Rating: 
Summary: A sincere seeker on a challenging quest
Review: This is a deeply thought-provoking book. I ordered it because I have personally been involved in Jewish-Muslim-Christian dialogues (trialogues?) in the USA, and I resonated with the reviews I had read. What surprised (and saddened) me was the extreme difficulty that Yossi had in even finding people willing to dialogue in the Middle East. I had been told that Israel was a segregated society (not officially, but socially) but I did not realize how deeply the mistrust runs. Villages and monasteries that are within visual sight of each other might as well be on different planets.
To cross the cultural divide can literally mean taking your life inot your hands.Author Yossi Klein takes that risk. With the help of various unconventional guides, he meets with Sufi shaykhs, Armenian priests, Catholic nuns and many others, hoping to communicate on the level of the soul rather than politics. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes not. On so many occasions, history intrudes with its memories of past brutalities -- Crusades, Inquisitions, the Holocaust. This is not a sugar-coated utopian view of peace, but a scathingly honest chronicle of one seeker's search for common ground in a troubled land. With each new encounter, Yossi struggles with his own anger, distrust, and fear -- as did I when I read the book. Definitely a must-read for everyone who is or wants to be involved in interfaith dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: A sincere seeker on a challenging quest
Review: This is a deeply thought-provoking book. I ordered it because I have personally been involved in Jewish-Muslim-Christian dialogues (trialogues?) in the USA, and I resonated with the reviews I had read. What surprised (and saddened) me was the extreme difficulty that Yossi had in even finding people willing to dialogue in the Middle East. I had been told that Israel was a segregated society (not officially, but socially) but I did not realize how deeply the mistrust runs. Villages and monasteries that are within visual sight of each other might as well be on different planets.
To cross the cultural divide can literally mean taking your life inot your hands. Author Yossi Klein takes that risk. With the help of various unconventional guides, he meets with Sufi shaykhs, Armenian priests, Catholic nuns and many others, hoping to communicate on the level of the soul rather than politics. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes not. On so many occasions, history intrudes with its memories of past brutalities -- Crusades, Inquisitions, the Holocaust. This is not a sugar-coated utopian view of peace, but a scathingly honest chronicle of one seeker's search for common ground in a troubled land. With each new encounter, Yossi struggles with his own anger, distrust, and fear -- as did I when I read the book. Definitely a must-read for everyone who is or wants to be involved in interfaith dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: An Alternative Path to Peace
Review: This is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It really has two subjects : the political situation in the Holy Land of course, but also the difficulties and the promises of religious dialogue. I particularly appreciated the fact that Mr. Klein Halevi reached out to Christians and Muslims without reneging or compromising his own faith. That kind of dialogue would, I think, ultimately be meaningless. I agree with Mr Klein Halevi that real religious dialogue is the royal path to peace, not only in the Holy Land, but also in many other places. I fear, however, that very few people are capable of mustering the necessary strenght, courage, honesty and humility. One of the things I particularly liked about Mr Klein Halevi is his intellectual honesty, both with his interlocutors and with himself. Moreover, he is not interested in easy victories. Much to his credit, he writes how uneasy he feels when certain Muslims or Christians reach out to him by pointing out their common ground and ... how different they both are from the third party ! As a Roman Catholic, one of Mr Halevi Klein's remarks that most struck me is how the passages of the Gospel which can appear quite antisemitic seem to echo Israel's (verbally) violent public debate. One of course knows these things, but it is useful to be reminded that the unkind remarks the Evangelists occasionally make about the Jews or the Pharisees are actually made in the context of an internal Jewish debate. The only weakness of Mr Klein Halevi's book is that his Christian contacts were not Palestinians, but Ethiopians, Armenians and Europeans. I have to admit, moreover, that I sometimes felt a bit uneasy reading about the syncretic, judaizing liturgy of the Beatitudes, a Catholic order about which Mr Klein Halevi writes. Do we really have to resemble each other to respect each other ? Will we feel disappointed if Jews and Muslims do not answer these efforts by adopting at least part of our ways ? Or is this an act of atonement for the former antijudaism of the Church ? I don't understand it. In my eyes, it is one thing to adapt your behavior to pray with people of another faith, but quite another thing to adopt their ways of worship when not in their company. Does it even make sense from a Jewish perspective ? If I'm not mistaken, gentiles do not have to respect Jewish law and are even prohibited from doing so in some cases, which include the observance of the Shabbath. They should respect the seven laws of Noach, which do not include rituals. I am also unconvinced for political reasons. Palestinian Christians often feel we betrayed them. Whether one agrees or not does not really matter, we should not brush their feelings aside. Jews might think this is yet another attempt to evangelize them, this time by stealth, as the Church has often done in the past (not with the Jews though). Does this encourage dialogue between Israeli Jews and the Church's own flock, Palestinian Christians ? I don't know. I think we should rather follow Mr Klein Halevi's example.
Rating:
Summary: a remarkable book
Review: This is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It really has two subjects : the political situation in the Holy Land of course, but also the difficulties and the promises of religious dialogue. I particularly appreciated the fact that Mr. Klein Halevi reached out to Christians and Muslims without reneging or compromising his own faith. That kind of dialogue would, I think, ultimately be meaningless. I agree with Mr Klein Halevi that real religious dialogue is the royal path to peace, not only in the Holy Land, but also in many other places. I fear, however, that very few people are capable of mustering the necessary strenght, courage, honesty and humility. One of the things I particularly liked about Mr Klein Halevi is his intellectual honesty, both with his interlocutors and with himself. Moreover, he is not interested in easy victories. Much to his credit, he writes how uneasy he feels when certain Muslims or Christians reach out to him by pointing out their common ground and ... how different they both are from the third party ! As a Roman Catholic, one of Mr Halevi Klein's remarks that most struck me is how the passages of the Gospel which can appear quite antisemitic seem to echo Israel's (verbally) violent public debate. One of course knows these things, but it is useful to be reminded that the unkind remarks the Evangelists occasionally make about the Jews or the Pharisees are actually made in the context of an internal Jewish debate. The only weakness of Mr Klein Halevi's book is that his Christian contacts were not Palestinians, but Ethiopians, Armenians and Europeans. I have to admit, moreover, that I sometimes felt a bit uneasy reading about the syncretic, judaizing liturgy of the Beatitudes, a Catholic order about which Mr Klein Halevi writes. Do we really have to resemble each other to respect each other ? Will we feel disappointed if Jews and Muslims do not answer these efforts by adopting at least part of our ways ? Or is this an act of atonement for the former antijudaism of the Church ? I don't understand it. In my eyes, it is one thing to adapt your behavior to pray with people of another faith, but quite another thing to adopt their ways of worship when not in their company. Does it even make sense from a Jewish perspective ? If I'm not mistaken, gentiles do not have to respect Jewish law and are even prohibited from doing so in some cases, which include the observance of the Shabbath. They should respect the seven laws of Noach, which do not include rituals. I am also unconvinced for political reasons. Palestinian Christians often feel we betrayed them. Whether one agrees or not does not really matter, we should not brush their feelings aside. Jews might think this is yet another attempt to evangelize them, this time by stealth, as the Church has often done in the past (not with the Jews though). Does this encourage dialogue between Israeli Jews and the Church's own flock, Palestinian Christians ? I don't know. I think we should rather follow Mr Klein Halevi's example.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: This is the story of a Jew who tries to discover if religion can be a source of unity in the Holy Land. He thus begins a two-year exploration of Christianity and Islam. He befriends Christian and Muslim mystics, joins them in prayer in monasteries and mosques searching for wisdom and for peace. And he succeeds. That is the heartbreak and the triumph of this book. Yossi Halevi succeeds until "the madness comes;" until, as his brother Sheykh Ibrahim is forced into anonymity by the Palestinian Authrity. Yossi Klein Halevi succeeded but, as Sheykh Ibrahim tells him (in English; using Hebrew is too dangerous for a man whom Arafat warned not to fraternize with Jews) "This is the time of the fanatics... I am crying every night." Let us all cry.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: This is the story of a Jew who tries to discover if religion can be a source of unity in the Holy Land. He thus begins a two-year exploration of Christianity and Islam. He befriends Christian and Muslim mystics, joins them in prayer in monasteries and mosques searching for wisdom and for peace. And he succeeds. That is the heartbreak and the triumph of this book. Yossi Halevi succeeds until "the madness comes;" until, as his brother Sheykh Ibrahim is forced into anonymity by the Palestinian Authrity. Yossi Klein Halevi succeeded but, as Sheykh Ibrahim tells him (in English; using Hebrew is too dangerous for a man whom Arafat warned not to fraternize with Jews) "This is the time of the fanatics... I am crying every night." Let us all cry.
Rating:
Summary: A Message for Today's World
Review: Very few of us combine hard-headed political analysis with deep spiritual sensitivity. Yossi Klein Halevy, a contributing editor at the New Republic Magazine and at the Jerusalem Report, is a leading political commentator on Israel and the Middle East. In this book we see a different side of the man. Halevy is a man of exquisite religious sensitivity and deep humanity. He practices a kind of truly respectful inter-religious dialogue that is all to hard to find in our day. Whether engaged in discussion with nuns or meditation with Muslim mystics, Halevy never condescends, never juvenalizes and never fails to pay his interlocutors the supreme compliment of examining their religious beliefs with an empathic but discerning eye. In our post September 11th world, we need the kind of wisdom that Halevy shares so generously. Read this book. Rabbi Edward Rettig
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary Book
Review: Very few of us combine hard-headed political analysis with deep spiritual sensitivity. Yossi Klein Halevy, a contributing editor at the New Republic Magazine and at the Jerusalem Report, is a leading political commentator on Israel and the Middle East. In this book we see a different side of the man. Halevy is a man of exquisite religious sensitivity and deep humanity. He practices a kind of truly respectful inter-religious dialogue that is all to hard to find in our day. Whether engaged in discussion with nuns or meditation with Muslim mystics, Halevy never condescends, never juvenalizes and never fails to pay his interlocutors the supreme compliment of examining their religious beliefs with an empathic but discerning eye. In our post September 11th world, we need the kind of wisdom that Halevy shares so generously. Read this book. Rabbi Edward Rettig
Rating:
Summary: What real faith is all about. Amazing.
Review: Yossi Halevy thinks he is only writing about interfaith connections in the holy land, but in fact the most inspiring aspect of the book is the delicate portrait of his own faith in God, where this deep faith takes him, and the grace of goodwill and wisdom that it creates inside his soul.
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