If a Place Can Make You Cry : Dispatches from an Anxious State

Rating:
Summary: A personal and informative account of life in Israel
Review: Began as e-mails back home to family, this book's strength is the description of day-to-day life in Israel through good times and bad. For the book, Gordis intersperses the letters with political commentary to give some context to the letters' time of writing. More personal than David Horovitz' A Little Too Close to God, it is similar in bringing the political and personal together as a family debates the wisdom of staying in Israel when the peace process goes bad. You will get drawn into experiencing the emotions and ambivalences the Gordis parents and children have about their life. Very readable!

Rating:
Summary: An honest witness to the struggle of Israel
Review: Daniel Gordis is a Jewish writer and educator. When he brought his family to Israel for a year he did not know the dramatic turnabout they would come to face. The terror- war which the Palestinians launched when the Clinton brokered peace - process broke down in late September 2000 means his family is exposed to a kind of violence they had never imagined. In clear and informative E- mails to friends he tells the story of this year of what his family goes through. A person of the liberal left, a super- tolerant idealist he comes to understand that it is not enough for one side to want peace, but rather that both sides must. He becomes more passionate in his defense of Israel when he understands that really it is a country subject to aggression fighting for its own life . He too confronts the hard questions of his own family members, his childrens' suspicions that they are being sacrificed on the altar of their parents idealism. This book is important precisely because Gordis is clearly such a ' man of peace and good- will'. And because it shows how complicated and difficult the struggle of Israel is for life and peace.


Rating:
Summary: Profoundly Sad
Review: I started "If A Place Can Make You Cry" expecting what the dust jacket promises -- the story of a family's move from California to Israel, from safety to war, why they did it and how it affected them (particularly the children). What I got instead was something very different, worth reading for the many questions it raises, but profoundly sad and dispiriting -- one man's journey from a religion and culture based on moral values to one based on land and security. As Gordis puts it toward the end of the book, "when you finally understand what is important to you, you have to be willing to fight for it." (266) The land of Israel itself becomes that important to Gordis, important enough that he is willing to stand aside and tolerate the suffering of innocent Palestinians (of which he admits there are many) in order to secure his family's safety. (See pages 186-87 for an explicit admission that he is sacrificing his values for security.) Maybe I would do no better in his place, but it still sad to watch.

Gordis will make you think about other interesting questions -- what does it mean to have a home? Can one live a meaningful Jewish life outside Israel? How does one justify where one lives (or doesn't live)? Gordis is of two minds on many of these questions -- for example, he states several times that he's not suggesting all Jews are morally obligated to move to Israel, but at the same time, he does in fact suggest that meaningful Jewish life is possible only if it is at risk (see, e.g., page 259). Gordis seems to be utterly befuddled by the idea of secular Israelis or secular Jews (for example, at pages 66-67, where he asks "what is the point?" of having this country if it's not religious) -- apparently ignoring the fact that there would be no State of Israel without the secular Zionists. (For an interesting look at combining secular values with the religious and cultural heritage of Judaism, read "From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven," by Ari Elon.)

It is not surprising that Gordis fails to offer any solutions to what are obviously very complicated problems. Where it seems to me that the book really fails is in the limited range of viewpoints it presents. Perhaps because the book originated in personal emails to family and friends, it consists almost entirely of Gordis' personal observations and angst, his own questioning of himself, his values and his actions. His wife and children are present only as foils, for Gordis to react to something they've said, done or experienced. I did not come away with any sense of who they are or what any of them really think. Secular, Orthodox and Palestinian viewpoints are barely mentioned (of these, the best represented are the Palestinians, interestingly enough, although mostly to illustrate Israeli failures). At the end, it's hard to say whether you've learned much about the state of Israel today or if you've just learned something about one man's viewpoint. And although that viewpoint develops somewhat over time, the constant hammering away at the same issues becomes tiring by the end by the book (again, if you read one email/chapter every few weeks, it probably wouldn't be nearly so bad).

Despite these significant qualifications, the book is generally well written, a quick read, and I am giving it extra credit for presenting a point of view we seldom get to see and for making me think about the questions he raises.

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Summary: Gradual dimming of idealism
Review: Old joke, often seen on bumper stickers: "Definition of a conservative? A liberal who's been mugged. " Daniel Gordis would probably still not describe himself as a conservative, but the liberal views he and his family took to Israel when they moved there four years ago have taken a severe beating.

When Rabbi Gordis was offered a year-long fellowship in Jerusalem, the Oslo peace process was offering a vision of peace and prosperity for a country that had seen neither for some time. Inspired by what they saw, the Gordis family cancelled their plans to return to Los Angeles and moved permanently to Israel; a move known to Jews as "making aliyah," or in English, "rising up." Daniel Gordis began to write occasional email essays to family & friends updating them on this new life, and the emails were forwarded to a wide circle. Eventually they were extracted in the New York Times, and now they've been collected (with some new writings as connective tissue) in this remarkable book.

What shines through this book is the gradual dimming of the idealism with which the Gordis family saw their new country. As the peace process collapsed, replaced by a constant undercurrent of shootings, bombings and rocket attacks, Israeli attitudes and opinions moved firmly towards an uncompromising crackdown on Arab terrorism. Former liberals and peace activists found themselves grasping for a framework that could support their principles; but this time partners were hard to find.

The most disturbing part of the book is hearing the effect that it has had on the Gordis children. They went to a country that offered them safety and security, a place where they could walk safely in the streets late at night, but ended up living in a war zone. A comment by his son, quoted on the back cover, illustrates the heartbreaking transition the family has made:

"You know what I think?," he suddenly added. "I think that when grown-ups really love Israel, they're even ready for their children to get killed for it. That's what I think."

Despite the hardship of life in Israel now, the overall tone of the book is positive. The Gordis parents continue the struggle to make life for their children meaningful and nurturing, secure in the belief that the choices they've made for their lives are the correct ones, despite the challenges.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving, Personal Memoir
Review: This is a moving, compelling and readable book that draws you in from the first page. Gordis is a gifted and sensitive observer whose account of his family's life in Israel is so personal and honest that the reader feels an emotional bond. On every page, you feel his passion, his struggles and his deep knowledge of Israel's history and meaning. More than a book about politics, it is a family story -- about parents and children and how they cope with life in a place that is full of pain and hope, a place where the author finds inspiring, transcendent surprises around every corner.

Rating:
Summary: For Those Who Have All the Answers
Review: This is a MUST READ for anyone who thinks they have a solution to the problems in the Middle East. Rabbi Gordis doesn't present ideology -- rather, he gives us a dose of reality; of what he and his family face every day, along with constantly questioning the decision they made to remain in Israel. I've read a lot of negative comments regarding "putting his children in harm's way," but he is teaching his children what's to be valued, cherished and fought for -- not land, per se, as some have intimated but, rather, the ideal of one place on this earth that Jews can live -- one day, God willing, in peace. Israel serves its purpose not only as the one place Jews in peril can immigrate to, but as a place of inspiration and dedication. While Israeli and American parents both want the same thing for their children -- they should only be happy, have a successful career, a loving spouse, healthy children and NOT have to face going to war. Israeli parents, however, know there is something more -- that achieving these personal goals should not come at the expense or peril of the country's goals.

In the past, I have had opinions as to what Israel should or shoould not do to make peace, but this book highlights better than anything else what the daunting reality is vis-a-vis a solution. While we may all "pray for the peace in Jerusalem," the reality is that more than prayer is needed, and there may not be A single solution or long-term peace -- at least not without other Arab countries stepping in.

This is an extremely well-written, highly enlightening book, and the next time I hear anyone stating a firm opinion as to what Israel should do, I'm going to recommend they read this before the spout off again!

Rating:
Summary: A moving story
Review: Yes, this is a splendid account of what it has been like for the Gordis family, moving to Israel from California. And it's worth reading.

But why did I read it? It was because I'd seen an article by Gordis called "Take Off That Mask." The article was in the form of a letter, sent at Purim to Jill Jacobs, a graduating rabbinical student. The letter began, "Dear Jill," and I simply had to read it. Jill was quite properly concerned about human rights in Israel, not just for Jews but for everyone. But when she wrote about it, she came up with something quite controversial that eventually got a reply from Gordis. He pointed out that Jill was showing an unjustified certainty that Israel was simply Wrong, and that she was claiming that Israel had better options that were manifest to any moral person. And that her writing showed a dangerous and myopic irresponsibility, as well as a lack of love for Israel. Well, after reading all that, I simply had to read "If a Place Can Make You Cry."

The more I thought about this interesting and thoughtfully written book, the more I realized that it deserved a jilllike response. Maybe something like, um:

Dear Daniel,

I'm a Pagan. I really enjoyed your book. I don't judge Israel. I don't think it is Wrong. And I don't know what it ought to do. Still, even though I know that many centuries ago, the Jews in that region killed Jezebel, I truly support Israel. And I hope that it will thrive in peace and that vast numbers of Israeli Jews will be walking out of Yom Kippur services during Yizkor.

I've thought about why Israel is rightfully Yours and not Mine. And here is my answer. There are millions of You. And just one of Me. And You wanted Israel and You outbid others and bought the land and made it bloom. That is why it is rightfully Yours.

Shabbat Shalom,

Jill