If there is the notion that Jews went to their deaths like sheep, then we have many notables who embrached that notion, including Bettleheim, Hilberg, and Hannah Arendt. https://share.google/aimode/s707Khf1idmeyPipD
Thanks Miranda, great essay, shkoyach! I also loved this book, and it's amazing how Matti Friedman took history from 80 years ago and delved into its relevance and parallels to our current times. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year, as well.
I loved his insight about so many Zionists having backgrounds in literature. So much of the Zionist movement involved giving Jews a story about themselves that would be compelling and give them the strength to perform this incredibly heavy lift of building a Jewish state out of homeless refugees fleeing antisemitic persecution. Even the euphemisms the movement employed, like rather than running away from persecution, someone is "making aliyah" ("ascending"), or instead of being homeless, someone is moving to the place that is their true home. He always has such incredible insights into Jewish history and Israel.
And also where he compared the relative worldwide fame of Anne Frank with how Hannah Senesh is essentially unknown outside of Jewish circles. His reflections on some of the reasons for this discrepancy gave much food for thought (similar to some of the ideas that Dara Horn has written about).
It is worth noting that Israel, a newly formed nation, was hardly fullly receptive to Holocaust survivors who had relocated to Israel: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/bec235ff-ccdd-493f-9b7a-0c03675c6a47
That's true! Thanks for sharing
If there is the notion that Jews went to their deaths like sheep, then we have many notables who embrached that notion, including Bettleheim, Hilberg, and Hannah Arendt. https://share.google/aimode/s707Khf1idmeyPipD
Thanks Miranda, great essay, shkoyach! I also loved this book, and it's amazing how Matti Friedman took history from 80 years ago and delved into its relevance and parallels to our current times. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year, as well.
I loved his insight about so many Zionists having backgrounds in literature. So much of the Zionist movement involved giving Jews a story about themselves that would be compelling and give them the strength to perform this incredibly heavy lift of building a Jewish state out of homeless refugees fleeing antisemitic persecution. Even the euphemisms the movement employed, like rather than running away from persecution, someone is "making aliyah" ("ascending"), or instead of being homeless, someone is moving to the place that is their true home. He always has such incredible insights into Jewish history and Israel.
And also where he compared the relative worldwide fame of Anne Frank with how Hannah Senesh is essentially unknown outside of Jewish circles. His reflections on some of the reasons for this discrepancy gave much food for thought (similar to some of the ideas that Dara Horn has written about).
(!וגם אני תמיד שוכח לשכוח 😀)
That Anne Frank paragraph had me SHOOK. I underlined the heck out of it! Thanks for your comment! :) glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did.
Thank you for this informative history lesson Miranda. And I’m putting this book on my list!
Thanks for reading! Obviously took some inspiration from our learning session.