I grew up with the story of Israel.
It was created just a year before I was born, and sitting beside the events that shaped its 70 years of history, there were the older stories that I absorbed from school scripture lessons.
Like many of my generation, in my imagination I walked the Judean hills, stood by the Sea of Galilee and wondered how the power of a trumpet could bring down mighty city walls.
Some things were easier to relate to than others, so while I had no trouble picturing the Roman soldiers that escorted Jesus to the Cross or the stony and hard desert of the Wilderness, I never quite got the idea of washing the feet of a traveller.
I understood the significance of the practice, particularly when in the case of Jesus it was used as a rebuke to the Pharisee who did not provide water to wash his feet in contrast to the woman who “hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.”*
But it was only when I travelled the dusty roads of Greece in hot summer wearing sandals, that I came to appreciate and understand the comfort and sheer pleasure of washing away the dirt and signifying that the day’s walking was over and it was time to relax.
So like many of my generation, Israel and the Biblical homelands were a constant, but it has taken till now to sit down and read a detailed history of modern Israel.
There are plenty to choose from but I ended up with Israel a history by Anita Shapira.**
It was a brave choice, in that the book was written by an academic and was translated from the Hebrew, which confronts you with that double whammy of a concern, about how easy it will be to read a book written by a Professor and how good will be the translation.
It turns out I had nothing to worry about on either count.
I am still only in Part 1 and have not yet passed 1918, with another four parts, an Interim Summary and 400 pages to go but I am hooked.
The complexity of the period covered in Part 1, from 1881 to 1918, along with the debates about Zionism, are both fascinating and illuminating, but then, this is beginning to sound like a poor man’s book review.
So I shall shut up and just recommend it leaving you all to explore the biography of Professor Shapira which is available online and is itself a fascinating read.
Location; Israel
Pictures; Eilat, 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson and Emilka Cholewicka
*Luke 7.44, Authorised Version
** Israel a history, 2012, by Anita Shapira
Like many of my generation, in my imagination I walked the Judean hills, stood by the Sea of Galilee and wondered how the power of a trumpet could bring down mighty city walls.
Some things were easier to relate to than others, so while I had no trouble picturing the Roman soldiers that escorted Jesus to the Cross or the stony and hard desert of the Wilderness, I never quite got the idea of washing the feet of a traveller.
I understood the significance of the practice, particularly when in the case of Jesus it was used as a rebuke to the Pharisee who did not provide water to wash his feet in contrast to the woman who “hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.”*
But it was only when I travelled the dusty roads of Greece in hot summer wearing sandals, that I came to appreciate and understand the comfort and sheer pleasure of washing away the dirt and signifying that the day’s walking was over and it was time to relax.
So like many of my generation, Israel and the Biblical homelands were a constant, but it has taken till now to sit down and read a detailed history of modern Israel.
It was a brave choice, in that the book was written by an academic and was translated from the Hebrew, which confronts you with that double whammy of a concern, about how easy it will be to read a book written by a Professor and how good will be the translation.
It turns out I had nothing to worry about on either count.
I am still only in Part 1 and have not yet passed 1918, with another four parts, an Interim Summary and 400 pages to go but I am hooked.
The complexity of the period covered in Part 1, from 1881 to 1918, along with the debates about Zionism, are both fascinating and illuminating, but then, this is beginning to sound like a poor man’s book review.
So I shall shut up and just recommend it leaving you all to explore the biography of Professor Shapira which is available online and is itself a fascinating read.
Location; Israel
Pictures; Eilat, 2017 from the collection of Saul Simpson and Emilka Cholewicka
*Luke 7.44, Authorised Version
** Israel a history, 2012, by Anita Shapira
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