Where Memory Leads by Saul Friedländer

Saul Friedländer is mostly known for his acribic search for the historical truth into the Vatican Archives, particularly in connection with the WWII, but it is always interesting to explore the life history of the historian. Where Memory Leads is the second installment of his life historical account, exploring his identity post-Shoah as well as its relatively less known relationship with Israel, Germany, France - his cultural identity remains French - and his country of adoption, US.

'I am a Jew, albeit one without any religion or tradition-related attachments, yet indelibly marked by the Shoah. Ultimately, I am nothing else'. He, like the founding fathers of the State of Israel, he belongs to a generation of action, secular and aimed to create an identity shaped by the Shoah. An heritage that still needs to be explored and analysed although meanwhile, a new generation of Jews and Israeli made the choice for a dramatically different identity. '(...) the only lesson one could draw from the Shoah was precisely the imperative: stand against injustice, against wanton persecution, against the refusal to recognize the humanity and the rights of 'the others''. As many of his generation, he is for the 'two state solutions' and refuse to understand the new religious fervor who sees as an alienation from the founding meaning of the state. Interestingly, he just doesn't want to understand the new process, either historically or sociologically, it just rejects it as alien. 

But the book is more than an essay about Israel, and this saves it when the reader might have a different political opinion. It is a book about growing up and coping with the lost of parents, about the lost childhood memories and a life broken into too small little pieces that can hardly come back together. It is equally a testimony of old times, of a different era that the less survivors are the more difficult to understand it. 

Friedländer also writes about life fragility and fears, about personal life decisions and growing out of love. A book worth to read, regardless one's opinions about the current situation in Israel, because it is written with passion and love, although the ideals and visions may differ dramatically. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Book review: The Settler, by Orit Arfa

It is a book I was waiting to read for a long time. Not necessarily for its title, but because I am still waiting for novels addressing in an intelligent, non-biased way the new intellectual realities in Israel and the genesis of the category of "The Settler" seems to be one of the most difficult to deal with in a 'normal', not-hysterical way. And either you love or you hate them, 'the settlers' are a very visible part of the nowadays Israeli reality. This book is a long waited beginning of a different way of writing about this sensitive topic, not only in Israel, and I am looking forward to more books covering the same issue.

The most enjoyable part for me regards the intellectual discussion regarding the failure of Gush Katif. For the main character of the book, Sarah, the 2005 tragic events were a turning point when she started to put everything under question, including her religious upbringing and the very deep roots of her Zionism. She continues to look for reason(s) and an alternative. Following the Rav Kook advice that it is a sparkle of holiness in everything, she found refuge at the Atlantis - the choice of the name is not accidental, as it refers to the disappearing continent with the same name - night club where she desperately tries to hide her past - the settlers were despised by the hip leftists clubber elites of Tel Aviv. But giving up your inner self, despite the provocative appearances - pants, unmodest clothes, smoking, drinking - is not easy and Sarah is looking for meaning. Recreating the spirit of Gush Katif - 'a utopia of Torah observance that lived out the highest biblical value of settling and serving the land of Israel' - is impossible also for her observant parents, and for many of those directly victims of the government juggling with the people's life. On the other end of the story, the peaceniks are nurturing the illusion that the state of Israel should make concessions for an equally illusory peace. The exchange of ideas regarding many important issues in this respect is very interesting and outlines common sense positions often ignored by the pathetic self-hate discourses.

The romance between Sarah and the rebel club owner Ziv Harel wasn't too appealing for me, although the process of her revealing herself is well outlined. 

A book I recommend to anyone interested to read a different perspective on contemporary trends of ideas and movements in Israel. Personally, I am looking forward with curiosity about the next book  by Orit Arfa.