Impossible Takes Longer

Informationen zum Autor Daniel Gordis is the Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem CollegeIsrael's first liberal arts collegewhich he helped found in 2007. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and political currents in Israel, he has twice won the National Jewish Book Award, including the prize for Book of the Year for Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn . Raised and educated in the United States, he has been living in Jerusalem since 1998. Klappentext Published on the country's seventy-fifth anniversary comes a nuanced and thoughtful examination of Israel's past, present, and future, from the two-time National Jewish Book Award?winning author of Israel In 1948, Israel's founders had in mind much more than creating a state. They sought not mere sovereignty but also the creation of a ?national home for the Jewish people,? where Jewish life would be transformed and where a ?new Jew? would take root. Did they succeed? The state they created, says Daniel Gordis, is ?the most hated nation in the world but also the most beloved,? a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering. Now, as the country marks its seventy-fifth anniversary, Gordis asks: Has Israel fulfilled the dreams of its founders? Using the country's Declaration of Independence as his measure, he provides a thorough, balanced perspective on the ways in which the Israel of today exceeds the country's original aspirations and also how it has fallen short. In a deft and multifaceted assessment, he discusses the often-overlooked reasons for Israel's creation, the flourishing of Jewish and Israeli culture, Israel's economy and its transformative tech sector, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the distinctly Israeli form of Judaism that has emerged in the Jewish state, Israel's complex relationship with the Diaspora, and much more. Gordis offers new angles of thinking about Israel that bring moderation and clarity to the prevailing discourse. And through weighing Israel's successes, critiquing its failures, and acknowledging its inherent contradictions, he ultimately suggests that?in ways its founders could not have foreseen?the Jewish state is a success far beyond anything they could have imagined. Zusammenfassung WINNER OF THE RABBI SACKS BOOK PRIZE A nuanced examination of the Israel's past, present, and future, after reaching its seventy-fifth anniversary and enduring its most challenging year ever, from the two-time National Jewish Book Awardwinning author of Israel . Revised and updated throughout for the paperback edition. In 1948, Israel's founders sought a national home for the Jewish people, where Jewish life would be transformed. The state they ultimately made, says Daniel Gordis, is a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering. When it marked its seventy-fifth anniversary, Israel was in the throes of a judicial reform crisis, its most dangerous internal rupture ever. Then, with the October 7th War, it was attacked from the outside and plunged into existential uncertainty. In light of those first seventy-five years and the events of 2023 that shook the country to its core, Gordis asks: Has Israel fulfilled the dreams of its founders? Using Israel's Declaration of Independence, Gordis measures Israel's achievements, critiques its failures, and acknowledges its inherent contradictionsultimately suggesting that, though it has often fallen short, the Jewish state is a success far beyond anything its founders could have imagined. ...

Autorentext

Daniel Gordis is the Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College—Israel’s first liberal arts college—which he helped found in 2007. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and political currents in Israel, he has twice won the National Jewish Book Award, including the prize for Book of the Year for Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn. Raised and educated in the United States, he has been living in Jerusalem since 1998.

Klappentext

Published on the country's seventy-fifth anniversary comes a nuanced and thoughtful examination of Israel's past, present, and future, from the two-time National Jewish Book Award?winning author of Israel

In 1948, Israel's founders had in mind much more than creating a state. They sought not mere sovereignty but also the creation of a ?national home for the Jewish people,? where Jewish life would be transformed and where a ?new Jew? would take root. Did they succeed? The state they created, says Daniel Gordis, is ?the most hated nation in the world but also the most beloved,? a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering.

Now, as the country marks its seventy-fifth anniversary, Gordis asks: Has Israel fulfilled the dreams of its founders? Using the country's Declaration of Independence as his measure, he provides a thorough, balanced perspective on the ways in which the Israel of today exceeds the country's original aspirations and also how it has fallen short. In a deft and multifaceted assessment, he discusses the often-overlooked reasons for Israel's creation, the flourishing of Jewish and Israeli culture, Israel's economy and its transformative tech sector, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the distinctly Israeli form of Judaism that has emerged in the Jewish state, Israel's complex relationship with the Diaspora, and much more.

Gordis offers new angles of thinking about Israel that bring moderation and clarity to the prevailing discourse. And through weighing Israel's successes, critiquing its failures, and acknowledging its inherent contradictions, he ultimately suggests that?in ways its founders could not have foreseen?the Jewish state is a success far beyond anything they could have imagined.

Zusammenfassung

WINNER OF THE RABBI SACKS BOOK PRIZE

On Israel's seventy-fifth anniversary comes a nuanced examination of the country's past, present, and future, from the two-time National Jewish Book Award–winning author of Israel.

In 1948, Israel’s founders had much more in mind than the creation of a state. They sought not mere sovereignty but also a “national home for the Jewish people,” where Jewish life would be transformed. Did they succeed? The state they made, says Daniel Gordis, is a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering.

Now, as the country marks its seventy-fifth anniversary, Gordis asks: Has Israel fulfilled the dreams of its founders? Using Israel's Declaration of Independence as his measure, Gordis provides a thorough, balanced perspective on how the Israel of today exceeds the country’s original aspirations and how it has fallen short. He discusses the often-overlooked reasons for the establishment of the State of Israel; the flourishing of Jewish and Israeli culture; the nation's economy and its transformative tech sector; the Israeli-Arab conflict; the distinct form of Judaism that has emerged in the Jewish state; the nation's complex relationship with the Diaspora; and much more.

Offering new angles of thinking about Israel, Gordis brings moderation and clarity to the prevailing discourse. And through weighing Israel’s successes, critiquing its failures, and acknowledging its inherent contradictions, he ultimately suggests that the Jewish state is a success far beyond anything its founders could have imagined.