Page 15-THE NEWS-May, 1984
T^T
JLUB
Jewish Books
in Review
is a service of the IWB lewish Book Council,
15 East 26th St., New York, N.Y. 10010
In the Land of Israel. By
Amos Oz. Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1250 Sixth
Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101.
1983. 272 pages. $12.95.
The Fate of the Jews: A Peo
ple Tom Between Israeli Power
and Jewish Ethics. By Roberta
Strauss Feuerlicht. Times
Books, 3 Park Avenue, New
York, NY 10016.
Reviewed by Mark Friedman
These very different books
are, in essence, similar. They
both offer definitions, or
perhaps visions, of Judaism
and exhort their Jewish
readers to live up to them.
These visions emerged at the
turn of the century and have
largely lost their foUowings
and vibrancy in recent years.
In the Land of Israel by
Amos Oz evolved from a series
of articles written by the
foremost Israeli novelist for
the labor daily Davar. It
relates the experiences of Oz,
a kibbutznik and a leader of
Peace Now, representing the
ideals of the labor Zionist
founders of the Jewish State,
and his encounters with the
diverse people and visions of
the State of Israel. Oz listens
to and argues with ultra-Or-
thodox Jews, Arabs from
Ramailah and East Jerusalem,
rabid nationalists, a Roman
Catholic priest. West Bank
settlers, Sephardim, a child of
the Second Aliyah,
The core of the book is the
two chapters *‘An Argument
of Life and Death A and B” in
which Oz argues with the
leaders of the Gush Emunim
settlement Ofra in Samaria.
While these settlers share cer
tain tendencies with the ultra*
Orthodox, they do not receive
the same somewhat contemp
tuous treatment from Oz, as
they present the most serious
challenge to him. In many
respects they have taken over
the mantle of classical Zionism
— creating facts, attachment
to the land, the myth of the
pioneer pushing the frontiers
of Israel ever outward, and in
deed even the messianic spirit
inherent in Zionism. They
speak of absolute Jewish
values, deriving from the Bible
and purged of Western relativ
ism. In his only chapter-length
monologue Oz responds that
Zionism and Judaism are
essentially pluralistic and not
absolute, and that Israel must
not withdraw into itself but
must live with the nations of
the world. He argues for the
“ideal of an open, creative
society, progressive and just,”
(p. 131) against the ecstasies of
military victory and state
hood, against the moral
autism” (p. 142) which he sees
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as pervading Israel.
Morality is the essence of
Judaism for Roberta Strauss
Feuerlicht in The Fate of the
Jews. She argues that moral
law and the prophetic concept
of a perfect world are the main
Jewish contributions to civili
zation, and thus as a Jew is
less moral, so is he less Jewish.
Feuerlicht's modern para
digms of the ethical im
perative are the Jewish
socialists of the old Lower
East Side of New York who
were “...the most idealistic and
selfless generation of Jews in
4000 years.” (p. 116) These are
the only positive notes in what
is an otherwise vituperative
harangue against Jewish
establishments from King
David on. She has written a
selective history which
highlights Jewish separ
ateness, intolerance, enmity,
racism, conservatism, oppres
sion, self-centeredness, and
self-righteousness. This
negativism overwhelms the
message—and the reader.
A theme common to both
books is power. Feuerlicht
writes that “...Jews were not
good because they were
Jewish but because they were
powerless,” (p. 284) and so for
her power is irreconcilable
with the ethical nature of
Judaism. For Oz, powerless
ness is the sin of the Diaspora,
but living by force is no less a
catastrophe, and maybe even
a sin. (p. 202).
If the purpose of these
books is to raise questions and
stimulate self-examination in
the Jewish community, then
Oz’s book is the more impor
tant and successful. The
reader can listen to and argue
with him and with the other
views presented in this book,
while Feuerlicht arouses a
defensiveness that defeats her
purpose.
Mark Friedman is Director
of Cultural Affairs of the
World Jewish Congress, New
York.
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