December 26, 2011
Spinoza and me
Baruch de Spinoza
It’s amazing how much things can change over the years.
This morning, I came across a blog post I wrote in the beginning of 2008. In it, I talked about how I struggled to understand Spinoza’s Ethics and that until I could get a firmer grasp, I’d probably stick with Maimonides’ proofs for the existence of God.
Well, I’m happy to report that this past fall I finally sat down and made my way through all of Spinoza’s propositions, proofs, corollaries and notes in Ethics. I also read On the Improvement of Understanding.
It was not an enjoyable experience (the writing is incredibly dry) but the force of Spinoza’s ideas hit me in a way that no other book has. In particular, his discussion of the emotions, how they are formed and their effect on our judgments and decisions was eye-opening. I’ve not read much in the area of psychology but I can’t help but think that Spinoza had an advanced understanding of how the mind works.
All of this comes at a time when I find myself increasingly drawn to the writings of Karl Marx, Bertrand Russell, Isaac Deutscher, Moses Hess, Leon Trotsky, Friedrich Nietzsche and Christopher Hitchens. No, I never said I agree with everything those folks have written but I find a lot of it to be useful.
As for Maimonides, I find him less and less useful. His proofs make for an interesting read and, like Spinoza, he presents a rational argument for the existence of God. But, from there, he tries to link this rational philosophy with belief in Torah Judaism and, in my mind, the two cannot be reconciled. I’m sure Spinoza would agree.
In fact, I find more and more of Maimonides’ philosophy to be contradictory and unsupportable. He wants to remove the irrational and the superstitious from the practice of Judaism but that leads inevitably to the uncomfortable conclusion that we must reject any faith that’s based on a belief in divine revelation. It’s really not possible to defend such a position.
In the coming months, I’ll hopefully find the time to explore this and other related themes. In the meantime, I’d welcome your comments and insights into the philosophies of Maimonides and Spinoza. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong. Just don’t expect me to believe in anything irrational or superstitious.
October 31, 2011
New biography of David Ben-Gurion
At first glance, the thought of reading a biography of David Ben-Gurion written by Shimon Peres may seem like a waste of time. After all, Peres considers Ben-Gurion his hero and mentor so you can’t expect any sort of objective writing.
But, from what I can tell, the most interesting parts of Ben-Gurion: A Political Life seem to be those that give readers more insight into Peres rather than Ben-Gurion.
For this book, Peres teamed up with David Landau, former editor in chief at Ha’Aretz and current writer for The Economist, to tell the story of Ben-Gurion. At times, however, the biography moves to the side as Peres and Landau discuss various issues affecting the state of Israel.
In this way, it sounds like this book will end up as more fodder for a future biography of Peres as opposed to anything significant related to Ben-Gurion.
For those of you who may be interested in reading the autobiography of David Ben-Gurion, you can check out his 800-plus page tome, Israel: A Personal History.
Have any readers out there already read this new biography of Ben-Gurion? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
October 26, 2011
History of Jerusalem is biography
The interest in certain topics of history seems to be endless. Jerusalem is one of them.
The oldest part of the city was settled around 4,000 BCE. Three of the world’s most dominant religions consider it a holy place. It has been captured and recaptured 44 times. And, of course, the fighting over its future continues to this day.
Now, a new book on Jerusalem, a biography, draws on new scholarship and the family papers of Sir Moses Montefiore to reveal even more about the City of Peace.
Simon Sebag Montefiore, a great great nephew of Moses, worked for more than three years on “Jerusalem: The Biography,” and if it’s like any of his previous books, it should be worth the read.
Montefiore called it a biography instead of a history because each chapter tells the story of one person who had a lasting impact on the city. These central players include everyone from Caligula to Churchill to Jesus Christ.
At more than 600 pages, it has the effect of coming across as an epic and vast history. And, Montefiore spares no gruesome details in recounting the violence committed by various groups in the city. There are descriptions of, among other things, Roman soldiers disemboweling Jewish residents in 70 CE.
Montefiore should be used to blood soaked history by now. His previous books include biographies of Joseph Stalin and Catherine the Great, both of which earned Montefiore numerous awards including the Samuel Johnson, Duff Cooper, and Marsh Biography Prizes as well as the LA Times Book Prize for Biography.
October 25, 2011
Saul Bellow on being a Jew and a writer — Part II
The New York Review of Books published the second of a two-part series that excerpted a lecture given by Saul Bellow in 1988 on being a Jewish writer in America.
As you may expect, there’s a lot to chew on when we read Bellow’s thoughts as he dissects his identity. He wades deep into philosophical discussions, particularly when he examines the connections between nihilism, Heidegger and the self.
Just before this passage, Bellow speaks about the nihilistic motives of the Nazis and other anti-Jewish forces. After this set-up, he goes into how being a Jew and a writer fits into this ongoing history:
Jewish writers, if they wish to exercise their option to reject the nihilistic temper, may do so, but it will be all the better for them—for us all—if they do not get themselves up as spokesmen for conscience or try to give the world the business, as it were, by their moralizing.
I never wished to avoid being recognized as a Jew in order to escape discrimination. I never cared enough, never granted anyone much power to discriminate against me—and now it is too late to bother about such matters. My view, a view widely held, is that there is no solution to the Jewish problem. Viciousness against Jews will never end in any foreseeable future; nor will the consciousness of being a Jew vanish, since the self-respect of Jews demands that they be faithful to their history and their culture, which is not so much a culture in the modern sense as it is a millennial loyalty to revelation and redemption.
A philosopher whose views on the subject of Judaism have influenced me says that those modern Jews for whom the old faith has gone will prize it as a noble delusion. Assimilation is an impossible—a repulsive—alternative. What is left to us is the contemplation of Jewish history. “The Jewish people and their fate are the living witness for the absence of redemption,” this philosopher writes. And he states further that the meaning of the chosen people is to testify to this:
At this point, Bellow quotes the philosopher Leo Strauss:
The Jews are chosen to prove the absence of redemption. It is supposed…that the world is not the creation of the just and living God, the Holy God, and that for the absence of righteousness and charity we sinful creatures are responsible. A delusion? A dream? But no nobler dream was ever dreamt.
In this context, suffering is indeed noble. Especially if it’s part of the master plan of creation. Of course, the question to ask is: what’s the end game? I think we’ll be waiting a long time if it’s up to us humans to realize how much we’re responsible for suffering in the world.
I can still pray for a better future, right?
October 24, 2011
New biography of Ariel Sharon
A new book on Ariel Sharon, written by his son, Gilad, will appear in English and Hebrew tomorrow.
According to a story in Ha’Aretz, Gilad Sharon has been working on the book, titled Sharon: The Life of a Leader, for the past four and a half years.
Most incredibly, Gilad told The New York Times last week that his father, who suffered a debilitating stroke almost six years ago and has remained in a coma-like state ever since, responds to requests to move his fingers and has put on weight even though he is fed intravenously.
In the book, Sharon writes that Israeli doctors urged Gilad and his brother, Omri, to let their father die shortly after the stroke in January 2006 because the CT scan appeared to reveal lethal damage. Gilad said he and his brother insisted on an operation and other measures to keep their father alive.
The Times article states that the Israeli public has long assumed that Sharon remained alive because of his sons’ actions but the book is “the first public acknowledgment and detail of the decision.”
Sharon, a military hero who spent much of his career on the right, was an upset winner when he was elected prime minister in 2001.
He surprised many people when he decided to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Sharon had been viewed as a supporter of the settler movement prior to that decision.
According to the Times article, Gilad Sharon takes credit for the idea of leaving Gaza, saying he told his father it was impossible to protect the settlers there and that the Israeli public did not want to pay to hang onto the territory.
As for the current prime minister, Gilad apparently has lots to say about him also. The book has several unflattering passages about the elder Sharon’s dealings with Binyamin Netanyahu, including one where the former reportedly called the latter a liar because he reneged on a promise to make Sharon finance minister.
It may not be surprising to hear that rumors about Gilad Sharon going into politics began circulating after he joined his father’s political party, the centrist Kadima, last January.
He told the Times that he’s still contemplating his next step.
October 19, 2011
Selections on Gilad Shalit’s release
Here’s a sampling of articles and essays about the release of Gilad Shalit:
- Bradley Burston in Ha’Aretz writes about why the deal was worth it.
- Alon Pinkas writes about the conflicting values behind the Shalit deal.
- Michael Weiss writes about why the deal was made now and and what it means.
- Neil Rubin at the Baltimore Jewish Times writes about Gilat Shalit and us.
- And for something a little lighter, check out how Netanyahu became Israel’s Forrest Gump on the Internet
October 18, 2011
Saul Bellow on being a Jewish writer in America
The New York Review of Books has published for the first time excerpts from a talk given in 1988 by Saul Bellow.
It is, as you may expect, a very nuanced speech that catalogs Bellow’s thoughts on being a Jew, a writer and an American. He acknowledges anti-Semitic remarks uttered by several of his contemporaries but brushes them aside.
Here’s more:
However disagreeable the phenomenon may seem at moments of sensitivity it is seldom more than trivial. The dislike of Jews was a ready way for WASP literati to identify themselves with the great tradition. Besides, it is something like a hereditary option for non-Jews to exercise at a certain moment when they discover that they have a born right to decide whether they are for the Jews or against them. (Jews have no such right.)
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October 17, 2011
Fall Into Fiction: Interviews in 614
The annual books issue of 614: the HBI ezine is out now and this year it features conversations with five Jewish fiction authors.
First there’s Alyson Richman who wrote The Lost Wife, a novel about a couple who are reunited after both thought the other had died in the Holocaust.
Next up is Diana Spechler, author of Skinny, a novel set in a teenage weight-loss camp that focuses on the life of a 20-something counselor there.
Then there’s Evan Fallenberg, author of When We Danced on Water, a novel about relationships, art and ballet.
We also meet Randy Susan Meyers, author of The Murderer’s Daughters, a book that tells the story of two girls with an abusive father.
And lastly, there’s Mary Glickman, author of Home in the Morning, a novel that spans the civil rights era to the 1990′s and features Jewish and black characters.
You can check out the interviews over on the 614 website.
October 12, 2011
New book examines Suez canal crossing
Israeli tanks cross the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. (Photo: IDF photo archives)
The Israel Defense Force’s crossing of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War has received a new treatment in a recently-published Hebrew language book by Amiram Ezov.
The book, Tzliha: Shishim Sha’ot Be’Oktober 1973 (Crossing: Sixty Hours in October 1973), covers the IDF’s battles and movements on the southern front from October 15, 1973 through October 18, 1973.
Over the course of those three days, the Israeli army changed the course of the war in the Sinai but paid a heavy price. The IDF’s push across the Suez Canal was part of the Israeli counter-attack against the Egyptians who, by then, had launched a second offensive following their initial attack against Israel to begin the war.
The Israel Defense Force pushed into the gap between two Egyptian armies on the western side of the Sinai Peninsula and, in an attack led by then-General Ariel Sharon, established bridgeheads on the east and west banks of the Suez Canal between the Egyptian armies.
Once the bridgeheads were established, the IDF sent a few divisions across the canal and pushed the counteroffensive to the west and to the south. The IDF troops that went south helped complete the encircling of Egypt’s Third Army, which was trapped over on the eastern side of the Suez.
By now, the Syrians no longer posed a credible threat on the northern front and the Israelis could concentrate most of their air power on the fighting in the south.
Things did not go easy in the Sinai. To put things in context, Israel suffered between 2,500 and 2,800 casualties during the war and almost one-fifth of them occurred during the period of time described in this book, which includes the infamous Battle of the Chinese Farm.
Writing in Ha’Aretz, University of Haifa Professor Uri Bar-Joseph called Crossing an “extraordinarily fine book” and noted how Ezov toiled for more than 10 years in the IDF’s history department researching the war on the southern front.
“’Crossing’ is the most comprehensive, accurate and authoritative study that has appeared to date on the battle campaign that was one of the toughest in IDF history,” Bar-Joseph wrote.
If you don’t understand Hebrew, there are other English-language options for studying the Yom Kippur War. Bar-Joseph himself is the author of The Watchman Fell Asleep: The Surprise Of Yom Kippur And Its Sources.
Here are a few more resources:
- The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East by Abraham Rabinovich
- Warrior: An Autobiography by Ariel Sharon
- War of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War by Chaim Herzog
October 11, 2011
Emanuel Litvinoff, poet who rebuked T. S. Eliot, dies at 96
I would be remiss if I did not mark the passing of Emanuel Litvinoff, a Jewish poet who publicly rebuked T.S. Eliot’s anti-Semitism in 1951. Litvinoff, who lived in London, died late last month at the age of 96.
Margalit Fox wrote an excellent obituary in The New York Times and you should read it. There’s a great kicker at the end about Mr. Eliot and his appreciation of Mr. Litvinoff’s work.