A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them - Hardcover

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is recognized as one of the most thoughtful Jewish writers and teachers of his generation. He has helped people of all ages find spiritual meaning in both the great and small moments in life.

A noted author whose work has appeared in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest and the Congressional Record, Rabbi Salkin is editor of The Modern Men's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Jewish Men on the 54 Weekly Torah PortionsandText Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens; and author of Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work, with an introduction by Norman Lear; the best-seller Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah; For Kids―Putting God on Your Guest List: How to Claim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah and Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Role Models for Sacred Relationships (all Jewish Lights), among other books.  

This book contains short essays by nearly one hundred American Jews, including politicians, writers, artists, academics, students and entertainers. Among the contributors are 31 rabbis and such notable people as Nat Hentoff, Louise D. Brandeis, Solomon Schechter, Albert Einstein, Lillian Hellman, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Harpo Marx. It is divided into five parts and discusses such themes as the role Israel has played in their lives, what keeps them connected to Israel and how it relates to their sense of what it means to be Jewish and American. Editor Salkin believes that many American Jews have lost their sense of connection to the State of Israel: financial support has lessened, and the ability of many American Jews to intellectually defend Israel "has become ever shakier." Offering a multitude of views, the book's air is to encourage Jews to think about what Israel means to them, giving readers―both Jews and Christians―a remarkable insight into this important subject.

The year 2008 will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of Israel. To many of us Catholics, this will be a time to rejoice, just as it will be for our Jewish neighbors.

These two books, taken together, tell us why this is so for the Jewish people and why we, as Christians, should extend to our Jewish friends a hearty "mazel tov" on the birthday year of the Jewish state, even as we continue to pray and work for a just peace for the sake of Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Rabbi Eugene Korn's book, The Jewish Connection to Israel, the Promised Land, while designed for Christians, may well educate Jews as well to the rich and often tragic history leading in the latter half of the 20th century to the very real and very understandable need for a Jewish state in the ancient Holy Land of the people Israel.

A Dream of Zion, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin's book, brings together scores of statements from American Jews, ranging from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to Harpo Marx, on what the existence of the state of Israel means for them; they are often very personal indeed.

Rabbi Korn’s book is the more systematic. Its first part establishes a foundation in an understanding of land and covenant in the Bible. Part 2 speaks first of post-biblical wanderings and then the beginnings, the "stirrings of return" with early Zionism, stirrings that became an absolute with the Holocaust. It goes on in Part 3 to narrate the history of Israel up to today, including its relationship with its Arab/Muslim neighbors.

In Part 4 Rabbi Korn delineates his hopes for the future. Here, while acknowledging the needs of Palestinians, he also takes a wider view and notes that “Jews and Christians as threatened minorities in the Middle East share a common challenge in the region. Can they live with equality and dignity together with (the region’s) overwhelming majority of Muslims?”

This is indeed, as Rabbi Korn notes, the key question that does not, by any means, have a definitive answer as yet. But by enabling Christians to better understand the Jewish side(s) of the issue, Rabbi Korn has made a contribution to such a solution.

As a small aside, it should be noted that Rabbi Korn’s book is not the first in this area. In 1987 Rabbi A. James Rudin, then of the American Jewish Committee, published his Israel for Christians: Understanding Modern Israel (Fortress Press), which, for those lucky enough to be able to get it, contains much material that Christians interested in Israel can constructively consider.

Rabbi Salkin divides his collection into five parts, the first four corresponding roughly to the major motivations of American Jewish support for Israel (self-identity, a place of refuge from continuing anti-Semitism, a place to live out in full the Jewish response to God’s covenant with them and tikkun olam, a place where Jews can work on repairing our common world and become once again a “light to the nations”).

The fifth section is given to the words of earlier generations of Americans and Jews such as Albert Einstein and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. Admirably, Rabbi Salkin includes a number of people who, while supporting Israel’s existence, are very critical of the policies of its government.

The book is a cross section of American Jewish thought, which in turn will encourage any reader to engage in constructive, critical thinking of the issues it raises.

Discover what Jewish people in America have to say about Israel―their voices have never mattered more than they do now. As anti-Israel sentiment spreads around the world―from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to former President Jimmy Carter―it has never been more important for American Jews to share their feelings and thoughts about Israel, and foster a connection to Israel in the next generation of Jewish and Christian adults.

This inspirational book features the insights of top scholars, business leaders, professionals, politicians, authors, artists and community and religious leaders covering the entire denominational spectrum of Jewish life in America today―and offers an exciting glimpse into the history of Zionism in America with statements from Jews who saw the movement come to life. Presenting a diversity of views, it will encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to think about what Israel means to them and, in particular, help young adults jump start their own lasting, personal relationship with Israel.

Contributors include:

Marc D. Angel · Bradley Shavit Artson · Samuel Bak · Sharon Brous · Nina Beth Cardin · Shoshana S. Cardin · Steven M. Cohen · Elliot N. Dorff · David Ellenson · Russ Feingold · Sylvia Barack Fishman · Abraham H. Foxman · Debbie Friedman · Jane Friedman · Niles Elliot Goldstein · Harold Grinspoon · Nat Hentoff · Dov Hikind · Peter Himmelman · Esther Jungreis · Karyn D. Kedar · Danny Maseng · Shulamit Reinharz · Thane Rosenbaum · Jonathan D. Sarna · Debbie Wasserman Schultz · Lynn Schusterman · Rami M. Shapiro · Danny Siegel · Aryeh Lev Stollman · David A. Teutsch · Stephen Joel Trachtenberg · Gordon Tucker · Henry A. Waxman · David Wolpe · And many more ...

David A. Harris, executive director, American Jewish Committee, says that "Rabbi Salkin deserves credit for gathering these impressive personal testimonies. They serve an urgent and vital purpose―reminding us of the nearly four-thousandyear bond between the Jewish People and Israel, and educating us on Israel's enduring meaning for American Jewry."

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is recognized as one of the most thoughtful Jewish writers and teachers of his generation. He has helped people find spiritual meaning in both the great and small moments in life. A noted writer whose work has appeared in Moment, Reform Judaism, Sh'ma, the Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest and the Congressional Record, Rabbi Salkin is also the author of Putting God on the Guest List.

Where do you go when you've been a congregational rabbi for twenty-seven years, written five best-selling books and are looking for something else? If you are Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, you found, direct and serve as rabbi for a new organization, Kol Echad: Making Judaism Matter, a trans-denominational, adult learning community in Atlanta.

This adult-education institute, located in an office complex, is "an amalgamation, like a kollel for non- Orthodox Jews," Rabbi Salkin said in a phone interview. He will be in Overland Park this weekend, serving as scholar in residence at The Temple, Congregation B'nai Jehudah Nov. 16-18.

His organization is experimenting with different kinds of outreach, aiming to be "a liberal alternative to Chabad." The programs seek to “teach Judaism in an intellectual, lively and playful way,” said the rabbi. For example, one of the courses is “What Madonna Doesn't Know About Kabbalah.”

Rabbi Salkin grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and is a 1981 graduate of the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He is best known for his books on spirituality, all published by Jewish Lights Publishers. Among his works are: Bar/Bat Mitzvah Memory Book: An Album for Treasuring the Spiritual Celebration; Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work; For Kids: Putting God on Your Guest List and Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

The latter work, first published in 1992, is one of the top-selling books on American Judaism today. Thus, it is no coincidence that his scholar-in-residency falls during Jewish Book Month, which began Nov. 4.

Rabbi Salkin's most recent book was undertaken as a prelude to Israel's 60th birthday celebration in May 2008. A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters To Them presents a multitude of Jewish voices, whose comments are categorized into five headings: identity and heritage, refuge, faith and covenant, tikkun olam and American historical perspective. Because there is no approved way of thinking about Israel, Rabbi Salkin said he looked for a multitude of mainstream opinions. Yet the variety of contributors is amazing―Lillian Hellman, Harpo Marx, Debbie Friedman, Albert Einstein, Solomon Schechter, Danny Maseng, Emma Lazarus, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and 105 more.

“I edited this book because I was profoundly aware of the emotional distancing taking place between American Jews and Israel,” Rabbi Salkin said. “The inconvenient truth is that Jews travel less, give less and care less (about Israel).”

Rabbi Salkin would like to see this book read by anyone who is curious about Israel, especially non- Jews, many of whom have a “blind spot” when it comes to Israel.

A recent study undertaken by Steven M. Cohen and Avi Kelman reported that less than 50 percent of the Jews surveyed believe if the state of Israel were destroyed it would be a profound loss for them. “I wanted to create a book so everyone would understand why (so many) Jews care about Israel.”

Rabbi Salkin says he would like to “hit control/alt/delete, reboot the Jewish spiritual computer, reformat the hard drive and reinspire American Jews.”

Scholar's schedule Rabbi Salkin will speak at 6 p.m. services, Friday, Nov. 16, at Temple B'nai Jehudah on “Israel: Yours, Mine and Whose?”

Saturday morning, he will teach at the 10:30 a.m. service and then attend a Shabbaton for Bar/Bat Mitzvah youth and their families. Saturday evening, at 7:30, he will speak at a program sponsored by the Brotherhood on “Why are Jewish Men Like That? A Search for Jewish Masculinity.”

Jewish Lights Publishing is one of the more interesting "ethnic" firms in the world today: in the past few years, they have published dozens of high quality books on everything from the scholarly (Bible Study and Midrash) to children's books; ecology to grief and healing; meditation to Kabbalah. A few years ago, JL put out a remarkable, deeply moving collection of short essays called I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl , the journalist who was savagely murdered in Pakistan for exactly that reason. A powerful concept, and it worked very well (and now a major motion picture: A Mighty Heart).

I wish I could say the same for Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's A Dream of Zion, sub-titled "American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them." True, the Jewish State is undergoing hard times today―when has it not?―and the ugly boycotting of Israel’s scholars, and the way so many major politicians and actual countries treat the Jewish homeland condescendingly, compared with the vicious abuse which women, gays, and their own citizens are treated by so many other lands, may seem like a good reason to produce a book like this one.

But it doesn’t work, and not only because of the half-dozen rather mediocre essays by American Jewish university students, talking about how exciting their first visit to the State of Israel was (!) When one interviews many intelligent rabbis and teachers on such subjects as “Identity and Heritage,” “Refuge,” “Faith and Covenant” and “Tikkun Olam,” you are surely going to get the occasional glimmer of insight, even the memorable statement of fact and opinion, and there are, undeniably, a few. For instance, Rabbi David Wolpe, a superb author, writes beautifully that “We who live outside the land have to be sufficiently imaginative to understand all we do not know. In Europe, a bloody battlefield for centuries, there is a monument for every 10,000 fallen soldiers. In Israel, there is a monument for every sixteen. . . . it is a society that lives under a pressure so far unimaginable in this spacious and generous land [of the U.S.]” And who could not be moved by the poetic declaration of the admired American author Thane Rosenbaum, who writes, “Israel is not just a nation. It is, even more so, a state of mind. That’s the bedrock of its geography, the map that it monopolizes, the mental space and energy it consumes like a burning bush. You don’t have to ever board El Al to be obsessed with Israel’s existence, to love it or hate it, to feel its gravitational weight as a magnet for both revulsion and romance, to know that without it, the world would be a very different place, a planet even more tilted and adrift than it is right now.” Exquisite―and his words move me to want to read his prize-winning novels, several of Jewish content and focus.

I had hoped to find Giants with Great Words to say about the State of Israel and its importance today, and I was taken aback to discover just how few real gems can be found in this anthology’s 250 pages. In fact, I find it sadly telling, that it is in Part V―An American Historical Perspective: The Words of the Fathers and Mothers― where the best comments are found: long-dead American-Jewish leaders and rabbis such as Louis D. Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, Abba Hillel Silver, Stephen S. Wise, and, naturally, the glorious Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose words and insights put nearly all else in this flimsy gathering of writing to shame: “What would be the face of Western history today if the end of twentieth-century Jewish life would have been Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Auschwitz? The State of Israel is not an atonement. It would be blasphemy to regard it as a compensation. However, the existence of Israel reborn makes life less unendurable. It is a slight hinderer of hindrances to believing in God.”

Would that even one in ten essays in this under-whelming anthology had such power and majesty. Check out I am Jewish (a national Jewish book award winner) and other fine books from this important Judaica house (located in Woodstock, Vermont of all places!); Jewish Lights is almost always worthy of your support. Just not this particular book, alas.

In A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect On Why Israel Matters to Them, (Jewish Lights, Nov.) Jeffrey K. Salkin gathered essays from a cross-section of American Jewry to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the state's founding in 1948. An ordained Reform rabbi, he recently left the pulpit after 27 years to open Kol Echad, an adult Jewish learning center near Atlanta.

RBL: Israel is the homeland for Jews, both ...