Israel: The History of an Idea

***COURTESY OF TWOBEARS BOOKS*** Next year in Jerusalem! For nearly 4000 years the Jewish people have kept alive their love of Zion. Sustained through exile and persecution by their hope for the long-awaited Messiah, they have remained faithful to the dream of a final ingathering in the land of their ancestors. In this illuminating study Rabbi Cohn-Sherbok traces the fascinating story of the finding, losing and finding again of the Promised Land. In a concluding chapter the author confronts the Palestinian problem and offers a new vision of Israel in the Third Millennium. The book fills a gap with distinction. It provides a succinct account and interpretation of the Jewish involvement in the Land of Israel, from Abraham to the present day. That connection between religion and politics has been a major factor in the dramas of the twentieth century but many of us find it difficult to understand: we think of religion as private and politics as secular. Here someone who well knows how we think explains many things in a tone which is persuasive.