Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

As you may know Jehon Grist, Ph.D., the Executive Director of Lehrhaus Judaica, will give a two part lecture series this Wednesday and Thursday, titled Understanding Israel: Connecting the Biblical and Modern Land. If you were not aware of this you can read the details of the event at the end of this post.

The library has, of course, a cornucopia of books both on Biblical and modern Israel. I would like to draw your attention to one in each category. Harry Meyer Orlinsky’s Ancient Israel was written in 1954, but remained popular, because it is concisely organized and engagingly written. The library recently received a copy of the books second edition’ 18th printing from 1996, in brand new condition. As often the case, the table of contents gives you a good overview of what the book is about.

• Foreword, by Edward Whiting Fox
• Introduction
• The Fertile Crescent: Hebrew Origins
• Bondage, Exodus, and the National Covenant
• Israel in Canaan: The Period of the Judges
• The Israelite Empire under David and Solomon
• The Divided Kingdom: Israel and Judah
• The Babylonian Exile and the Restoration of Judah
• The Hebraic Spirit: The Prophetic Movement and
• Social Justice
• Chronological Summary
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Index

I also offer an excerpt from a review of the book as an appetizer

“Professor Orlinsky has here given us a lucid and excellent account of the history of ancient Israel from its earliest beginnings to the establishment of post-exilic Judaism subsequent to the work of Nehemiah and Ezra. Orlinsky’s book is stimulating; its presentation is delightfully clear; and even when the reader disagrees, he finds himself endorsing to the full the major emphasis and outlook. It is a book to be heartily welcomed.”

The most recent and representative book we have on modern Israel is the work of Deborah Hart and Gerald S. Strober: Israel at sixty: an oral history of a nation reborn. This beautifully edited 300 page book combines black and white photographs with transcripts and summaries of hundreds of interviews. The five major parts of the book are:

1. From the rise of Nazism to postwar efforts to establish the modern Jewish state
2. The proclamation of the Jewish state and its upbuilding
3. Seismic changes
4. New realities
5. Can Israel survive?

The official description follows:

Based on extensive interviews, Israel at Sixty presents a balanced, comprehensive account of this complex and amazing land. It re-creates historic events from the actions of Israel’s founding visionaries through the ravages of six wars with its Arab neighbors to its growing strength and international stature and efforts to make permanent peace with its adversaries. Complete with more than fifty previously unpublished photos, Israel at Sixty is a beautiful keepsake for anyone who loves, respects, and supports the Jewish state.

I hope you will attend the lectures described below or if you miss them check out the books I mentioned above or find one you are more interested in our library.

LEHRHAUS JUDAICA CLASSES in Santa Rosa
Understanding Israel: Connecting the Biblical and Modern Land

Course Code: H170-JCA

To understand Israel’s present and future, you need to start with its past. This course explores Israel’s two histories, Biblical and modern, to discover and document the unbroken links of our people to the land. In the first session, students will travel on a visually rich virtual guided tour of Biblical Israel (1200-400 BCE). In the second session, we’ll introduce the brief, but dramatic history of modern Israel to date, touching on the central achievements and conflicts of the Jewish State. In the process, we will also explore the connections between the two Israelis, past and present.

The first session will meet on Wed., Nov. 12 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Congregation Shomrei Torah.

The second session will meet on Thu., Nov. 13 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Congregation Beth Ami.

To Register: log on to www.lehrhaus.org to register and pay by credit card. Questions? Call 510/845-6420 x10 (you may also register at 1st session).

Tuition: $18; $10/members of Sonoma co-sponsors

JEHON GRIST , Ph.D., is Executive Director of Lehrhaus Judaica. He earned his doctorate in Near Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley, where he was a Regents’ Fellow. He has conducted field research in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the Valley of the Queens in southern Egypt.

Co-sponsored by Congregations Beth Ami and Shomrei Torah, and the JCC, Sonoma County.
Israel Past and Present programs are made possible through the generous support of the Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, Inc.