{"id":66949,"date":"2019-01-26T17:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T15:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=66949"},"modified":"2019-01-20T10:42:05","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T08:42:05","slug":"26-05-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=66949","title":{"rendered":"THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

David M. Weinberg<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Visitors read books at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, which calls itself the world’s biggest, hosted for the first time by Dubai, UAE October 17, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS\/SATISH KUMAR)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s become a December-January tradition for newspapers to publish lists of the best or most popular books of the past year. Very few of these lists have included the types of books I am reading on Israeli and Jewish matters (including Torah commentary).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So here is my admittedly narrow list of best books of the last year, published in either English or Hebrew, some by small publishers that are often overlooked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 In Defense of Israel: A Memoir of a Political Life, by Moshe Arens<\/span>
\nWith the passing of former ambassador and defense minister Arens last week, it\u2019s appropriate to highlight this trim memoir. Arens recounts his early role in the birth of Israel\u2019s aerospace industry, and his relentless drive to keep Israel secure. He recaps the Lavi jet fight, First Gulf War, struggles with the Bush-Baker team, and his opposition to the Gaza disengagement and to West Bank withdrawals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Milchemet Zechut haShiva (The Palestinian War of Return), by Dr. Einat Wilf and Adi Schwartz\u00a0<\/span>
\nThis important and timely book exposes the Palestinian campaign for everlasting refugee-dom and rips into UNRWA for perpetuating the Palestinian dream of destroying Israel. The authors finger the international community, the Israeli government and the IDF for prolonging the destructive refugee ethos, which is the biggest obstacle to peace. The book must be published in English soon!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland \u2013 Then, Now, Tomorrow, by Prof. Gil Troy<\/span>
\nBuilding on Arthur Hertzberg\u2019s classic reader of over 50 years ago, this volume anthologizes 170 Zionist voices to shed light on diverse and shared commitments to Israel as a democratic Jewish state. Perhaps most interesting is Troy\u2019s selection of modern Zionist thinkers, including Aharon Barak, David Grossman, Ayelet Shaked, Benny Lau, A.B. Yehoshua and Jonathan Sacks. The stated purpose: to reinvigorate Zionist conversation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, by Yossi Klein Halevi<\/span>
\nOstensibly, this incisive book seeks to explain to Palestinians why Jews have returned to Zion and how Israelis see the Arab-Israeli conflict. I sense that the book really is aimed at progressive Jewish youths in the Diaspora who have no clue why Zionists are so committed to the nationalist-religious project of building and defending Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Point of It All: A Lifetime of Great Loves and Endeavors, by Charles Krauthammer, edited by Daniel Krauthammer<\/span>
\nThis is a second collection of the recently-deceased columnist\u2019s most important works, spanning the personal, the political and the philosophical (the first was Things that Matter, published in 2015). It includes a fierce essay about the effect of today\u2019s populist movements on the future of global democracy. A good reminder of what made Krauthammer a celebrated and influential American commentator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Churchill: Walking with Destiny, by Andrew Roberts<\/span>
\nI\u2019m rolling with the crowd in praising this book. It has been declared one of the 2018 best by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. The author delves into extensive newly-available material such as cabinet transcripts to show how Churchill\u2019s fundamental values of courage, tenacity and moral conviction drove his wartime leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Kissinger. 1923-1968: The Idealist, by Prof. Niall Ferguson\u00a0<\/span>
\nHarvard\u2019s Ferguson is the closest thing we have to an official biographer of Henry Kissinger. This 1,000-page volume covers the lesser-known years of Kissinger\u2019s upbringing and academic career, from his flight as a child from Hitler\u2019s Germany to his appointment as president Richard Nixon\u2019s national security adviser. It\u2019s an epic biography with compelling takeaways about American politics and foreign policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Virtue of Nationalism, by Dr. Yoram Hazony<\/span>
\nThis Jerusalem-based philosopher offers a counterweight to the prevailing political correctness that considers the resurgence of nationalism in the West as cause for alarm. He presents Israel and the US as examples of healthy societies in which both national identity and individual liberty flourish, and he roots this in biblical values.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness, by Kenneth Pollack<\/span>
\nAn examination of the poor combat performance of Arab armies and air forces in virtually every Middle Eastern war, from the Jordanians and Syrians in 1948 to Hezbollah in 2006 and the Iraqis and ISIS over the past decade. Behavior patterns emphasized by Arab culture, along with politicization of the military and societal underdevelopment explain Arab defeats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 VeNahar Yotze meEden, al Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur ve-Succot (And the River Flows from Eden, on the High Holidays), by Rabbi Uriel Eitam<\/span>
\nThis is the third volume in a brilliant young scholar\u2019s exposition on Jewish holidays from a theological perspective. Eitam, who is deputy dean at the Yeshivat HaHesder Yerucham, views almost every Jewish tradition and all the holidays as an effort to return to the Garden of Eden; to repair the ruptures and overcome the spiritual contamination that courses through life and human history since the primordial sin. His exposition is revolutionary and original, written in very clear modern Hebrew.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ari Bein HaOlamot (A Lion Between the Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi Arye Bina), by Prof. Aviad Hacohen<\/span>
\nRabbi Bina\u2019s life took him from the elite yeshivas in Lithuania, to Zionist agricultural farms in the 1930s, to Egypt, Libya and Greece in service of the Hagana, to the deanship of Netiv Meir Yeshiva High School in Jerusalem \u2013 a flagship institution of religious Zionism. Among that school\u2019s alumni are hundreds of professors, scientists, journalists, politicians, military men and religious leaders who span a wide spectrum (including me). Rabbi Bina\u2019s magic? His emphasis on moral scruples, religious modesty, intellectual rigor and the obligation to contribute to Jewish renaissance in Zion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ruth: MeNikur leMelucha (The Book of Ruth: From Alienation to Monarchy), by Dr. Yael Ziegler\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Hebrew edition of this masterful study combines Midrash with contemporary scholarship (using modern techniques of literary analysis) to reveal deep strata of textual and religious meaning relating to leadership, redemption, identity and social morality. It traces society\u2019s downward trajectory during the era of the Judges and its ascent during the era of Davidic monarchy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Haftorah Unrolled: Weekly Insights from the Prophets, by Kira Sirote<\/span>
\nMany shul-goers pay little attention to the haftarah, which is sort-of an add-on from the prophets to the core Torah reading. This beautifully-written volume offers a modern line-by-line translation of the haftarot with deep and often uplifting analysis. The author almost always finds relevant insights for today\u2019s personal and national challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Mitzva BaParasha (The Weekly Mitzva), by Rabbi Binyamin Tabory<\/span>
\nThe Hebrew edition of this halachic masterpiece has long been awaited by devotees of Rabbi Tabory\u2019s \u201cBrisker-style\u201d analysis, drawn from the weekly Torah reading. He quickly arrives at the fundamental hakira, the logical point upon which the discussion hinges, and applies that insight to various practical legal questions. (I was privileged to be Rabbi Tabory\u2019s student, and wish him strength).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Taaroch LeFanai Shulchan (Set the Table Before Me: The Life and Times of Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Epstein, the Aruch haShulchan), by Rabbi Eitam Shimon Henkin<\/span>
\nRabbi Dr. Eitam Henkin was a prolific young historian and halachic (Jewish law) scholar until he and his wife, Naama, were gunned down by Palestinian terrorists three years ago. A manuscript he left behind has become this new book, which details the halachic repertoire of Rabbi Epstein on the background of late 19th century European intellectual and societal ferment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Alayich Zarach (Dawn Break Upon You: The Life and Times of Dr. Zerach Warhaftig), by Itamar Warhaftig<\/span>
\nUntil he passed away in 2002, Zerach Warhaftig was the last man standing \u2013 the oldest signatory to Israel\u2019s Declaration of Independence. He worked with the Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara in Lithuania to issue visas that saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust. He was elected to the first Knesset; was minister of religion for 15 years representing the National Religious Party; and was board chairman of Bar-Ilan University. He is famous for quipping that he viewed the State of Israel\u2019s achievements as \u201cmore than I expected but less than I hoped for.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

David M. Weinberg<\/strong> is vice president and a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS), and Israel office director of Canada\u2019s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). He has held a series of public positions, including senior advisor to deputy prime minister Natan Sharansky and coordinator of the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism in the Prime Minister’s Office; spokesman of Bar-Ilan University, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, and the Herzliya Conference on National Security; and senior advisor of The Tikvah Fund in Israel.<\/em><\/span>
\nEmail David at david@davidmweinberg.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Follow David on Twitter at @dmweinberg
\n<\/em><\/span>Read David’s blog at www.davidmweinberg.com
\n<\/em><\/span>Friend David at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/david.m.weinberg.9<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018 David M. Weinberg Visitors read books at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, which calls itself the world’s biggest, hosted for the first time by Dubai, UAE October 17, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS\/SATISH KUMAR) It\u2019s become a December-January tradition for newspapers to publish lists of the best or most popular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66973,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66949\/revisions\/66973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}