Customer Reviews

Jewish History, Jewish Religion - New Edition: The Weight of Three Thousand Years (Get Political)

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I couldn't resist reading this book. My three favorite American intellectuals Noam Chomsky, Edward W. Said and Gore Vidal have in one way or another recommended it. This in itself is high praise.

I find Israel Shahak's book a spring of fresh water in an arid intellectual environment of disinformation, propaganda and outright intellectual intimidation. For me Shahak is in the same mold as Jewish Prophets of old, warning Israel against a new catastrophe.

I do not pretend to the intellectual heights of Shahak. I can only judge the accuracy of the book by comparing it to areas where I do have expertise, namely the history, as it pertains to the Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. The only portion of the book I found lacking was Shahak's knowledge of Petlura's government of Ukraine during the First World War.

When I sent Shahak a short article about Petlura from a Symposium "Ukrainian & Jews" he responded in a letter to me dated June 1, 1999, quote..."I am sorry for my mistake about the regime of Petlura. Your evidence, especially the translated documents, is very persuasive and I accept it. If possible I will change the next editions" Jewish History, Jewish religion" accordingly."...unquote.

I found Shahak's book made me understand portions of the Bible which I had difficulty understanding. It provided the cultural context for an intellectual conundrum that I had in regard to the Old Testament.

The two conundrums are the ethnic cleansing condoned by God of the Canaanites in Deuteronomy and the other was the dialogue between Jesus and the Canaanite women in Mathew 15:21-28, where he replies , quote..."I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."...unquote.

It is only after reading Shahak that I finally understood the unchristian behavior of Jesus. He after all was not a Christian but a Jewish Rabbi, well versed in the Talmud with all of the cultural taboos associated with it in those times. He came to save the Jews and the World. It was Paul (Saul), another well trained Rabbi who brought Jesus' reformed Judaism to the Pagan Mediterranean world and created Christianity.

This book is replete with insights that only and intellect of rigorous and highly developed moral understanding of History could deliver.

Shahak is a courageous man for going against the conventional wisdom and speaking out for human rights for all. His eloquent thesis in this book gives him the moral authority to speak out on racism and racial superiority, easily wresting this mantle from the likes of Eli Weasel, whose shrill weasel words of 'Never again!' only apply to Jews. Shahak has the wisdom to understand that the Iraeli state's treatment of non-Jews as 3rd class citizens undermines the legitimacy of the state, which could lead to its dissolution.

This book will merit either 5 stars, given by people without an agenda and who care to advance human understanding of the past and its mistakes. Or an obvious 1 (for lack of a 0, by the other end of the spectrum).

Consider that this book was written by an Israeli Jew whose family had lived for generations in a Jewish ghetto in Poland. Prof. Shahak had survived the Holocaust and elected to settle in Israel where he lived out his life. Prof. Shahak, together with historian Ilan Pappe ("The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine") and prof. Shlomo Sand ("The Invention of the Jewish People") are smart, progressive, well-educated members of Israeli academia who understand that the present course of Israeli politics is untenable. These authors are the soul and conscience of humanity that separate and protect us from degenerating into the abyss of the primitive. Perhaps, extinction.

"The Black Book of Communism" makes for a hefty companion book to all of the above titles.

This is truly a book that if every person on earth read, the world would be a different place.

Were everyone to read "Mein Kompf" I don't think many people would change their opinions on anything.

Dr. Shahak clearly illustrates the insanity of the cult of Talmudism. Religious Judaism is essentially a totalitarian society where every aspect of life is dictated by the Rabbis, many of whom fail to live up to any decent standards of fundamental morality. Dr. Shahak clearly illustrates why this cult thrives so much in closed societies and why the cult constantly desires to recreate closed societies where these Rabbis have absolute control over their followers.

I don't like religious fundamentalism of any stripe, but it seems clear that far too often this sect gets a complete pass.

I encourage everyone to read this book. You will not be disappointed.

This book should be required reading in all schools and universities, and indeed legislatures! Written by a learned Jew (who is therefore able to say much that would not be permitted these days by a non jew), the book reveals much about the past and present nature of Judaism. Many historical and contemporary issues become clearer, once the real nature of Judaism is explained. In particular, much is revealed that cannot easily be found in non Hebrew language publications.

Other related books well worth reading are "The Invention of the Jewish People", by Professor Shlomo Sand, and "The Holocaust Industry", by Dr. Norman Finkelstein. Both written by respected and learned Jews, and so worth paying attention to, given the subject matter.

A parallel book on Islam is "Twenty Three Years", by Ali Dashti.

The last sentence of Shahak's book reads: "Although the struggle against antisemitism (and of all other forms of racism) should never cease, the struggle against Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism, which must include a critique of classical Judaism, is now of equal or greater importance."

Strong stuff!

Read the book and you will see what Professor Shahak is getting at.

Israel Shahak wanted in fact to be a follower of Karl Popper, the author of "Enemies of the Open Society". But attention! Shahak the intended peace dove changes his personality radically when he becomes Shahak the pamphlet writer. His book with the misleading title "Jewish history, Jewish religion" is nothing but a harsh and crude pamphlet against Jewish religion and identity. According to Shahak, the rabbines are sly control freaks who govern the Jewish community by lies and assasination: Such insinuations are a true gift to fanatical anti-Jews like the "biblebelievers" or Radio Islam, but this book has nothing to convince any reader with academical education. The level is too base, the accusations are too exaggerated, the footnotes are too short to inspire this reader to trust the author. Shahak pretends even that sense of humour is un-Jewish, and he is attempting to prove it by writing this bitter booklet that has no trace of understanding for the positive role of Jewish religion in many peoples' lives. I agree with the late Mr Shahak that Israel should be a multi-ethnical state for all kind of citizens, but I strongly disagree on his way of expressing this goal.

Despite its title, this is not a book about three thousand years of Jewish history and religion. There is virtually no historically informative and detailed discussion of biblical history, the Second Commonwealth, the Spanish Inquisition, the Haskalah, the Holocaust or modern Israeli history. To be sure, there is some - generally fictitious - treatment of the development of Rabbinic Judaism. There is also virtually no discussion of Jewish theology or philosophy. To be sure, there is some - again, generally fictitious - treatment of Jewish religious law.
Shahak argues that Jews, and Orthodox Jews in particular, are evil. He claims that their history is not one of persecution but of persecuting. We have here the old motifs of the Jew as both wretched and oppressive, as both thuggish and conniving. Torquemada and Bogdan Chmielnicki emerge as the heroes of the story. There is no positive discussion of Jewish historical figures and the Jewish contribution to ideas and ideals.
Shahak argues that Orthodox Judaism is evil. In particular, he claims that Jewish religious law calls for the oppression of non-Jews and that it is racist and murderous. He also claims, perhaps most bizarrely, that Orthodox Judaism is not monotheistic and that Orthodox Jews worship the devil. There is no discussion of the virtues emphasized by Judaism, kindness, mercy, charity, humility, wisdom and love.
The mean allegations made by the book are available online - at numerous white-supremacist websites. Decisive responses are also readily available online. The book is therefore a waste of money.
This edition includes a new foreword by Ilan Pappe, a radical critic of Israel. One couldn't tell from his criticism here that the Arabs started the 1948 war against Israel, that Israel's leaders were mainly secular socialists, and that Israel allows for more freedom of religion and politics than any of Israel's neighbours do. The book lends no credibility to whatever criticism Israel may or may not deserve.
There are many informative books on Jewish history and religion available from amazon.com. A very popular history is "A History of the Jews" by Paul Johnson. Friendly introductions to Judaism include "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism" by Benjamin Blech and "This is My God" by Herman Wouk.
Shahak is not a reliable authority on Jewish history or religion. His book is a concoction of outrageous fabrications, gross exaggerations and wild misinterpretations. I do not recommend it.