Customer Reviews

The Mitzvah

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If I see the name 'L.Neil Smith' on a book, I know I'm in for a fictional treat (OK, so it's not sci-fi, but if you like Tom Clancey, you'll like this, too.). If I see the name 'Aaron Zelman' on anything, I know I'm gonna get blown out of my mental shoes by a hard-hitting, no-prisoners editorial. Mix the two, and... the result can best be described as a thermonuclear strike against statism in all its myriad forms, particularly against its demented spawn of pacifism and political correctness.

(Warning to all collectivists: don't read if you can't stand having favorite mental ruts filled in and paved over. If you can still go left-brain after years of thinking with your emotions, you're in for the ride of your life--and, I devoutly hope, a philosophical transformation.)

What would you do if you were a rather agnostic, liberation-theology Catholic Monsignor well-settled into a comfortable career rut--and then you found out you were really a Jew, spirited out of Nazi Germany after the SS nabbed your parents for later liquidation? That's the dilemma confronting protagonist John Greenwood--but I won't reveal the plot, except to say that it reminds me of Conrad's 'Lord Jim' without the pathos and with better readability. Both authors know how to hook the reader with humorous asides, none of which detract or distract from the main story.

Collaborations are difficult-I know, I've tried-but Aaron Zelman and L.Neil Smith bring this one off with dash and aplomb. They make their characters life-like and life-sized, and their scene-setting and description come across vividly without being intrusive. The malefactori remind me of actual evil people I've known (and in one case, worked for). (The research and facts cleverly presented within the narrative are chillingly accurate--I can vouch for them, particularly for anything to do with the United Nations-which was founded in part by Alger Hiss, a known Communist agent.)

But the strength of this book resides equally in its message: first, that government kills, and only fools believe otherwise, usually the same fools who set up speech codes on college campuses or the fools who work for other leftist causes; and second, that armed citizens can stop both amateur and professional statists. Our government doesn't want you to know that, because there are more of us than of them. Tyrants fear armed people, and for good reason: find out what a few Jews with fewer guns did to the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto!

Note to surfers: you can't buy it or even order it from B.Dalton or Books-A-Million: they couldn't find it in 'Books in Print' when I tried. Conincidence? I think not...

BUY THIS BOOK--and have a great reading experience while you're sticking it to the System! Better yet, buy copies for friends: you'll be afflicting the Hamiltonians with the Death of a Thousand Cuts.

I enjoyed this book on many different levels. First, the linkage between freedom to own firearms (without government interfence or infringment) and righteousness/morality is explored in an interesting fictional setting. Also, not being Jewish, I got quite a bit out of the references to and snippets of neat information about Judaism. I liked the characters in this novel and found the story uplifting, timely, and very readable. The magnificent and meaningful end of this book had a grown man (me!) in tears. I was initially worried that maybe this book would "beat you over the head" with ideology, but this did not happen. The writing team of Zelman and Smith have managed to do something unique here and it is obvious that they respect the reader. "The Mitzvah" is an enjoyable read.

I plan on giving my copy of the book to a Jewish friend of mine but I must emphasize that this book is for anyone of any (or no) religion.

I am doing something else: I have written into the book jacket that this copy belongs to no one person. All I ask is that the recipient read it, make a little tick mark on the book to show another person has read it, and then to pass it on to a friend. I stongely urge that you read this book and pass it on. This profound message can reach people but only one person at a time.

I am conservative with my ratings thus the three stars, I would require a book to be of classic stature before I'd award five. This book effectively uses a plot to illustrate the principles involved in the basic human right to personal weapons of deadly force. It was a fun read and quick enough for a cross-county plane journey. I would very much recommend this book, esp. over such lilting sentimental garbage as appears typically on Oprah's list.

This is a well written short novel with a surprise ending. It gives the most important structure of the protagonist' education, showing that with facts and understanding, no contradiction exists, only exposes of misrepresentations and lies. Like much of the modern myths that are rampant in todays society, under investigation by an honest man, they fall apart. Bravo to Smith and Zellman!

The Mitzvah by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith. ISBN: 0-9642304-3-7, $ (Soft cover), Hartford, WI, Mazel Freedom Press, Inc., 1999, pp. 245, http://www.jpfo.org. This is the story of a liberal Catholic priest who gets mugged with reality when he finds out he's actually a Holocaust orphan survivor. Suddently, his life is turned upside down, but supported by a coterie of old and new friends, he learns the fundamentals of the Jewish faith. He goes on a soul searching trip to the Holy Land, where he figuratively and literally learns of man's God-given right to protect oneself from unimaginable evil acts. His book is highly recommended, as the subtitle stated, "For those who love freedom and for those who should."

Reviewed by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., for the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), www.aapsonline.org, September 3, 1999.

I eagerly awaited the day this novel was published and it didn't disappoint. It is an intellectually fast-moving story that caused me to mentally compile a checklist of stuff of which to further read and study. One example, the mention and subsequent discussion of the novel 'Death Wish.' The story is developed fluidly and the authors intersperse juicy tidbits about little known eyebrow-raising facts. I gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 'cause it was too short! However, when you give some folks 800 to 1000 page tomes (such as John Ross' 'Unintended Consequences' or Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged') to better explain and communicate your views they sometimes let them lie around the house like Hawking's 'A Brief History of Time' without reading them. 'The Mitzvah' is an excellent primer for folks looking for a concise and stimulating story involving religion, ethics, the philosophy of self-defense and courage in the face of a seeming monolithic enemy, the state.

The author Aaron Zelman is the courageous founder of Jews for the Preservation of Gun Ownership. Mr. Zelman believes that an armed Jewish society would not have become a victim of the Nazi Holocost. In his story the Mitzvah he portrays the story of a liberal Catholic priest who discovers his Hebrew roots and learns that the path to being a free people must be traveled armed. The Mitzvah explores many very important issues, but the writting is second rate. The Mitzvah needs some rounding out and some strong editing. The Mitzvah is a quick read and I enjoyed it, but it is not on par with John Ross's book Unintended Consequences.

Like John Ross' Unintended Consequences, this book is a must-read for those citizens who have paid more attention to the sales catalogs and ball games than they have to political history. Failure to read, think, understand, and learn from history kills more innocent people than criminals ever could, and both these works just might open some eyes and save some lives. Unlike Ross' work, this one is a short enough read that even the motivationally-impaired might read it, if they can pull themselves from the sit-coms long enough.

This is a very valuable book that should be required reading in all high school social science classes. It covers a vital chapter in Jewish history which Charlie Schumer and Diane Feinstein would prefer you didn't know about: what free and armed Jews are capable of! This book also helped dispel some of my own personal ignorance of the Jewish religion. The writing is not superlative, but overall it's a good read. I plan on buying a dozen copies and giving them to all of my pseudo-liberal Jewish friends who sadly think that guns are abhorrent.

This book, while shocking to liberals, is fairly mild to a pro-gun libertarian. And for that reason, it appeared to be written for the former rather than the latter. The book continually brings up snippets of history with the twist of a Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" segment. The reader might he heard to say, "Oh, so that's why the Jews didn't resist the Nazis..."

The book drops names, book titles, authors, philosophers and the like in an apparent effort to serve as a bibliography for future research by the reader.

At 245 pages is is a light read. The book's relatively small size would make it an excellent stocking stuffer.