You have already published my review but I do wish you would correct two spelling errors your editors made. 1. individual should be individuals 2. please spell different correctly.

Thank you. Lorry @ix.netcom. com

Dr. Joseph Winsten's "Moses Meets Israel" puts me on scene as I travel with him as he traces biblical teaching of the origin of Israelites, recounting the earliest migrations from the Arabian peninsula and the folklore and history that pursued through the times of Moses. I am taken on the long journey visiting the desert, the villages, tribes, kingdoms and individuals who have been heroes to most of us. Winsten makes pictures as he writes so that the probable history, the way he accounts for it, seems alive and true. While it is upsetting to watch the possible destruction of what he designates as myth, it is scholarly written, and commands utmost attention.

Yes, I found "Moses Meets Israel" disturbing. There are so many possibilites presented different from the sacred book that it is difficult to trash almost the whole of what has been sacred. The outcome is that with the rehasing and slashing of the stories of holy characters - the myths as the author writes - it becomes necessary to examine and reexamine accumulated knowledge to make new and fair judgement of what really happened.

Congratulations to Dr. Winsten for making his assumptions based on his prolonged research, his literary manner and "guts" to make deeper thinkers of all who read his book

This is an extraordinary, well researched book, presenting a new, refreshing insight into the character of Moses and the development of the concept of one God, the basis of the major Western religions. It traces the times from the early peoples in the area, the Egyptians, and the Exodus of the Hebrews. Did the Red Sea really part? What really did happen? A good read! Try it!

Not since J. Stuart Russell's too too often ignored book (at least, in the halls of hallowed "academia") The Parousia, has a scholarly work come along that so well makes a Biblical and historical case for the first-century fulfillment of Jesus' prophetic claims.

Quoting a vast amount of scholarly resources,(I cannot emphasize that enough, as "preterist" books are frequently authored by laymen or self taught Bible students with little, or no, formal training in ancient languages and Biblical studies) McKnight argues persuasively that for Jesus the great event (apart from His resurrection) that must be reckoned with as a turning point in the history of the world was the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Not every reader will agree with McKnight's conclusions but they will be hard pressed to show where he is mistaken. I highly recommend this book to clergy and lay people alike, both Christians and Jews.

McKnight has given us a profound work on Jesus Christ, and his teachings in their historical context, namely first century Judaism. His insights follow closely in the train of Tom Wright and G.B Caird. McKnight's treatment of the Kingdom of God is excellent. His study of Jesus' so-called Olivet discourse is sober and penetrating. Yet few I think would follow McKnight to the conclusion he draws about Jesus' exposition.

This work should be seriously consulted by the student and/or disciple of Christ.

Rick E Aguirre Reader in Biblical Studies Southern California <><

Through this book, Scot McKnight visually details the development of Jesus in a historical context with emphasis on the teachings of God, the kingdom, and ethics of Jesus. An excellent resource for studying who Jesus really was.

While being an insider isn't a prerequisite for being a great writer of intriuge, it doesn't hurt Hartov's novel any. Thankfully he has the skills to flesh out three-dimensional characters. Benni Baum's attempts to reconcile with his daughter, Martina Klump's obsessions and Ruth's feelings for her father and for a NYPD dectective are positive additions to the conflict.

There is just one word which can describe The Nylon Hand of God - excellent. Steven Hartov writes with the expertise of an insider. The language itself is rich, as well as beautifully descriptive. This book is a definite must for anybody who is interrested in good fiction.

i don't understand why this author isn't being published more. he's a talented writer, with an obvious first hand knowledge of what he writes about. i think he's a potential clancy,ludlum or forsyth.

A fine, balanced, insightful, scholarly survey of Zionism and its dark side. This Israeli scholar issues an effective call for readers to take a more enlightened stand on an issue often clouded by ignorance and (anti-Palestinian)racial prejudice. As a former relief worker in the Middle East, I heartily endorse Prof. Beit-Hallahmi's book as an introduction to clear thinking and action about the realities of Palestine/Israel and other, broader, issues. As a professor of social ethics, I find this book well documented and well researched, bringing light to a question which often generates only heat and darkness.

This book is remarkable. It ranges widely but is quite incisive! Covering about 200 years of Jewish life with special attention to the Zionist movement and the State of Israel.
Despite the title, it is not the breast beating of a bleeding hear liberal. It just states that facts and examines the arguments and concludes with a way forward.

True, he probably dwells too much on the "failures" of Zionism. (Zionsim failed to work as intended, that doesn't mean necessarily that it failed.) One might want to compare Tom Segev's ELVIS IN JERUSALEM assessment.

The chapter on religion is worth the price alone! He disentangles the groups like Gush Emunim, the Kach party, Agudat Israel, and Neturei Karta, which tend to get lumped together. Along the way the does much to give the lie to Israel Shahak JEWISH HISTORY, JEWISH RELIGION which sought to lay the sins of Zionism at the doorstep of "Classical Judaism." On the contrary, even today, there is an strong negative correlation between orthodoxy and zionism in Israel.

As for anyone who wishes to question his discussion of religious groups, I would like to point out that religion in Israeli life is a Dr. Beit-Hallahmi and his previous book DESPAIR AND DELIVERANCE deals with this very subject.

This Haifa University Israeli scholar credibly demolishes the myths successfully established by a century of Zionist propaganda. He joins Marc Ellis and Meron Benvenisti(CITY OF STONE)as a courageous "voice in the wilderness" in an Israel where few leaders are willing to acknowledge the massive injustice done to the Palestinian people over the past fifty years. That such a devastating critique of the flawed foundation of a society can come from within it's own intelligentia is, oddly enough, a tribute to Israel and a sign of hope.

This fairly short (72 pages) pamphlet is a gold mine of information and analysis of the struggle unfolding in the Middle East. It gives lots of historical detail that cuts through the lies used by the U.S. government (and governments of Great Britain, France etc.) about their military and colonial interventions into the region. I especially appreciated the information on the century-long struggle of the Palestinians-- with its ebbs and flows-- for national independence and to regain the land stolen from them by the Zionist state. It will help you see behind the diplomatic maneuvers and the [lies] of Washington's "peace plans" to the key issues involved, especially the centrality of the fight today for a democratic, secular Palestine. It also helped me see how we're part of one world, and the fight against oppression in the Middle East has big stakes for working people everywhere.

Pathfinder Press publishes several other titles that go into deeper detail on the historical and theoretical questions raised here, including Abram Leon's On the Jewish Question, and the discussion on national and colonial oppression taken up in Workers of the World and Oppressed Peoples, Unite!, and To See the Dawn, Baku--1920, First Congress of the Peoples of the East.

What are the Palestinians fighting for? Why was Israel established? Why do Palestinians think the United States is not on their side? Why is there so much fighting going on in the Middle East? How can the Palestinians win? Who are the real terrorists? If you have ever asked yourself these questions and want some real answers, this pamphlet is a great place to start. It gives a very helpful history of the struggle of the Arab and Palestinian peoples for liberation over the last century. That includes a history of the first Intifada against the Israeli occupation, starting in 1987. And it makes it very clear that the fighting going on today is not because of "ancient hatreds" that people are born with. It shows how the major imperialist countries, including the UK, France and the United States, have blood on their hands and are responsible for much of the misery that the Arab peoples have lived with for the last century. It also shows that the Palestinian people are capable of organizing a political movement that can point the way forward to a democratic, secular Palestine. This is an inspiring piece of work.

Zionism and the Israeli state have always been at the service of Empires ( first the British one and then the Yanki one ) ; until 1979 it was part of a twin set of gigantic military platforms for the Yanki empire,along with Iran.Its alliance with the real 'axis of evil' in Washington D.C. and the brutal repression used by Israel to try to humiliate the Palestinians as a people is making Israel a death trap for the Jewish people , This history, as well as that of the historic program of the orginal fighters ( so-called 'terrorists' unlike Sharon ) for Palestinian liberation against Zionism AND anti-Semitism; the butchery led by Sharon that was the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982; the rise of the first intifada ( uprising ) in the West Bank and Gaza in 1987;all these themes are explored in this powerfull pamphlet.The most basic information about the nature of the Zionist state and the Palestinians' refusal to stop fighting for their land, and the inspiring place of that fight in the world struggle against the Yanqui Empire --it's all here.For the evolution of the PLO leadership after 1987 and the history of the Palestinians' fight through the end of the 90s "Opening Guns Of World War III " and " Captialism's World Disorder " , both by Jack Barnes, are equally indispensible. For "deep background" get " Israel And The Arab Revolution " by Gus Horowitz.

It is amazing to read of the level of atrocity and deceit. Ethnic Cleansing, Localized Genocide, Rampant Racism- it reads like something out of Nazi Germany. But here it is, in the middle of the Middle East, anti-Semitism, committed by Jews against Arabs. Brother against Brother. Palumbo shares with us stories of those who helped the Jews flee the Nazis, and how these same individuals watch the actions of the nascent Israeli Defense Forces, and can see no difference in their actions. Truly, as Walter Wink said, we become that which we hate. We learn hatred, and the practices of hatred, from our enemies. And here one repeatedly hears leaders of the Zionist movement explicitly calling for the same practices as the Nazis, as they worked so well, and even calling for alliances with the Nazis, in order to establish a country 'Goyim Rein', an 'Israel for the Jews, as Germany is for the Germans'.

And it is surprising to hear how most Jews in the first half of the 20th century did *not* want an Israeli nation, as they did not see that as part of God's call for their people. Or how leader after modern Israeli leader engaged in explicit terrorist action- in fact, most of them were on the top 20 list of terrorists by the British government, during the British mandate. Doing the same practices, the same suicide bombings, as extremist Palestinians do today. We become that which we hate. And it's not just Palumbo's opinion- this is a meticulously researched book. If you choose to disagree with what is said, you must prove a large number of resources wrong- including many resources from Israeli government leaders.

This isn't just dry history. Palumbo uses a highly readable format, telling stories through the eyes of the observers and the victims, with additional factual information. Yet he does it in a way that is in now way fictional, but breathes authenticity. He looks primarily at the infamous al nakba, the Catastrophe, wherein the Palestinians were driven from their homeland- a people uniquely tied in self-identity to the land, just as Americans are tied to their sense of the individual in their identities. I reside, therefore I am.

Insult to injury is the Zionist propaganda machine, that has managed to shift the blame for wartime atrocities on to the victims. After reading this work, one may come away with the same feeling- that truly, Israel has been one of the primary leaders in terrorism.

To read more, I'd recommend Wink's Engaging the Powers, as well as Dying in the Land of Promise. Don Wagner focuses here on the history of Christian Palestinians, from the year 33 to the present, and how they were driven away during al nakba, and their experiences afterward.

When I was a teenager, all I knew about the 1948 "war of independence" was what I saw in the movie "Exodus" with Paul Newman and what I read in the World Book Encyclopedia entry.

In that movie the Zionist wanted nothing more than to live in peace with their Arab neighbors, but the "arab neighbors" like children following the pied piper of Hamelin, left their homes (and all their earthly belongings) at the word of radio broadcasts from "Arab High Command". (It didn't occur to me to ask why not let them back once they came to their senses.)

From the World Book encyclopedia, I was told that all the surrounding arab countries declared war on Israel within the hour of it's "declaration of independence" and their armies invaded with single minded aim of destroying the country. Israel, against incredible odds, triumphed over all an as an added bonus ended up with 78% of Palestine, instead of the 52% provided for in the UN partition. (What Luck!)

Michael Palumbo, who previously got the goods on Kurt Waldheim's wartime record, followed up by writing this history from UN archival sources, Palestinian sources, and Israeli diaries and memiors (frequently more reliable than Israeli military and intelligence archives).

No matter how much you think you know about the middle east, how much of a critic of Israel you might be, this book will make you angry. Angry over the continuing injustice, angry over the continuing lies, angry over the continuing manipulation of western opinion (particularly US opinion), angry over the impotence of the newly formed UN.

In this book you will learn that the Palestinians did not leave because they were ordered to, on the contrary Arab radio broadcasts demanded that they *stay.* The Palestinians left, because they were terrorized, coerced, and, when all else failed, forced out. The Zionist movement never had any intention of living in peace with "their arab neighbors." From the very beginning (even before Herzl), they intended to claim the entire land for a Jewish State, and would only tolerate the smallest Arab minority possible. The Arab states declared war, but the fighting had started with the partition a year earlier. Their intervention was half-hearted at best and was never meant to destroy Israel (e.g. they never entered in the "jewish part" of the partition.)

Reading this at this time will give the uncanny sense of deja vu.
You'll find the systematic use of looting and wanton vandalism of palestinian homes and businesses. The same manipulation of opinion. (On the one hand, denying access because of fight. On the other hand denying atrocities, because there's "no evidence."
The destruction of houses with people still in them (by dynamite, not by bulldozers tho').

Also there's Menachem Begin's role in the massacre of Deir Yassin and Yitzak Shamir's role in the assasination of UN mediator Folke Bernadotte. (Keep in mind next time you hear Yassir Arafat a "terrorist.")

The overwhelming feeling will be "how can we have been so lied to for so long."

How indeed?

I read this book a couple of years ago and was very impressed at the level of research the author has done to bring this information to the public. It is hard to find books with impartial view on this sensitive subject, this is a good one. Read it!!

Past Continuous is an engaging novel by Yaahov Shabtai and is set in modern-day Tel Aviv. Astutely translated from the original Hebrew by Dalya Bilu, Past Continuous strives to present a landscape portrait of Tel Aviv, as it depicts three men, their lives, their loves, their families, and their friends in a criss-cross tangled tale wrapped in the unfolding vibrancy of the city itself. A compelling and deftly written saga, Past Continuous will well serve to introduce to American readers an Israeli writer of significant literary talent.

Simply the best book published in Israel for the last 30 years.Absolutely fantastic!

one of the best books written in this century. not an easy reading- the book is written in one paragraph, and as a continous thought, but it's damn worth it.

There are only a few people who can qualify for nomination as "the person most responsible for the State of Israel being". One of those people is Rudolph G.Sonneborn. The only place you will ever read about him and his unique group, "the Sonneborn Institute", is in The Pledge. Leonard Slater "found" him and tells us of his importance in the creation of The State of Israel in this most important, most unbelievable, but absolutely true story. Everyone interested in Israel should read this book and know not only the facinating story, but learn about Rudolf G.Sonnnborn, one of the most important, yet most private of men, in Jewish history.

Fascinating account of an unpublicized story about weapons purchases in the US and the origin of the State of Israel. Although non-fiction, The Pledge reads like a spy thriller. The book provides an interesting backdrop to today's far more challenging questions, and reminds us that Israel was once the underdog.

"The story of an incredible aand dramatic race against time -- to providea state not yet born with an army that was still illegal -- is told in one of the most suspenseful works of historey ever published. It was an Force was supplied with Nazi fighter planes, bought from Communst Czechoslovakia with dolllars solicited from an American real-estate magnate on the urging of a Socialist farmer, who ran this amateur undeerground operating out of the Hotel 14, a Manhattan hotel known for its high-kicking chorus girls, packed appearances by Frank Sinatra and its little old ladies.

Yes, The Pursuit is an absolutely fanastic read (my favourite book) and it was made into a movie called "A Twist of Fate" in 1989 starring Ben Cross and Veronica Hammel, but the movie wasn't able to capture the interesting notion of a Nazi in a "Jewish Body" and his complete hatred for what he has become... which to me was important.

I read it originally in about 1984, lent it to a friend who lost it, and spent the next 4 years searching for a copy - looking in Australia (where I live), the UK and finally finding a copy in Israel and another copy in San Diego in 1988. It was worth the search.

I'm pleased to see that it's available at amazon.com. Had the internet been around then, I would have saved weeks, phoning, and searching through shelves in second-hand book stores.

This was a great read and made into a t.v. movie several years ago, but I'm unable to recall the name. Obviously it was't called Pursuit. Any help out there?

I loved this book. It's a pity it's not in print anymore. It's about a Nazi death camp commander at the end of the war who takes the identity of a Jew he killed, in order to escape the wrath of the Russians. He immigrates to Palestine and becomes an independence (1948) war hero because he defended his kibbutz against the attacking murderous Arab forces. His story progresses to a great ending. I wish this book would be reprinted so that the masses could read it. It should be a movie.

The Zion series are without a doubt some of the best books I have ever read! The stories are captivating from beginning to end. The historical accuracy is impeccable, and the writers literally transport you into the story. I have read the series several times, and I still can't put the books down. It is refreshing to know that the books are good, clean reading, no profanity or vulgar content. Thanks to the Thoene's for writing such a fantastic series. I can't wait to read the Zion Legacy series!

Ever since I finished this series several years ago, I have been longing for another "Zion" series. These historical novels set in Israel are so spellbinding. The romance and intrigue keep you on the edge of your seat. Have never found anything to compare to this Bodie Thoene series. Am eagerly awaiting the new "Zion Legacy."

Never have I come across a better author. Bodie Theone (tay-nee) is truly amazing. These books are full of drama. It's like the characters became my friends. When I finished the series, It felt as though I lost some good friends. I really don't know if I could be as entertained, enlightened and fulfilled by reading anything else after reading this series. Originally I was checking the series out one at a time from the library. But when I realized I'd finally found something I couldn't put down, I figured I better buy the whole series. I have never bought books before, because I've never found anything worthy of being read more than once. I was just so compelled and I want to share her writings with all my friends and family. She's spectacular. So is anything written by her husband Brock, who helps her co-write everything. It's almost like watching a movie, because there are so many plots intertwined. I was shocked to read the epilogue in RETURN TO ZION. You'll have to find out for yourself. Just don't start reading in the middle of the series. If I could never read another authors works but one it would be the Theone's. - Megan Villa