I truly loved this book. My husband and I have considered making Aliyah with our children on many occasions. This book provided a realistic and honest prespective on the challenges of undertaking such an endeavor.

In this volume Daniel Gordis writes of his life in Israel from when he family moved from Los Angeles to Jerusalem.
It covers the events of the Terror War (2000-2005), after Barak's offer of Gaza, half of Jerusalem and almost the entire West Bank to the Arabs was met by a bloody war of terror against Israel's population, launched by mass murderer Yassir Arafat.
He describes the wave of terror attacks, which engulfed Israel during this period, in which thousands of Israeli men, women and children were butchered in a war by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades the Popular Resistance Committees and the PFLP, to get the Jews out of the Land of Israel by killing them.
The experience of parents not knowing if that morning when their children left the house to go to school it would be the last time that they ever saw them.
Gordis reminds us that the Jews have no place to go other than Israel, and that the war is not about land but about the existence of the Jews in Israel.As the author writes "We are not leaving. Where could we possibly go? Does Europe want us back? It didn't work very well the last time we where there.
He describes the international furor over the security fence that enemies of Israel and her people the world over refer to as the 'Apartheid Wall', which has saved thousands of lives in Israel, which is probably why much of the world wants it taken down, so that terrorists can get into Israel to murder Jews.
The trial by the International Court of Justice' at the Hague, is not about the fence but about the existence of the Jews in Israel.
Arab inconvenience is treated as more important than Jewish lives.
The author describes the internal conflicts through the eyes of his family, and Israel, including about the forced removal of the Jewish population of Gaza in 2005.
I don't agree with the author's conclusions that there was no alternative.
I also disagree with the author that the idea of transfer of the hostile Arab population out of the Land of Israel is in any way more horrific than the expulsion and forced removals of Jews from parts of the Land (eventually all of the Land, accompanied by a Second Holocaust?)
The Gaza disengagement led directly to the Israel-Hezbollah War of 1996, and the destruction of the town of Sderot. Hamas attacking Israel with thousands of Kassam rockets in the last few years.
As Gordis' son Micha observes 'And right that every time Israel does something after they attack us, the world thinks Israel was wrong?'.
We get an overwhelming illustration of a Nation struggling to survive in a world in which millions would rather it did not exist.
The book affirms the extraordinary spirit of the people of Israel,
the most humane, giving, life-affirming people on the planet--
whatever sick propaganda you might have read to the contrary.

It is easy to lose perspective regarding the importance of Israel in light of so many disheartening recent events in Israel. Yet Mr. Gordis's portrayal of Israeli society adds a much necessary positive spin to (as Gordis reffers to Israel) "the enterprise".

Understanding Israel does not only mean eating falafels in Tel Aviv and swimming in the Dead Sea - rather, it's the understanding that the State of Israel is the most important historical development of the Jewish people in 2000 years, and that we can (and will) never lose it.

Kol Ha'Kavod, Mr. Gordis, for this excelent book.

In times when faith and hope on the State of Israel seems to be winding down, Daniel Gordis adds a much necessary positive perspective to (as Gordis reffers to Irael) "the enterprise". Anyone that wishes to gain a deeper grasp of Israeli society and life in general should read this book. Kol Ha Kavod, Gordis.

It is easy to lose perspective regarding the importance of Israel in light of so many disheartening recent events in Israel. Yet Mr. Gordis's portrayal of Israeli society adds a much necessary positive spin to (as Gordis reffers to Israel) "the enterprise".

Understanding Israel does not only mean eating falafels in Tel Aviv and swimming in the Dead Sea - rather, it's the understanding that the State of Israel is the most important historical development of the Jewish people in 2000 years, and that we can (and will) never lose it.

Kol Ha'Kavod, Mr. Gordis, for this excelent book.

In times when faith and hope on the State of Israel seems to be winding down, Daniel Gordis adds a much necessary positive perspective to (as Gordis reffers to Irael) "the enterprise". Anyone that wishes to gain a deeper grasp of Israeli society and life in general should read this book. Kol Ha Kavod, Gordis.

I read this book on the airplane from the US to Israel during the summer of 2006. It helped to prepare me for the attitudes which I found while in Israel.

Coming Together is a vast improvement over Home to Stay. The writing is absolutely beautiful, the ideas provocative. The heart of the book is Gordis's account of his family's adjustment to life in Israel, beginning at the tail end of the Second Intifada, when the Gordis family is kept awake in its Jerusalem home by gunfire at night, and terrified by suicide murders that take place in their favorite haunts, and ending with mild optimism when the evil Arafat finally passes.

In the pages in between, Gordis, a liberal but not a "leftist," manages to efficiently and eloquently take down those Jews who ignore Israel's obligations to preserve Jewish moral values in its conflict with the Palestinians, as well as those Jews who reflexively oppose the very existence of Israel, because they prefer perpetual Jewish victimhood and the accompanying moral high ground to the inevitable moral compromises and errors that come with power and statehood. He also conveyed to me, as a "serious Jew" who has never had any significant desire to live in Israel, why he would uproot his family from a comfortable upper middle class life in L.A. and expose them to danger to fulfill his Zionist dream. As he expresses it far more eloquently than I can, I won't try to summarize it here. [UPDATE: I should point out that while Gordis emphasizes the very palpable dangers faced by Jerusalemites durng the Second Intifada, raising one's teenagers in L.A. carries some very real, though perhaps less palpable dangers [much higher crime rates, drug use rates, auto accident risk, and likely suicide rates], such that I doubt that Jerusalem in 2002 was more actually more dangerous for kids than West L.A. at the same time.]

One important caveat about this book: Israel is a country composed primarily of first, second, and third generation immmigrants, so there is really no such thing as a "typical Israeli". But to the extent there sort of is, Gordis surely isn't it. In one scene in the book, an Orthodox Jewish American says that Gordis isn't living in the real Israel because he lives in an "Anglo-Saxon" (what Israelis call native English speakers) community, hangs out mostly with British, American, and South African Jews, and works for an American-funded foundation employing yet more Anglos. Gordis bristles at the suggestion, and he's right that having moved to Israel and with a child in the army, he has as much claim to Israeliness as anyone. But in reading the book, one must keep in mind that you are getting the perspective of a relatively well-to-do American Jewish liberal Conservative rabbi/philosopher who recently moved to Israel, lives and works in in Anglo enclaves, and that the outlook and experiences of such an individual is pretty far removed from that of the "typical" Israeli. It's hard, for example, to imagine Gordis expressing serious concern about the "evil eye," a superstition that this spouse-of-an-Israeli finds to be pervasive in Israel. (I used to think that Israelis complain a lot, but I've since learned that refusing to acknowledge good fortune is a way to ward off the evil eye!)

Another interesting aspect of the book is that though it virtually drips with concern about Israel's future, Hizbollah only makes the obliquest of appearances, and Iran is never mentioned at all, not once. Instead, the book is preoccupied with the Palestinian question. A good example, I think, of how Israelis were so preoccupied with the Second Intifada that they paid too little attention to the looming fundamentalist Shiite threat until Hizbollah missiles starting raining down on them in June.

"Coming Together, Coming Apart" is a must-read for Jews both inside and outside of Israel. An American family who makes the big decision to take their commitment to the ultimate level by making Aliyah finds their pre-conceived notions, idealistic concepts and religious faith tested by terror in their own backyard. How they cope with fear, how they learn to live with the uncomfortable ambiguity that is life in Israel, how their own internal family dynamics are strained and strengthened is a story that should not be missed.

As an American Jew from Los Angeles planning Aliyah myself, this book has helped me to see not only how another American family from L.A. has dealt with the challenges of both war and peace, but has confirmed my belief that life in Israel isn't perfect, but it is REAL, and do-able for those of us who, like our forefather Jacob, are willing to wrestle through the dark night of our soulds with our personal proverbial "Angels" and not release them until we receive the blessing for which we have struggled and fought. Although we may receive a unhealable wound we who prevail recieve a new name and a heritage uniquely ours. "Coming Together, Coming Apart" illustrates that Divine wrestling match and shows us what that heritage looks and feels like when the dawn finally breaks.

Thanks to Daniel Gordis for this well-written, passionate labor of love!

I have read all of Daniel Gordis' books. Each one is extremely meaningful and thought provoking. The latest one, Coming Together, Coming Apart is a must read for anyone who cares about Israel,anyone who cares about humanity anyone who is a parent, or anyone who is a child. Very few books, that I will openly laugh, cry and make you think. It covers the period of two years, ending in October 2005 and is essentially the memoirs of Gordis, who emigrated to Israel from Los Angeles with his children. Especially in light of the current events, it helps one understand the day to day life that Israelies face, the challenges they face, and their love of life and their hope. Once you pick the book up, it is difficult to put it down. I cannot recommend it enough.

Daniel Gordis' writing is honest and moving, the key to any successful memoir. In the beginning of the memoir Gordis acknowledges the question that many parents ask him, "How could you do this to your kids? How could you take them from the safety of suburban Los Angles to Israel?" The answer to that question comes through in every word that he writes. It is an answer filled with meaning and purpose, history and peoplehood, faith and dedication. But I encourage the reader to discover the answer for his or herself.

Gordis, himself, defies many of the labels that plague Israel. He seems to be one of the few remaining people who can talk about Israel with nuance and a recognition of the truths that lie in the arguments of those on the left and those on the right. This is evidenced in his writings about the disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Mirroring the split opinions in his family (and his own internal conflicts) he tied both orange (signifying opposition to the disengagement) and blue and white (signifying support for the disengagement) ribbons to his car. This earned him many complaints from his family and an easier time parking at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (you'll have to read to understand).

One of the things that makes this book a jewel is Gordis' constant acknowledgment and appreciation for where he is. Despite the trauma and difficulties of living through exploding busses and cafes while raising a family, he never loses an appreciation or forgets the ideals and history that led him and his family to make a life in Israel.

Easily a must read for those living outside of Israel, especially given the recent violence, it is perhaps an even more important read for those living inside of Israel. After reading this book one imagines that if there were more people in Israel like Gordis the country just might get through all its troubles.