Israel Books

This is one book that any person professing to be open simply HAS to read, if they ever want to appreciate living in a multi racial society. It is rich as it is blunt, extreme as it is honest. Only if you have lived as one or the other, and wondered if you or anyone else ever were "the rightous ones", this is the way forward. It doesn't matter if you think your society is already well adapted or otherwise to differences. By exploring the extremes we consider the subtles, and this book works well to show how things we take for granted passing down to our children can only serve to reinforce long term prejudices, which will only serve to divide. READ IT!

I found the book extremely interesting and enriching. At the beginning the two writers were extremely divergent, and then became slowly close in thinking and outlook. I found very interesting the parts where Uzi writes about intelligence and Shin Bet tactics, and those where Bassam talks about the revolutionary years and Wadih Haddad. Bassam and Uzi are clearly very proactive, seeing and sensing things much before other people are able to. This book, written by an Israeli and a Palestinian, is a step forward towards concensus in the Middle Eastern quagmire. Such a book would have been unthinkable of only a few years ago. It takes a strong courage to write, because the mentality of the people involved is not yet mature enough to accept peace with all the concessions it entails. The life of these two authors and men of action must be anything but a smoothly flowing river.

BEYOND THE WALLS:
CHURCHES OF JERUSALEM
by
Aviva Bar-Am

Photographs: Shmuel Bar-Am
ISBN 965-90048-7-7

If walls could talk
Whether ancient or contemporary, the churches of Jerusalem are wrapped in that very special aura which surrounds the Holy City.
Now, with publication of "Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem", you can unravel the mysteries which lie behind each magnificent - or modest - facade. In "Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem", former Jerusalem Post correspondent Aviva Bar-Am offers in-depth narratives, stirring legends, and lively anecdotes which bring 30 of the Holy City's historic churches to life.
Among the sanctuaries and sites described in the book are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (including a step-by-step walk-through guide), St. James' Cathedral, the Church of St. John the Baptist in the Old City, the Basilica of the Agony at Gethsemane, and Dominus Flevit.
Read about the Ethiopian Church, the Church of the Visitation, Ecce Homo Basilica, St. Andrew's Church, Mary's Tomb (the Church of the Assumption), the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the Church of the Flagellation, the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky ... and more!
The perfect gift for pilgrims planning to visit the Holy Land, "Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem" is also, of course, an incomparable souvenir. But even if you can't make the journey, add this wonderful book to your home library. Peruse its captivating pages at your leisure and prepare to take an adventurous "trip" from the comfort of your armchair!

100 pages
50 color photographs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mount of Olives map - Ein Karem map - Old City map
1 - Saint Lazarus' Church
2 - Church of Beitphage
3 - Basilica of the Agony - Church of all Nations (Gethsemane)
4 - Church of the Assumption (Saint Mary's Tomb)
5 - Church of the Ascension (also known as Dome of the Ascension)
6 - Church of the Ascension - Augusta Victoria
7 - Church of Saint Mary Magdalene
8 - Convent of the Pater Noster
9 - Dominus Flevit
10- Church of the the Ascension (Russian)
11- Monastery of the Holy Cross
12- Church of the Visitation
13- Church of Saint John the Baptist (Ein Kerem)
14- Church of the Redeemer
15- Church of Saint John the Baptist (Old City)
16- Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky
17- Church of the Holy Sepulchre
18- Ecce Homo Basilica
19- Church of the Flagellation
20- Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross
21- Church of Saint Anne
22- Church of Saint Mark
23- Saint James' Cathedral
24- Christ Church
25- Dormition Abbey
26- Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu
27- Church of Saint Andrew
28- Ethiopian Church
29- Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
30- Cathedral of Saint George

When you travel to Jerusalem - take this book with you! Because it is as if a legend teller is acompanying you in your visit to the beautiful churches of Jerusalem. It tells you stories that no tourist guidebook will tell you, and it makes your days in Jerusalem's churches unforgettable.

The debut nonfiction compendium of religion and history expert Frederic March, The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors: A Political History of Ancient Israel and Judah is an in-depth examination of the Bible in the context of five historical eras. The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors does not shy away from moral quandaries of the Bible, such as the existence of a supposedly loving God that commands Israel to annihilate entire nations. Researched at length, and breaking down Biblical text passage by passage in historical context, The Bible Through the Eyes of Its Authors is enthusiastically recommended for both public and private religious history and Bible studies shelves.

In The Bible Through the Eyes of its Authors, Frederic March takes his readers on a studied journey through the ancient Hebrew texts that comprise for Christians the Old Testament of the Bible and for Jews the foundational scripture of their religion. March, unlike countless other authors, does not undertake his journey to support or reject the religions based upon them, but rather to understand them as the product of centuries of political development, as a people transition from a primitive, scattered, semi-nomadic life style into a highly structured, landed civilization. He tackles his journey in three ways: through analysis of the text itself, through modern archeological and historical research, and by reconstructing and analyzing the authorship of the Bible. In all of these, he draws upon the works of many other writers, historians, and researchers, ultimately creating a compendium of the latest thinking in biblical research, leavened with his own fascinating insights.

With my predilection to think in evolutionary terms (my background is in biological science), I was most struck by March's insights into the evolutionary nature of the texts. In reviewing the authorship of the various texts, he rejects the traditional teaching that they were written by their principals-that is, Moses wrote the Torah, Court scribes wrote Kings and Chronicles, prophets wrote the books that bear their names, and so on-in favor of the more evidence-based proposals of religiously liberal and secular scholars. In these latter views, the grand chronology from creation to Ezra's time, was the work of five principal authors (whose actual identities remain unknown but who can be inferred from the biblical text) to each of whom is assigned a letter. Four, E, P, D, and R are thought to have been priests. March accepts the somewhat controversial position that the fifth, identified as J, was most likely a woman, this because many of the passages ascribed to her are at odds with those attributed to the other writers, and because she placed much stronger female characters in her writing. (She also loved to lambast male leaders, as when she made Samson the weak-minded dupe of Delilah.)

All of these writers worked many centuries after the period described in the first ten books of the Bible, Genesis through Kings, either inventing or reconstructing the history from the oral tradition. They, according to March, simply adapted those earlier stories to provide a sacred history that could be used to justify political actions in their own times (variously ranging from about 850 to 350 BCE). Thus the Bible evolved from earlier antecedents, by selection and modification, into a corpus of texts useful to the writers. One example will illustrate: During the Israelites 40 year desert sojourn under the leadership of Moses, much of the time the people were so destitute that they had neither food to eat nor water to drink. March writes: "Only God's magical provision of quail, manna, and water calms them [the Israelite people] down and saves Moses and Aaron from their wrath. P's [the writer of this story] message is transparent; have faith in the Lord by obeying God's priests. In tough times only God's priests offer salvation. Moses uses the technique of all tyrant priests by deflecting blame for conditions he himself is responsible for, to God, whose actions are clearly not accountable to the people." (Pg 53) Later, Moses visits God on Mount Sinai and receives many commandments, among them the command to build an elaborately ornamented and lavishly furnished Tabernacle. March observes: "How do these wretched people, living on God's gift of manna manage to obtain the wealth of materials and crafted objects described here?....Why is P so untroubled by these anomalies? It was because his intent was to depict the elaborate cult of the wealthy temple in his own time (circa 700 BCE) as having its origins in the ancient Exodus period (circa 1290 BCE in biblical time)....He employs only the thinnest veneer of historical realism for Moses' time....But what would motivate P to do this? In part a need to indoctrinate warriors for battles against Judah's enemies. Judah was an Assyrian vassal and Hezekiah had a plan to revolt. He needed the most powerful, dedicated and fearless army possible. He also needed money to raise the army. And finally, Hezekiah believed he needed the priests to propitiate God to support the national defense." (Pg 67)

If you accept his reasoning, March provides a powerful explanation for the obvious inconsistencies in many Biblical stories. The writers used their textual manipulations to adjust their religion to serve their current needs, a process that continues to this day. (Of course, as March observes, current theologians do not have the liberty to actually change the text, but must content themselves with creative reinterpretations of the preserved text to give their religion modern relevance.) Interestingly, biblical evolution appears to share with biological evolution a tendency to never throw anything away, but merely to rework that which already exists to serve new purposes. Just as earlier biological forms can sometimes be inferred from comparative anatomy, older texts-even the oral tradition-can sometimes be recovered through comparative study of existing texts. Hey, it might be that Intelligent Design is no more relevant to the Bible than it is to biology.

March has performed a valuable service to anyone, layman or serious scholar, who is interested in the historical origins of the Bible and the motivations of its writers. Of necessity, this is a long book, because it treats an immense topic, but March writes clearly, with a minimum of jargon, and I found his commentaries easy to follow. They were adequately detailed without, in spite of the book's length, becoming tiresome, and I found the case he makes for his thesis, that the writers were often politically motivated, persuasive and not easily dismissed. This is a book well worth reading.

Tel Dan held an important place in biblical history, representing the northern frontier of the early Israelite kingdoms and a major cultic site after the division. Pottery and city gate structures from the middle bronze age are lavishly described and illustrated. Contrary to assertions by the minimalists, the late bronze age destruction conforms to events described in Judges 18 when the Danites took Laish and renamed the region. A sacred precinct corresponds to the sanctuary from the 9th century BC reign of Jeroboam. Fortifications are also described for this important outpost on the frontier. The book concludes with a postscript regarding the famous Aramaic inscription (first part) found in 1993. (The second part was discovered after the _BD_ was published.) The inscription represents what may be the first extrabiblical reference to the House of David and apparently dates from the period Ben-Hadad's attack in 1 Kings 15 in the 9th century. While the inscription remains controversial, Biran's contribution to Dan's archaeological excavation and reporting of this site is beyond reproach.

Biblical Dan was the northernmost limit of ancient Israel. The Bible says that prior to the coming of the Danites, the city was known as Laish, which means "lion." According to Judges 18 five spies from the Danites saw that the people of Laish lived a quiet and secure life. Perhaps they were traders as they lived after the manner of the Sidonians. They were defenseless against the Danite raiders.
Avraham Biran's _Biblical Dan_ begins with the Neolithic Period. Excavations at what is now known as Tel Dan began in 1966. In 1984, a trench in the southern section of the exca-vation which had been dug to almost 40 feet uncovered a wall and sherds dating from the 5th millennium BCE.
The huge quantity of sherds from the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000 BCE) impressed Biran. Fortifications from this period have not been found, but Biran calls the site a city because the 50 acres would have required urban services and administration.
During the 3rd millennium the first ramparts were built. In the 2nd millennium a technological revolution occurred in pottery making. At the beginning of the millennium much pottery was in vessel form, but by the middle of the millennium a fast wheel resulted in mass production.
Over many seasons the ramparts were excavated. The earth-fill was covered by a layer of plaster some 10 inches thick. The smooth surface and incline made attack difficult. At its base the rampart was about 82 feet in width. However the exact width
of the rampart in the lowest strata can only be estimated due to a later stone gate termed Israelite. The city's dense was dependent upon this rampart.
Biran injects comments into his book which remind us of the reality of the region. taking aerial photographs to find the location of a gate, Biran's photographs found modern military installations. Another season later at another site, Biran began to unearth an arch for a gate. Dating some 1500 years before the Romans, Biran had found an arched gateway.
Terraces and houses were built on the ramparts during the Late Bronze Age. The city had expanded beyond the boundaries of its previous settlement.
Biran had hoped to find tangible evidence of the con-quest by the Danites. He found moderate degrees of destruction in several grid squares of Area B. "Perhaps this thin layer of burnt material and ash relates to the mention of the destruction of the city in Judges 18 and in Joshua 19."
Much of the archaeological work at Tel Dan dates to the time of the Monarchy and runs through the Persian and Hellenistic Periods into the time of the Romans. Biran concludes his book with a postscript of the Aramaic Stele from Tel Dan.
This book is for those of us who enjoy reading about archaeological finds and imagining how the people lived who once produced them.

This fine article addresses what I consider to be one of the main challenges to the very idea of scholarship, namely the substitution of absurd lies for what ought to be historically valid material about Israel.

As David Horowitz explains in his introduction, we see plenty of bogus material about Israel from those who wish to use words to justify aggression and war against civilian populations. He says that "everyone interested in justice will want to read this little book." I agree.

The book begins with two chapters about the Arab refugees. The author, David Meir-Levi, explains that "even well-educated historians" strongly imply, totally falsely, "that the creation of the State of Israel caused the flight of almost a million hapless, helpless, and hopeless Arab refugees."

Of course, all the creation of the State of Israel accomplished was to provide a refuge whose citizens, specifically including its Jewish citizens, would have human rights. That means that such an accusation could only be true if, for some reason, Arabs were unable to abide living in the same nation as emancipated Jews. And that would amount to terribly racist behavior by those Arabs. Is it true that if Arabs are not allowed to oppress Jews, they have no choice but to move to a place where they are allowed to engage in such behavior? I can't believe that.

Meir-Levi attacks the accusation as simply historically invalid. He's right to do so. He shows that the Arab refugees were created by Arab aggression against Jewish rights. And he mentions the impudence of Arabs who refer to the survival and emancipation of the Jews and the Arab failure to get rid of Jewish rights as a catastrophe. He reminds us of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who had to flee Arab lands at about the same time. He shows that the Arabs who were willing to stay in Israel have fared relatively well there, in spite of the continuing Arab aggression against Israel. And he explains that the persistence of the Arab refugee problem is basically an Arab weapon against Israel.

In the third and final chapter, we are reminded that the modern Zionists who bought land in the Levant did so legally. Not merely legally, but at high prices. That ought to be obvious, but even this has been challenged by some anti-Zionists who try to pretend that any Jewish land must have been stolen! The Jews, far from driving out the Arabs, actually attracted Arabs to the regions they settled in, by making the deserts bloom, draining the swamps, and improving the economy. Yet, once again, we see that some anti-Zionists try to pretend that none of this happened. Meir-Levi is striking in his use of Arab sources to back up his points.

We also learn about more recent Israeli history, including the legality of the Israeli settlements. Plenty of people have falsely stated that the Israeli West Bank settlements are illegal in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law. But as Meir-Levi shows, such statements are simply Orwellian; "it is precisely international law, the Geneva Convention, and relevant UN resolutions that define these settlements as legal."

Some folks may argue that truth just doesn't matter. They may feel that some Arabs do not want Jews to live in the Middle East, and that is all that matters, and that if Mankind can't get rid of these Jews, it is doing something Wrong. But I disagree. Not only do I feel that it would be a terrible moral error to get rid of human rights for Middle Eastern Jews, I feel it would be an even worse mistake to abolish truth and justice to enable us to do that.

I highly recommend this little book.

This terrific 56-page booklet explains the myths that have tarnished Israel's name and falsified the historical record over the last several decades. It is based on more than 60 references cited in a bibliography.

The book is divided into three sections, discussing the origins of the refugee problems, the stages through which the problem was created, and the questions surrounding the "occupation" and the "settlements."

As has so often been explained, in 1947, the United Nations mandated the creation of two states in the 20 percent that remained of Palestine following its first illegal division by Britain. The Jewish people accepted the partition, but eight Arab nations initiated a war against them to obliterate Israel. As a result of the aggressive war, Israel acquired more land, and hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled. After the war, Israel offered the right to return so long as Arabs swore their allegiance to Israel and renounced violence. Only 150,000 Arabs took advantage.

Meanwhile, from 1948 through 1954, more than 800,000 Jewish people were forced to flee their homes in Arab and Muslim states in the Middle East. Most settled in Israel.

Arabs began leaving Israel of their own free will even before the partition plan was announced in November 1947. Even before that, 70,000 Arabs fled. Another 100,000 or so left after hostilities began in November 1947. Then the Arab leadership began announcing their intention to annihilate the Jewish people, and still more people fled. In March 1948, an Iraqi brigade had entered the village of Deir Yassin, in an attempt to cut off the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

On April 9, 1948, Jewish troops entered the village, intending to capture it and drive out the Iraqi belligerents. The Iraqis disguised themselves as women, however, and fired from among the women. Naturally, as a result of the reckless endangerment of civilians, Arab women were killed along with many armed and disguised Arabs. A recent study by Beir-Zayyit university on Ramallah showed there was no massacre--only a military conflict in which civilians were killed in the crossfire. But Arab leaders, who had told Arabs to flee, also used the incident to shame Arab nations into more forceful fighting. Their plan backfired when Arabs panicked and fled by the thousands.

Despite Israel's offer in February 1949 to return Arab lands occupied as a result of their war on Israel, the Arabs refused to sign a peace treaty on which the offer was conditioned.

Finally, the booklet covers settlement. As noted, Zionist pioneers from the 1840s onward immigrated to Israel from all over the Arab world and Europe to join the local Jewish community to rebuild the Jewish homeland. They bought land from the Turkish crown (which had conquered and ruled the land for 400 years) and Arab landowners. There was no theft, and no one was driven from their land. A 1990 demographic study of Palestine by Columbia University showed the Arab population grew tremendously as a result of Jewish economic development. An Arab population that was static at 340,000, from 1514 to about 1840, suddenly began increasing in 1855 and by 1947 had almost quadrupled.

The booklet also covers the unsuccessful proposed Peel Partition plan, the UN partition, pre-1967 terrorism, (which resulted in more than 9,000 attacks from 1949 to 1956 from the Gaza strip alone), the the belated emergence of Palestinian nationalism in 1967.

As the article explains, "Israel is the only known country in all of history to come into existence via legal and beneficial land development (as opposed to the almost universal method of conquest)." Israel has the right, by virtue of Arab aggression in 1948 and 1967, to maintain sovereignty over its newly won territories and to develop them in any way "that is not prejudicial to the well-being" of civilians.

This excellent booklet sets the record straight.

I used this book on a recent trip to Israel and Jordan. I was not on an "official" birding trip, but by keeping this pocket size book and my binos in my backpack, I was able to ID 30 new species. Photos are clear; descriptions good. Don't miss the Jerusalem Bird Observatory near the Knesset and the ponds at Magan Mikael (both near tourist sites and good, quick birder detours). I was working on completing Excuse #10 (Because I want to know that bird's name) and Excuse #6 (because I'm a wanderer) from my own book, 40 Excuses to Get Together with the Girls and it really helped.

This is the only major work available in english on the subject. It describes in detail the migration, breeding, habitat distribution and much more of all species recorded in Israel. It is not however a identification guide, but I have found the distribution info most usefull as a aid to ID.

Walter Neser

This narrative is mostly about the relationship between Natalie and her mother, Agi. Natalie comes from an upper middle class mainstream Jewish Australian family. Natalie eschews the comfortable upper middle class secular life that her mother envisions for her to become a baal teshuva, a repentant one. Natalie joins a Hassidic sect

Black is a reference to the clothing Hassidic men wear and the rainbow is the joy Agi eventually finds in being the grandmother of five Hassidic children.

Agi is at times meddlesome and disapproving and at others very helpful,

Mother and daughter eventually come to accept each other's differences.

Recommended for anyone interested in the Bal Teshuvah movement, Hassidism, or any non-religious mother who feels lost or distraught because her son or daughter has joined a fundamentalist religion

Helpful book for parents of children who become bal teshuva. Realistic yet heartwarming and encouraging.

THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST POPULAR AND RECOMMENDED VERSION BY BIBLICAL SCHOLARS FOR YEARS. Jasher is referred to in Joshua and second Samuel. Its Name in Hebrew literally means "the upright" or "book of record", and not the name of a prophet or one of the judges of Israel, as has been mistakenly understood by some who are unfamiliar with the Hebrew language.

Regarding the authenticity of the book, in his preface the translator says the following:

The printed Hebrew copy, in the hands of the translator, is without points. During his first perusal of it, some perplexities and doubts rose up in his mind respecting its authenticity; but the more closely he studied it, the more its irresistable evidence satisfied him, that it contained a treasure of information concerning those earlier times, upon which the history of other nations are either silent, or cast not a single ray of real life; and he was more especially delighted to find that the evidence of the whole of its contents went to illustrate and confirm the great and inestimable truths which are recorded in divine history, down to a few years later than the death of Joshua, at which period the book closes.
The most important value of this book is the large quantity of additional detail it gives to various accounts in the Old Testament than our current translations. For instance, the translator states in his preface:
This book contains a more detailed account of the awful circumstances attending the commencement of the flood, and of the conduct of Noah toward the terrified multitude who had assembled about the ark, when the fatal moment had arrived, and their doom was irrevocably fixed.

. . . Connected with this period of the history is given an account of Nimrod; in which is strikingly depicted the arbitrary and violent character and conduct of his government. . . .

. . . From this book we learn that Noah and Abraham were contemporaries. How beautiul the contemplation of the meeting between these two Patriarchs, the one being a monument of God's mercy, the other having the promise of the favor and grace of God, not only to himself, but to his seed after him.

. . . The history of Joseph has always been considered one of the most admirable and interesting on record. . . . This history, in Jasher, enters more into detail concerning the affairs of Pontiphar's wife Zelicah; Joseph's magnificent procession through the cities of Egypt, on coming into power; the pomp with which he was attended by Pharaoh's chariots, officers and people, when he went up to meet his father; the affecting scene which then took place, together with other remarkable incidents. . . .
Following the preface of the book are certificates of endorsement from four noted religious scholars of the day, their statements all dated in April 1840, the year it was first published, each one giving his endorsement to the correctness and reliability of the translation.

I read The Book of Jasher years ago (the Orange Cover book) and then gave it to family members to read. Since I wanted to replace it with the same translation as before (being endorsed by noted religious scholars as to its reliability of translation), I found it again with a great new cover. The name Jasher, means "correct record," and he certainly did keep a very detailed and fascinating account of the events and people found in the books of Genesis and Exodus. - A must read for every serious Bible student.

I work in a multinational company and am in daily contact with colleagues and clients abroad. They come from r&d, marketing and sales. When I read the book, everything clicked. All of a sudden, I understood why problems dealing with contracts, managing time and solving conflicts had arisen in the past. "Border Crossings" also gave me some good ideas about how to solve intercultural conflicts. When I first started out, I needed a dictionary to understand the language. Now that I understand the language, I need a cultural interpreter to figure out what the words and behavior really mean. "Border Crossings" is my interpreter.

Anyone in either Israel or the US that is interested in working with a factor from the other country cannot afford not to read this book. It has nothing to do with intuition or intelligence - the differences can only be learned, either through tiresome and costly experience or through reading Border Crossings.

This is a wonderful story of courage and the human spirit to continue on.

Can you imagine living through World War II in a cellar, then going to a place where everyone thinks you're weird? This was Avremelah's life in the book The Boy From Over There.
Avremeleh was taken from his homeland in Poland, and brought to a kibbutz in Palestine when Israel was gaining its independence. There he faced culture shock, prejudice, and another war. Why did his cousin Rami hate him so much?
Tamar Bergman draws you into Avremeleh's story with outstanding dialogue and superb descriptions. It is easy to identify with the children on the kibbutz because they are so similar to children of today. They not only fought and argued, but also cared for each other.
The Boy From Over There is an adventurous historical novel about the power of friendship. You won't want to put it down until you reach the end. I was ready to jump into the book and take part in the action. It's a perfect read-aloud for all school-age children.

by Ariel Mann, Lucas Olson, & Joel Waymire