The Source

Rating:
Summary: The attachment of a people to their homeland
Review: The Source is definitely a highly entertaining and extremely interesting work, and I never lost interest. It presents the panorama of history of the Holy Land, particularly the Galilee, through the ages

I had to read it a second time to realize what a work of genius it is.



There is so much in this incredibly long book, that does depict the experiences and spirit of the Land of Israel, and the Jewish people, who originated in this remarkable land.

In 'The Voice of Gomer' a Hebrew mother is commanded by G-D to take steps that are difficult for her and her family, but are necessary to save the Israelite Nation.

He introduces throughout the story, various beautiful and strong-spirited Hebrew women, who have kept the flame burning, such as the enchanting Kerith, wife of Jabaal the builder, in 'Psalm of the Hoopoe Bird', the beautiful , compassionate and spirited Jael, daughter of Rabbi Asher in `The Law' , the lovely and gentle Elisheba in 'The Saintly Men of Safed' and the tough and idealistic Sabra,, Illana Hacohen in 'Rebbe Itzic and the Sabra'.

He does illustrate the depth of the attachment of the Jewish people to their homeland, which was never broken, as well as the cycle of persecution, and the attempts by so many different groups throughout history to annihilate the Jews.

All of this is being repeated in the latest struggle today, of the Jewish people to hold onto their rightful homeland and survive, against an evil people, supported by a world in which it is fashionable to hate Israel.
A world, which, is once more, creating a great injustice against the Jewish people.
The young Hellenist Jew, Menelaus, in 'The Gymnasium' who is so determined to cut of all connections with his Judaism, reminds me of the leftwing Jewish intellectuals who find it fashionable to side with the enemies of Israel, by embracing pro-Palestinian left-fascism.

In 'King of the Jews' we learn about King Herod, and observe the portrait of a tyrant and about the cruel persecution of his people, and in 'Yigal and his Three Generals' we see just how fierce is the will of the Jewish people to rule their own land.

Always there are the wonderful sites and sounds of the Land of Israel, and it's wonderful people, especially it's beautiful children:

" `What has happened to our beloved Sephardim?' A man in still another corner shouted, while in the center, a group of women from Morocco sang and beat on drums precisely like the ones which had been used at Makor four thousand years before. The music was wild and imperative and four little girls danced beautifully, throwing their arms in the air and captivating the men, including Cullinane, as Jewish girls had done for generations out of mind" and

" His three sons where married and his principal joy was in playing with his eleven grandchildren, sitting on the steps of the Venus temple as they ran back and forth across the forum."

G-D bless the children of Israel!


Michener speaks about the birth of Judaism and Christianity in the Land of Israel and their place in the world giving insight with gems such as:

" In these centuries when G-D, through the agency of preceptors...was forging a Christian church so that it might fulfil the longing of a hungry world, He was at the same time perfecting his first religion, Judaism, so that it might stand as a permanent norm against which to judge all others. Whenever in the future some new religion strayed too far from the basic precepts of Judaism, G-D could be assured that it was in error; so in the Galilee, His ancient cauldron of faith, He spent as much time upon the old Jews, as He did upon the new Christians."






The discussion between Count Volkmar and a Jewish Rabbi in 'The Fires of Ma Couer ' illustrate how wherever Jews are, they always remember that their only true homeland is Israel, and 'The Saintly Men of Safed' explores the flowering of the spiritual life of Judaism in the town of Safed in northern Israel in the 16th Century, as well as how Safed was a town where Jews came from around Europe, to escape persecution.
Therefore we read in this chapter about the humiliation suffered by Jews in Spain, Germany and Italy during this time.

In 'Twilight of an Empire' we see even in the 19th century how the Arabs conspired with a powerful Empire to deprive the Jews of land in their own homeland, and how a young Jewish traveller from Russia comes across Jews whose ancestors always stayed in Israel throughout the Diaspora.
There was always a significant continuous Jewish presence in that country which was never broken! This book shows the Jewish presence throughout the centuries in the Land of Israel, through the years, through the chapters, including the period between the Roman destruction of the First Temple in 70 CE and the rebirth of a sovereign Jewish State in Israel in 1948.
`The Law' recounts the vigorous Talmudic academies in Tiberius in the fourth century CE .

And then there is 'Rabbi Itzic and the Sabra' which draws on the sacrifices and ideals of the young Jews who fought and died to re-establish the State of Israel.

However, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Arabs living in Israel, those who are today referred to wrongly as 'Palestinians', are descendants of the Canaanites. And in fact all historical facts point to these people as being Arabs originating from Arabia.
So I don't know what he means by referring to the Arab archaeologist, Jemail Tabari, as a 'scion of Ur', and a 'descendant of Jabaal the Hoopoe'.
He never refers to these Arabs as 'Palestinian', simply because when this book was written in 1965, the label ' Palestinian' had not been invented to refer to these people.
Nobody used this term in 1965. It only became fashionable later!




Rating:
Summary: Elegance and Beauty on Every Page
Review: No one can charge this reviewer of being a Michener fan. Far from it. In attempts to get through several of his heavy volumes, I usually found the need to search for an oasis where I might quench my thirst and locate some pure, unadulterated air. My maximum success was about one hundred pages in most cases, then termination and a hope for something a bit lighter. I found his books boring and his characterizations totally lifeless.

Then "The Source" appeared.

This book was written by James Michener in another manner, perhaps in another life and time, certainly with greater genius than his previous efforts or any of those subsequent.

I am about finished with my third reading of this remarkable story in a ten year span. It demands rereading and recall. Michener's other books contained sufficient space to invent and develop various characters. Each, in my opinion, died an early death. In "The Source" the space alloted was limited with a short story format. And in each case the characters flew off the page and danced their dances before this reviewer's eyes, spinning their legends, their moods, their hopes and fears, their pasts and futures, their desires and intentions, their loves and their hates, their very essence. They were and are alive and real. Their stories are alive and real.

This book may indeed be fictionalized history, but with a good deal of imbedded truth. A full reading of it will surely provide a basis upon which to understand the situation we face in the Middle East today.

By the way, it is a mighty good "page turner".