. "Fear no Evil" reads instead like a game of mental swordsmanship, with a self-inflicted narrow focus quite removed from breadth and depth of a much needed analysis on the Soviet system as a whole.

However, Sharansky does not proclaim himself to be a literary guru. This book is a poignant (if dry) portrayal of one man's fight for freedom - both for himself and 2 million of his people. The uncompromising stance taken by the author with the Soviet regime throughout his imprisonment - his life, family and future hanging in the balance - is awe-inspiring in its simplicity and effectiveness.

It has become a cliche in our time that "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". Yet the Sharanskys of the world have proven that one need not be a terrorist to be a freedom fighter. Where are such men today?

Natan Sharansky's book "Fear No Evil" is a readable account of his time in the Soviet gulag for his dissident activities. The book is detailed and inspirational. Sharansky's courage in facing the KGB is a lesson that we can all learn from.

The book itself reads fast, thanks to Sharansky's ability to make the read interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain insight in what life was like for a political prisioner in the USSR; to anyone who wishes to be inspired by ones courage, or to anyone who wishes to just sit down and read a thoroughly enjoyable book.

"[Saul] put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on [David's]head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around... "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached [Goliath]".

So begins the story of the famous battle between the future King David of Israel and the giant Phillistine during Biblical times. In Natan Shcharansky's "Fear No Evil" (the title taken from one of David's own psalms), the author is less equipped even than young David in battling the ubiquitous and evil KGB, which maintains an illegal presence in the prisons he's held in (again, illegally), accused of spying for western countries. But because of decisions he makes early in his arrest, he is the victor in the struggle waged over his soul by men who would like him to acknowledge he is wrong, who would like him to implicate others in his "crimes" in order for favors from them, or who would simply like him to stop being the delightful fly in the prison ointment he is.

Shcharansky's only weapons during his trial and during his following prison term, consist of his personal integrity, which remains unsullied; his faith and trust in his family and friends; and a tiny book of psalms that he will spare nothing in reminding prison officials he is entitled to. He sometimes has to wage a hunger strike for these things, but always wins. It is true that his wife, who managed to reach Jerusalem before Shcharansky's arrest, is on a worldwide campaign for his release, resulting in no less than two sitting US presidents mentioning him by name in speeches heard by Soviet officials as a political prisoner, as well as global support, but Shcharansky does not learn this until later, and so believes he is virtually alone in the fight.

This gritty autobiography is a lovely example of human survival, and how one can keep his humanity in a horrific place. Shcharansky's relationships with his fellow "zeks" (prisoners) is especially touching, and we're able to get a glimpse of how even the guards in the system have surrendered their souls in this "police state".

A great read for anyone questioning how to survive while it seems suffering and injustice are towering overhead. Very inspiring.