Reviews for From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America

The average rating for From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-12-15 00:00:00 Mynetria Jones Enjoyable collection of political thought The audience for this book are those of you who are interested in an up to date collection of modern Zionist thought. It is not a survey of modern Israeli politics. Each essay takes a different approach and the overwhelming majority are well written individual treasures that are well worth spending the time to unwrap. That being said I think you have to be a bit of a junkie for political philosophy, have an interest in Zionism or be a student on the lookout for a good source of material for an essay or term paper. Some of the highlights: Ruth Gavison's introductory essay discusses why Israel needs to be a Jewish State and why a Jewish State is beneficial even necessary for the Jews. It is extremely well written and quite clear. My brother indicates that she is equally well spoken in person. Anna Isakova in "The Goldfish and the Jewish Problem writes revealingly about the difficulty of Russian Jews in fitting into the Israeli mold. She is disappointed that Israeli's tend to view Jewish history and culture as centralized on the yishuv and the the building of the State and effectively bemoans the lack of appreciation of Russian/Jewish culture in particular but of other external Jewish culture as well. Her criticisms are valid and worthy of serious consideration. Ze'eve Maghen's contribution "Imagine: On Love and Lennon" is a lyrical exposition on why Jews can and should reject what is ultimately a poetically beautiful but dangerously nihilistic Christian formulation of Universal Love and embrace the particularism of Klal Yisroel. He develops his thesis beautifully starting from a chance encounter with some Hari Krishnah proselytes in an airport to his own childhood experiences and pulls back and forth like an expert storyteller exploding forth with an "I don't really have the answers but this why Jewish particularism is the right and necessary choice for Jews as Jews to make." Alone this was worth the cost of the book. Arie Morenstern "Dispersion and the Longing for Zion 1240-1840" does a straightforward coverage of Jewish attachment to the land of Israel as evidences to continual waves of immigration, building to a point and then thwarted by Muslim occupation, connecting it with the messianic impulse. Yoram Hazony does a kind of a pilpul on whether or not Herzl intended a Jewish State or a State for Jews. He sides with the former but notes how Herzl intentionally decided to remain ambiguous in order to make the proposition of a return to Zion as appealing as possible to everyone. The only essay in the book that disappoints is Assaf Sagiv's "Dionysus in Zion" when explores the appeal of raves and trance music in Israel. It seems more of a social exploration and the topic dates quickly. Also Michael Oren's closing essay (he was one of the editors) is too short - he usually writes quite well (his other essay on Orde Wingate and how he temporarily fell out of favor due to the "New Historians" was quite compelling) and doesn't give himself enough time or space to develop a substantial them. There are 15 essays in all including ones by Natan Sharansky and Daniel Polisar. Each one is a gift. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-28 00:00:00 Michiel Van Der Biest An excellent collection of essays on numerous aspects of Zionism, including a spirited moral defense by one of Israel's leading jurists of the legitimacy of a Jewish and democratic state (despite the conceptual tension between those ideas), a hilarious, moving essay on why it's really worthwhile to BE a Jew, if you ARE a Jew, by my new favorite author, Ze'ev Maghen, and much more. Must reading for Jews and for Zionists, and especially for Jewish Zionists!