This is one
of the most important non-fiction books (outside of science) published in
years, dealing as it does with a topic which has caused immense pain and
difficulty to so many, particularly in the last century.
A great
many non-fiction books today are little more than essays or magazine articles
padded into the size of books. Many are true disappointments to read, let alone
failing to be genuine contributions to thought.
Here,
though, is a book in which every chapter says something challenging and
interesting.
And do not
skip the introduction – something of which I am often guilty, being anxious to
get to the heart of the matter – for in this case the introduction is
fascinating, and Mr. Sand could not have provided a subtler or better way to
introduce the nature and complexity of his topic.
The book
was written in Hebrew – I know it caused quite a sensation in Israel a couple
of years ago – and only now has been translated into English. Just one of the
things which surprised me was the clarity and flow of the language, something
for which social scientists are not noted, Mr. Sand being an historian. I don’t
know whether Mr. Sand is that unusual thing, a social scientist who is a truly
excellent writer or whether he has found a gifted translator. Perhaps it is
both.
Mr. Sand
has not done original research into the topic, but he has done a massive and
perceptive review of the literature, the kind of effort which in medicine often
proves extremely valuable in bringing together the results of scores of
scattered original studies, and, as the reader will discover, the author is an
impressive scholar.
I knew just
one of the topics which caused such upset in Israel was the idea that today’s
Palestinians are at least in part the actual descendents of the children of
Israel, it being a well-known fact that Rome in her conquests never disturbed
the original people of a place unless they refused to acknowledge Rome’s
authority. While Roman Palestine did have a couple of revolts, they were by
zealots and not the population as a whole, and there is absolutely no
historical record of the resident Hebrews having been expelled.
But the
author covers much more of interest than that one topic and weaves a cohesive
story of the history of the Jewish people which is both challenging and
fascinating. He covers the Khazars, the people of a ninth and tenth Jewish
kingdom in what is today the Crimea and part of Ukraine. There is no evidence of
their having any ancient Hebrew ancestry, and, on the contrary, there is good
evidence that the kingdom was the product of Jewish evangelism.
Jewish
evangelism sounds mighty odd to a modern ear, but the evidence is there. After
all, Christianity started as merely a sect of Judaism and has evangelized much
of its history. Christianity’s first great evangelist was Paul, a converted
Jew. And we know there were even different early sects of Christians, such as
the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, documents which show considerable
differences with the content of the accepted Gospels.
There is
also the fascinating possibility that Khazar migrants settling in Poland and Germany
and other places in Europe are the actual
source for the European Jews we call the Ashkenazi. The author cites many clues
which suggest this, including clues in the Yiddish language, and in the dress
and customs of Eastern European Jews. And it is an idea of which some
determined Zionists were aware but chose to ignore or excuse away.
The book is
dotted with interesting anecdotes such as quotes from early documents which
show Jewish warriors fighting for the Moors in Spain, being perhaps part of the
substantial Jewish population from North Africa – again a people with no
ancestry to ancient Israel - as well as providing the foundation of what would
come to be the Sephardic Jews, later deported from Spain by Ferdinand and
Isabella.
This is a
book which will stimulate discussion and additional research for a long time,
and what is a more important criterion for a truly important book?
Mr Sand has
a few pretty hair-raising quotes from some Zionists which in almost no material
way differ in attitude and outlook to the early gutter literature of the Nazis
– stuff about blood and destiny. It is one of the author’s major themes that a
combination of Zionists and modern Israeli history professors, conspiring to
justify the foundations and practices of modern Israel, have worked assiduously
to promote the old idea – he calls it a myth - that the Jews were thrown out of
their ancient land and have wandered for centuries without a home.
Small wonder
the book stirred a controversy in Israel. I can only say that were
Mr. Sand any less a scholar and writer, he would have been crushed, but here
his research and ideas spring to life for readers everywhere to consider.
The book is
highly recommended to all those with an interest in the affairs of the Middle
East, the history of Europe, the history of
religion, the history of ideas, the nature of political movements, the
eccentricities of human nature, human psychology, or those who just enjoy a
stimulating read.
