Rosenthal, Donna. "The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land", New Press, revised and updated, 2008.

My People

Amos Lassen

Americans have no idea who the Israelis are. The stories we get in the American media by and large depends on the source of the report. We see them here as soldiers fighting for their freedom and we see them as aggressive colonizers who determined to stay in control over Palestinians who resent them. We know that there is truth to both depictions and at the same time they depictions are distortions of who the Israeli really is. Donna Rosenthal looks at the Israeli across the broad spectrum and she gives very interesting insight as to the nature of the modern Israeli in two aspects--an individual and as a group.
Many Americans are simply not aware of the vibrancy and diversity of Israel and as the nation is such so are the citizens. There are the very Orthodox who constantly study and await the Messianic age. They are against those that dress immodestly and violate the Sabbath. There are the modern Israelis who excel in business and industry and do not bother with their religious heritage. There are the Bedouin Arabs who still live primitively carrying everything they own with them to wherever they go. There are prostitutes and mailmen and waiters and there are farmers and fishermen and gays, lesbians and those that are transgender.
Rosenthal entered Israeli society and interviewed many people and she gives us their backgrounds and their viewpoints. She discusses the decline of the kibbutz movement which was once vital to the country and shows how the ethic of collectively is no longer relevant. She shows how the Orthodox remain a community unto itself and stays isolated from mainstream Israeli culture and society. She shows the vice and corruption with Israel and the presence of the drug trade and she gives us a history of Zionism as we hear the reminiscences of the way it was. We hear from the man on the street, from the leaders, from Arabs and from Druze, from the Russian mafia and from the subcultures of sex and gambling.
Rosenthal has a wonderfully readable style and she manages to weave interviews, anecdotes and vignettes to give us a picture of a people that most of us know little about. But let me tell you that you must be prepared to have your preconceptions become misconceptions. In giving us the information on whom the Israeli is, Rosenthal sheds light on the shadows. It is absolutely amazing when we realize that Israel is a nation that has "ingathered the exiles"--Jews from all over the world who have not much in common except a history of persecution and the desire to live free in their own land.

I found this book (the first edition, 2003) in an apartment I'm renting in Jerusalem. It's quite interesting and well-written.

However, the author seems to have been rather sloppy in her research. I noticed at least two gross factual inaccuracies in details about the Orthodox communities in chapter 9, and this in turn calls into question whether the other information in the book is supported by the facts.

On page 176 (2003 edition), Rosenthal describes how "[s]oon after independence, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion agreed to Rabbi [E.M.] Schach's and other rabbis' requests to free haredi scholars of military obligation." Ben-Gurion's primary interlocutor on this issue was actually Rabbi A.Y. Karelitz (known as the Hazon Ish), the leading Lithuanian haredi rabbi of his day in Israel; the story of their meeting is quite well known in haredi circles, even to school-age children.

Again on page 188 (2003 edition), she writes: "For Lubavitch/Habad Hasidim, however, [Israel] Independence Day is a religious holiday becase they believe the birth of Israel in 1948 marked the beginning of the messianic redemption." This is completely incorrect: there are indeed religious Zionist Jews who believe this, and their communities are treated in the following chapter of the book; but Habad's position has never been that the establishment of the State has anything to do with the coming of the Messiah. Habad does support Jewish settlement on all territory under Israeli control, and opposes giveaways of land, for religious reasons having to do with saving Jewish lives; sometimes this puts them side-by-side with various Religious Zionist groups, as in opposition to the Gaza disengagement of 2005. Most likely our author saw or heard of such events and jumped to conclusions that the Habad and Religious Zionist ideologies are the same. But again, how hard would it have been to find out the real facts?

I ordered this book because it was recommended by the tour company that is arranging our trip to Israel. I was looking for something that would give me additional insight into the country and its people. This book does an excellent job of exposing me to the various ethnic and cultural groups in Israel. The author is very good about interviewing typical people within each ethnic group with examples of their feelings toward Israel and their way of life. Highly recommended.

This new 2008 edition is a wonderful gift for readers of different religions, political backgrounds and ages.

I was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. As soon as I started reading The Israelis, I simply could not put it down. I learned about many varied faces of Israelis. The clear and easy prose and style of writing, the historical and political facts, the colorful anecdotes are enthralling and captivating. The book made me think and rethink about different issues that are an integral part of daily life in Israel -- and by extension throughout the Arab world.
It's packed full of information about different types of Arabic speaking Israelis -- Israeli Muslims, Christians and Druze. I learned a lot about their relationships within their communities and with other Israelis and Arabs outside Israel. Ms. Rosenthal does an excellent job elucidating issues that can change Arab thinking about Israel.
I highly recommend this 2008 edition of The Israelis for anyone interested in Israel, and also for anyone interested in grasping a better understanding of Arab society and its relationship to Israelis.

Layla Murad

Just finished the 2008 edition -- new and updated for Israel's 60th anniversary. Very stimulating. This famous book was recommended by Israeli friends -- and an Iraqi friend. It's filled with fascinating insights, you get nowhere else. Very balanced.
Fun to read, yet very deep. You really get an insider's look into the diverse lives of people whose a country is always in the headlines. You meet kids, techies, Russians, Ethiopians -- religious and not religious Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Students, soldiers, Google and Intel employees, Israeli Arabs -- they're all here and in their own words.

There is no other book on Israelis like this. It's very balanced, filled with fascinating insights into the lives of ordinary Israeli women, men and children from vastly different backgrounds. It's fun to read and reread. You'll smile, laugh and cry as you visit discos, battlefields and internet cafes, synagogues and mosques, learning about these hyper modern and very traditional Jewish, Muslim, Christians and Druze -- all Israelis.

This well researched masterpiece truly helps you understand what TV and newspaper reporters are not telling you. Every reporter based in the Middle East should read this book before letting the cameras roll. The Israelis is excellent for tourists, arm chair travelers, students, teachers, and diplomats.

You can't say you know much about Israel without reading this engaging, entertaining, original book. It's really fun to read, balanced and packed with fascinating information.

I hear about Israel on the news nearly everyday-- but until I read this absorbing book, I never knew much about regular Israeli people. The author lets all kinds of young Israelis speak. Female soldiers, Israeli Arabs and Israel Christians and religious and non religious Jews. My friend in Berlin told me about it -- she says The Israelis is selling like hotcakes in Germany.

If you are looking to learn about the real mix if people that we call the Israelis this is the book to read. Having been to Israel and returning aagain for 6 weeks this summer I now have a better insight into the people I met and will be with again. A beautiful book about a beautiful country and its people.

If you are looking to learn about the real mix if people that we call the Israelis this is the book to read. Having been to Israel and returning aagain for 6 weeks this summer I now have a better insight into the people I met and will be with again. A beautiful book about a beautiful country and its people.

I thought that I understood the dynamics of Israel in our world today. After reading this book, I can only take my hat off to all of the people in that country that are making it work. Ms. Rosenthal's work is so thorough and yet so interesting to read. I feel better after reading this book that the people living in Israel today will be able to withstand all of the forces that are against them in the troubled world today.

The author put quite a bit of work into writing "The Israelis" - and it shows. This book is especially useful for anyone truly interested in challenging their perceptions built up through a lifetime of mainstream media coverage of Israel.

I read most of the book on a flight to Israel. I found the information immediately useful in better understanding that complex society then finished it on my flight back.

In the amazing timing category, I had just read the chapter on Israel's ultra-Orthodox and their belief that Israel should not have been founded as a secular state (believing that only Messiah should do so) when I was amazed to see a TV news report showing four ultra-orthodox Jews standing next to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at his Holocaust denial conference. Some of the ultra-Orthodox community believes the Holocaust happened as God's punishment to the Jews for not being religious enough. It seems inconsistent to, on one hand participate in a Holocaust denial conference, and on the other believe that the Holocaust was somehow God's punishment, but there they were in Teheran. If it were not for having just read "The Israelis" I would have had no idea why.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to better understand Israel.

I should have read this book before traveling to Israel. Donna Rosenthal is a skilled writer and her antecdotes are often hilarious. Read "From Beirut to Jerusalem" for the politics and the views of the leaders, but read "The Israelis" to understand the opinions of everyday Israelis and to get a glimpse of what to expect when you're actually there. It's well worth a read.

A student gave me this book. Now I assign The Israelis in my university sociology class and students -- Jews, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists -- love it. It's lively, balanced and fascinating. The best book about contemporary Israelis I know.

Israelis of very different backgrounds -- youth, high techies, soldiers, Jews, Moslems, Christians, left and right wing -- tell me this is THE most outstanding, accurate and up-to-date book written about them in years. My colleagues in Israel, Germany and Japan are assiging it too.

The Israelis focuses on ordinary people, not the politicians. It smashes stereotypes. No better way to understand the many types of today's Israelis, from very modern to very traditional. And half of them are women.

No matter who you are - university or high school student; priest, pastor, immam; Israeli, Arab; tourist, business person, or diplomat - you'll read and REread THE ISRAELIS. It's wonderfully written, packed with information and let's Israelis speak in their own voices.

It's a mind opening gift for Jews, Christians and Muslims of all ages and outlooks.

I just visited Israel -- and this is the book that Israelis of all different political and religious backgrounds are reading. They say finally, this is the book that accurately captures their daily lives. The author goes from discos to Bedouin tents with satellite dishes to Intel's cafeteria to army bases and bedrooms. From mosques and synagogues to parties on the Sea of Galilee. The Israelis is fun and informative, the most important, insightful book about today's Israelis. I've given it as wedding, graduation and bar mitzvah gifts. Students and teachers, rock musicians and scientists, journalists and Christian and Jewish clergy will love it.

Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

What a lovely book! On returning from my first trip to Israel not long ago, friends and colleagues were stunned at how totally I -- a liberal secular non-Jew -- had fallen for Israel, and especially for the Israeli people. No doubt I sounded goofily infatuated trying to explain the resilience, toughness, crusty directness, the kindness, the wit, the incredible Israeli smile -- see, there I go again.

Well, they're each getting this book for the next birthday, because Donna Rosenthal so entertainingly illustrates and elaborates all that I was trying to get across, and more. She shines a gentle but penetrating light on the contemporary Israeli culture and people from inside out.

This is a wonderfully written book, intricately but smoothly woven from anecdotes, interviews, vignettes, histories, and possible futures; it is a pleasure to read. Most highly recommended!

I first read The Israelis about a year ago, and I enjoyed it very much. With the recent events in and around the country (the Hamas election victory, Ariel Sharon's new political party, his incapacitation) I decided to read it again. I started by looking up a few facts for a discussion group, and became so involved that I read the book a second time from cover to cover. I've discussed the book with friends from Israel, and all but one of them feel that it is an accurate view of modern life. The one person who didn't agree said it was "skewed," with not enough weight given to the various Orthodox communities and beliefs (she is Orthodox). The impression I had of her comments, though, were that she wasn't unhappy with the boook per se, but rather with the current path being taken by Israelis, and that this boook is promoting this path. My feeling was that it wasn't promoting, just reporting it as accurately as possible.

If you plan to take a trip to Israel, read this book first. You'll enjoy your trip much more than you expected.

The Israelis tells the undistorted truth about the rich ethnic, cultural, etc. heritage of the Israeli people. It tells of the ups and downs of Israeli culture and the Israeli way of life. Is full of surprises and things that you never knew! A Must Read!

Sidenote: I personally saw the author speak in Cincinnati, OH at my High School and she is a wonderful woman with much to say. This book is amazing and I recommend it to anyone and everyone no matter who they are, what they believe in, or where they came from.

Thanks,

Evan G. from Cincinnati, OH

To be honest, I picked up this book and started to read it simply out of boredom, but it turned out to greatly exceed my expectations. As an Israeli myself, I can truthfully say this book very accurately describes what life in Israel is like today - definitely not what we all see on television.

There are so many different cultures, beliefs, and ideas within Israel itself, and Donna Rosenthal did an excellent job portraying many of those lifestyles: the secular, the religious, the Christian, the Druze, etc. Her book does give the reader a pretty clear and truthful picture of the situation in the country.

Each of the stories she chose to write about were also quite interesting. The book was pretty much a page-turner for me. Even though I probably knew most of these things, as I've lived them myself, it was still a great read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wishes to get the true image of Israel, not what we see on the news every day.

All the stories were very clear and straight to the point. The ending chapter is dedicated to how it is possible to live together, after all, which I believe is very important.

Even though this book is quite a light read, I trust you'll still get a lot out of it!

As a professor of History, Political Science and Comparative Cultures for the past 25 years, I strongly recommend that ALL instructors incorporate this book in their courses on the Middle East. ALL of my students for the past 6 semesters wrote in their course evaluations that this was the BEST BOOK they have ever read at the university! In fact, more than half said it was the best book they've read in years! This book is extremely well written, factual, funny, and a fast read. FYI - The Department Heads of our Political Science and History Departments are recommending that their colleagues incorporate this book in their classrooms!

This book reflects a reality in Israel to which you - the reader - are an unsuspecting party: a battle for the soul of Israel between religious and secular, conservatives and liberals, friends and enemies of the state. From my perspective - a recent Oleh in Jerusalem - this book could not be more skewed to the political and social left. In every chapter, assuming there is potential, the author finds a way to skewer observant Jews, accusing them of everything from warped sexuality to outright racism. One example is an account of the Shas Party's anti-Russian campaign, presenting them as an expression of religious Jewish Israels..... without ever explaining that the Shas party is the expression primarily of very religious Mizrahi Jews and does not even remotely appeal to the greater Orthodox community. Statistics are also highly inaccurate: bandied about is this strange statistic that 500,000 Russian Olim are non-Jewish, when in reality it is closer to 330,000 and includes those who consider themselves Jews but do not meet the halakhic definition of such. Russian immigration has plummeted, recently, from 100,000 per year during the nineties to something like 3,500 per year, now. The author is pitching one more stone in the camp of pluralistic, pro-Palestinian liberal Israelis, hoping that you'll join in the quest to remould Israel in the cast of liberal American wishes. Do yourself a favor: don't bother with this one.

Upon returning back to the states after my second trip to Israel I was completely captivated once again by the breath taking beauty of the country. Alas, once again I was also confused and confounded over my feelings of pride and anguish. "The Israelis : Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land" by Donna Rosenthal, has helped to put some of my issues to rest. This is really a fabulous book.

This is an awesome and inspirational book, what more can I say?

The Israelis is the best book on Israel I have ever read. It does not sugar coat any aspect of the current situation and is honest in its evaluation of the participants. Rosenthal does an excellent job of giving the reader a taste of the "real Israel", one that they don't see on a two-week tour of the country. I have spent a lot of time in Israel and this book taught me more about the people than ever before. I recommend this book with extremly high regard; it is an extremely easy read and is dense in content. I feel like I personally know a new handful of Israelis after reading this book.

This is a very well written book about Israel. It consists of plenty of anecdotal information about a wide variety of aspects of Israeli life.

We see young adults, the army, and entrepreneurs. We see divisions among Jews into Ashkenazim, Mizrahim, Russians, Africans, Haredim, Orthodox, and Non-Orthodox. And we see the internal and external worries and problems they have. More than that, we see their reaction to "the situation," namely the war of annihilation being fought by extremist Arabs against the Jews of the region.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the description of non-Jewish Israelis: the Muslims, Bedouin, Druze, and Christians. I was amazed by the tolerance shown by the Israeli public for outright disloyalty to Israel in time of war shown by many non-Jews. I can't imagine acting so against a nation I happened to be visiting, let alone one I lived in and might even be a citizen of. These sections convinced me that there won't be any peace in the region for a long time.

One item I can't agree with is the subtitle: ordinary people in an extraordinary land. In fact, while the people are much the same as people everywhere, the land is also much the same as land everywhere. Israel is, after all, a small country that looms much larger than life due to the enormous amount of ink that is spent on it. Still, given some of the more outrageous things we sometimes see written about Israel and Israeli society from Israel's detractors, this book is a very refreshing change indeed.

This is perhaps the best book ever written on exploring the ordinary lives of Israelis,and the way they live now. It explores in great details the lives of a wide variety of Israelis, and gives much inside information on the society. It gives very sympathetic and understanding portraits of the victims of terror. And it shows a basic understanding of the complex social reality of Israel.
It does however it seem to fall short in its ultimate political judgment and wisdom, with its endorsement of a two- state solution that might be disastrous for Israel. .It is also perhaps not completely fair and understanding of the Jewish religious public in Israel.
Nonetheless there is no other book I can think of which puts the reader more directly in contact with so many different Israelis from so many different walks of life. And it thus presents something of the complexity of Israeli life which is ordinarily absent in cliche and cardboard presentations of it in the mass media.

A light, breezy entertaining bit of pop-ethnology, fit to put on the shelf with such classics as Hedrick Smith's _The Russians_, Dusko Doder's _The Yugoslavs_, and Luigi Barzini's _The Italians_. Rosenthal interviewed an impressive cross-section of Israeli society, from all backgrounds and viewpoints. It's especially affecting to read the interviews with the young people, whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, with their too-soon exposure to war's ugliness and their simultaneous brave hopes for the future. Caution: many if not most of the interviewees are pseudonymous.

It's a far-ranging book, with too many interesting foci to list completely: The decline of the collective ethic on Israel's kibbutzes. The insular nature of the ultra-Orthodox communities, and the painfully high human cost of leaving. The presence of ordinary vice and corruption, and how terrorists use the drug trade as a weapon of war. A potted history of Zionism, with many personal reminiscences of the 1948 war. Tours through the minority communities such as the Druze, the Bedouin, the Jews from Arab lands, and subcultures such as Russian prostitutes and gay Israelis.

Welcome inclusions are factual takedowns of widespread lies such as the Jenin "massacre". But polemics are not the meat of the book, the people are. It is very good to finally have some voices to put with the faces of this remarkable people. Let one of the interviewees have the last word:

"We're always in the headlines. _The New York Times_. CNN.
The BBC. We get more coverage than India. Than China. Than the entire continent of Africa. There's so much news about us, you'd think we're also a billion people, not six million. We're all the time on TV and front pages, so people think they know us. Unsmiling soldiers. Screaming settlers. Crying mourners. Bearded guys in black hats. Well, Israelis are much more than those photos. We complain about our teachers. Worry about exams. Flirt at parties. Wonder if we look good in our bathing suits. We curse at traffic jams and cut in line at the movies. We've got normal fears and dreams. Like young people everywhere, we want to find love and be loved. We're just normal people trying to live in this abnormal, tiny, beautiful country."

Rosenthal does a stupendous job of illuminating the shadowy corners, bright spots and internal conflicts of this tiny country filled with Jews from all over the world, with little in common but a beleaguered history of persecution.

With a lively and well-organized mixture of reporting, history and interviews, Rosenthal brings cultures and neighborhoods to life. She begins with the violence - a bus blown up by a suicide bomber, then follows the tentacles of conflict into everyday life. It's the violence that fuels the youth culture of work hard, play hard, and fosters a cross-cultural, patriotic military solidarity that cuts through religious and political differences.

While the first section concentrates on what Israelis share, the second divides them into groups. The European Ashkenazi, educated, dominant, and often secular, arouse resentment in the middle-Eastern Mizrahi who are more religious, more conservative and poorer. Then there are the Russians, hordes of them, mostly secular, and many not even Jewish (only one Jewish grandparent is required for immigration). And strangest of all, the Ethiopians, wholly isolated and heroically rescued, many of whom never saw electricity until emigration.

The third section explores religious differences: the anti-Zionist Haredim who, ironically, absorb the most from the welfare state with their large families and non-working, scholarly fathers; the Orthodox, who make up the bulk of the settlers in the occupied territories, and write the rules for marriage and divorce, and the Non-Orthodox who make up 80 percent of the population. Then there are the non-Jews: the Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bedouin.

And finally there's the sexual revolution - marriage and divorce, homosexuality, prostitution.

Rosenthal lets individual voices emerge from the clamor and cacaphony to plead their way of life with fervor, hope, defiance and sometimes bewilderment. Her reportage and history blend seamlessly with the interviews to provide context. This is a masterful portrait of a country built on a commonality, but rife with contradictions. It'll make you wonder what will happen if peace ever comes. A fascinating read about a tiny, beseiged country, populated by the whole wide world.