There's No Place Like Jerusalem [Hardcover]

Samson Raphael Levy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

A scion of the great 19th Century biblical scholar Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh, Samson Raphael Levy is an active bibliophile living a quiet, ordered life in his beloved Jerusalem. But his life was not always quiet and ordered. Samson was in the RAF during the “Great War” and was present during the pivotal days of Jewish independence in 1948 and onward.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Taken from his carefully kept diaries, Mr. Levy writes in the short, concise, readable sentences that echoes the style of Hemingway. He was a ”Jewish “Everyman” maintaining his religious attitudes and practices in the army, under difficult circumstances and in many of the countries of the Middle East. Like his illustrious grandfather, Rabbi Hirsch, he feels the need to be near the smell and touch of books, and his understated wit is evident on every page.

About the Author

Samson Raphael Levy is the great-grandson of the illustrious 19th Century biblical scholar, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. Like his namesake, Levy has assiduously sought to defend his religious beliefs both in his writings and by personal example. In this memoir, which takes us from 1918 through today, Samson has recorded many of the great moments of the 20th Century, especially those that led to the creation of "The State of Israel.

Samson was in the Royal Army Service Corps during WWII and, because of his knowledge of German, spent time working at a Prisoner-of-War Documentation Center, where he learned, first hand, what the Nazis had done to many in his family. He was posted with the Western Desert Forces to Egypt, and from there was able to travel frequently to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.

Keeping kosher in the army and maintaining a Jewish lifestyle was a full time job for Samson, beyond the 70 hours a week he spent soldiering. Yet, through perseverance and amazing good "luck," Samson manages to keep the Jewish precepts and commands he was brought up with.

As an active bibliophile, Samson studies in the morning and spends the rest of his day writing and living the full, rewarding life of a man who has come home to find that much of what he remembered about his home -- much of what he dreamed about Jerusalem -- is true.

Yet Samson has also seen much change in this City of Gold. He has borne witness to the conflicts and struggles that made 1948 the year of Israel's independence, and 1967 the year that Jerusalem returned to Jewish hands. He has been an eyewitness to every major war and peace, every important event, associated with the State of Israel, not as a politician or a general, but as a man of the nation.

This is the story of Samson's life as it continues to unfold. His dignity and humanity -- even in the midst of war and disaster -- is a tribute to his illustrious great-grandfather.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: Devora Publishing (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930143303
• ISBN-13: 978-1930143302
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,780,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)