Coming Together, Coming Apart (A Memoir of Heartbreak and Promise in Israel)
Daniel Gordis is a majestic writer. His reflections about Israeli society and politics are thoughtful, eloquent and wonderfully human. Few can educate, entertain, reassure and challenge with such understated power as he. I’ve read and loved three books of his about Israel, and any of them could have been included in this top five.
I chose his collection of personal essays Coming Together, Coming Apart because it is set against a period of Israeli history I find particularly fascinating: the build-up to the 2005 Gaza disengagement. Gordis takes the reader to the heart of the issues surrounding the disengagement and its effect on mainstream Israel, as observed by he and his family in Jerusalem.
He also documents and reflects on other daily goings-on in the Jewish state. The observations of his children are particularly poignant. For instance, on the day that Jerusalem receives an uncharacteristically heavy snowfall, and the locals walk around the city in wonder, Daniel’s daughter Tali takes his hand and says: “This is so great. Look how happy everyone is. I wonder if this is what peace is like.”
This is not a book that grabs hold of you and drags you to where it wants you to be. Rather, it gives you space to decide where you want to be and what you want to think. Such tomes are a rarity on the Middle East shelves. It’s predecessor, Home To Stay, is also superb, as is his more recent, less personal tome Saving Israel. But Coming Together remains my favourite Gordis book, my favourite book about Israel and one of my favourite books – period. It’s just magnificent.
Thank you Chas. He is not a writer I know and I am very excited to find someone new to read. I am about to order it!
A very sensitive and thoughtful top five, Chas! Personally I would have included ‘The Holocaust’ by Martin Gilbert and ‘If This Is a Man/The Truce’ by Primo Levi – but hey, it’s your list!
I’m glad you raised this. I decided not to include any books about the Shoah. This might sound odd, but I couldn’t cope with putting books on such a grave topic in a ‘top five’. It felt weird, somehow. Perhaps I was over-analysing, or being oversensitive.
I understand where you’re coming from, Chas! As a Jew I feel I’m allowed – maybe even obliged? – to ram the Shoah down people’s throats, especially as it’s fast fading from living memory. Your choices lend a more nuanced perspective, and for this I thank you.
I’ve read lots of books about the Shoah. I might do a list of them, I just wouldn’t headline it ‘top 5′ or anything.
And yes, we must all keep reminding everyone of what happened.
This book sounds wonderful x
Thanks, it’s good to see several books I haven’t heard of before.
On the shoah, Yaacov Lozowick has mentioned a new book:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704034804576025690265542336.html
It’s well worth reading.
Thanks for mentioning this
Daniel’s website is here:
http://danielgordis.org/