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"Jews, God, and History" - Readable but Unhistorical

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Max Dimont's "Jews, God, and History" is a now well-known summary of the subject. As has been pointed out by many previous reviewers, this book is appropriately acclaimed for being readable, helpfully condensed, and free of scholarly obfuscation. His collection of the facts of Jewish history is accessible in ways that more detailed and research-based works are not. One could quickly use an outline of the book to keep the chronology straight and get immediate access to greater detail when needed. He summarizes the key events and issues of Jewish history in a manner that can act as an introduction to more detailed works. Unlike more scholarly works, he is honest about his advocacy. He advocates a universal rationalism, on the model of Spinoza, rather than a philosophy based on revelation or authority. He minimizes the effects of Christianity and Islam. He is unabashed in his citation of the beneficial effects of Jewish innovations. His roll call of influential Jewish individuals (pp. 328-372) is a mini-encyclopedia in itself. He advocates a non-supernatural approach to history, so he accepts historical and psychological rather than theistic explanations. His secular approach may make the book more accessible to a larger audience. Dimont's assets are as monumental as are his liabilities, with three areas of particular weakness. First, the title is a misnomer. The book contains a lot about the Jews, a lot about history, and little or nothing about God. It therefore has the paradoxical effect of portraying the uniquely Jewish theology as unnecessary to understanding Jewish history. Second, Dimont states that whether God is or is not involved in history is irrelevant to the story of the Jews. "It makes no difference whether it was Abraham who projected this experience onto an imaginary Jehovah or a real Jehovah who proposed it to Abraham." Lastly, Dimont's book contains numerous historical inaccuracies, unsupported theological speculations, and personal prejudices. The following are examples: "Moses is to Judaism what Jesus is to Christianity." On the contrary, most Jewish authorities cite Abraham as Judaism's founding father, and Moses as neither divine nor a cosmic savior. "In its early days Christianity, too, was embraced mainly by slaves." This is historically inaccurate because none of the 12 disciples were slaves, the early priests and bishops could not have also been slaves, and the Roman homeowners who held early Christian services in their homes could not have been both homeowners and slaves. "It makes no difference whether Moses was a Jew or not." The evidence of Jewish scripture states the opposite. Dimont refers to the Maccabean revolt "as the world's first religious war." However, religious holy war was practiced during time of Saul, centuries before the Maccabees The author cited two events which led to the downfall of Rome: the growth of Christianity and the migration of the Huns. Historians have shown that the growth of Christianity helped the Roman emperor Constantine solidify his power and build up the Roman Empire. In addition, the growth of Christianity strengthened the Eastern Roman Empire until the 15th century. The author claims that "Christianity existed at least two hundred years before Jesus". He bases his opinion on the Dead Sea Scrolls' description of the Essene Community. How is it possible that Christianity existed prior to Jesus' birth? "Nothing he [Jesus] preached, taught, or said was in contradiction to what other Jewish prophets, rabbis, or sects said or taught." On the contrary, Jesus' controversial practices of working on the Sabbath, eating with gentile sinners, and claiming to be able to absolve sins incurred the wrath of local Jewish religious authorities. "[St. Paul] had repeated hallucinations." Historical evidence indicates that Paul's visions and intuitions were no different from those of other important religious leaders throughout history. "From a historical viewpoint it makes no difference whether Christ actually appeared to Paul or whether Paul had a hallucinative experience." However, it does make a difference whether historical evidence indicates that Paul had visions of Jesus as the eternal Christ or whether he was a madman experiencing hallucinations, which are contrary to observable fact and equivalent to psychosis. "Jesus had taught that one learned to love God by loving man." Evidence of the New Testament states the reverse. "Islam had succeeded where Christianity had failed." Dimont explains that by the 7th century Islam had spread its influence throughout the Mediterranean world. However, Christianity had already become the official religion of the Roman Empire, two centuries before the time of Mohammed. "It may be that Nietzsche did not advocate what he wrote." To the contrary, Nietzsche never printed any retractions and consistently maintained and published the same point of view from early adulthood throughout his life.

A BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD READ

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This is a book that everyone should read. Not only does it teach all about the history and meandering of the Jewish people, but also about much of European history as well. The survival of the Jewish people throughout the past 2000 years despite almost non-stop attack and anti-Semitism from all sides of the Christian world is probably the most amazing miracle that exists, and the lessons derived from knowing this history are truly awe-inspiring and dramatic. It is a deftly written, highly engaging book which contains tons of information but in a style that is approachable and entertaining. The author, Max Dimont, is a wonderful writer and historian. I strongly recommend this book to all, including those who are not Jewish. Everyone would benefit from knowing the information in this book.

Non-Lachrymose Jewish History; Nazi Genocide of Jews and Slavs; etc.

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This fact-filled book [review based on the 1962 edition] offers so much! One might be surprised to learn that the Karaite revolt was quite similar to the later Protestant Reformation (pp. 204-208), that the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus had converted the Idumeans and the Galileans to Judaism by force (p. 91, 98), and that some Jews burned Maimonides' works even before Christians ever burned a single copy of the Talmud. (p. 182, 240) Thereafter, many more unauthorized copies of the New Testament went up in flames than Talmuds, while Jewish translations of the Old Testament were never burned by Christians. (p. 240) Ironically, early laws restricting Jewish life were commonly modeled after similar Old Testament and Talmudic laws that restricted non-Jews (p. 219), and the later Inquisition's authority for executing heretics (BTW rarely Jews, except Marranos: p. 226, 315) was based directly upon Deuteronomy 17:2-5. (p. 224) Jews generally chose to live apart from gentiles (p. 251, 254). Compulsory ghettoization didn't occur until much later, and then only in specific locations (p. 251, 255). Dimont focuses on Jewish achievements and privileges (e. g., most medieval Jews were freer than most gentiles: p. 303), and puts pre-Nazi European Jewish sufferings in perspective: "It must not be supposed that the majority of Christians hated the Jews. Quite the contrary. Only a small segment were Jew-baiters. When left to themselves, Jew and Christian lived peacefully side by side...It must also be remembered that the ritual-murder charges, the Host-desecration libels, and pogroms took place over a period of seven hundred years and over an entire continent. By and large, most of the ghettos and shtetls were not affected by pogroms or general maraudings." (p. 258) Compulsory ghettoization, and accusations of ritual murder, Host-desecration, well-poisoning, etc., didn't begin until about 1100 AD (p. 220), and usually were the most common and extreme in Germany and Austria. (pp. 239, 242, 246-247, 251, 254, 255) The first expulsion of Jews from a nation wasn't until 1290--from England (p. 229) The Crusaders, whose ranks included not only the devout but also criminally-minded adventurers, were equal-opportunity killers of Jews and non-Jews. (p. 220-221) Compulsory wearing of the yellow badge didn't begin until 1215 (p. 220) and didn't apply to Jews living in the shtetl. (p. 257) Dimont (pp. 377-378) gives details on the anti-Christian character of Nazism, and rejects the emphasis upon "unequal victims": "If the Christian reader dismisses what had happened in Germany as something which affected a few million Jews only, he has not merely shown his contempt for the 7 million Christians but has betrayed his Christian heritage as well. And, if the Jewish reader forgets the 7 million Christians murdered by the Nazis, then he has not merely let 5 million Jews die in vain but has betrayed his Jewish heritage of compassion and justice." (p. 388) Unfortunately, Dimont repeats Polonophobic whoppers--the "Polish nonhelp" to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the later "well-armed" Warsaw Polish insurgents (p. 384), and--even more unbelievable-- "Poles turning over" 2.8 million Jews to the Germans for extermination. (p. 386) As for non-Jewish victims, Dimont writes: "The chilling reality is that when the Russians overran the concentration camps in Poland they found enough Zyklon B crystals to kill 20 million people. Yet there were no more than 3 million Jews left in Europe. The ratio of contemplated mass killing was no longer 1.4 Christians for every Jew, but 5.3 Christians for every Jew. Nazi future plans called for the killing of 10 million non-Germanic people every year." (p. 388).

Jews, God and History

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I enjoyed this book and recommend it. Max Dimont wrote with a contagious enthusiasm that flows from chapter to chapter giving the feeling of almost being present in the time and moving with the writer from one era to the next, starting with the Pagan Period and the first obstacle to Jewish survival around 4500B.C. and coming to the conclusion around the time of Pasestine/Israel 1914. (The book was written in 1962, and Max Dimont passed away in 1992). He puts an almost storybook quality to his historical viewpoints, and sometimes it does seem that he makes generalizations or takes liberties, though he does say in one chapter about Moses that "this of course is not conclusive evidence, but it gives some basis for such a speculation". Acceptance of the Jewish people throughout history seems to "wax and wane", and sometimes human nature proves at it's worse, but Max moves you along through the history of the Jews like a tour guide on a bus, pointing out all of the contributions, obstacles and entertaining bits of history along the way. The contributions of the Jews is astounding to our civilization. There are many facts that I don't think most non-Jews are even aware of, but that can be cross referenced and backed up with other literature if you are interested in the research.

Excellent!

Customer Rating:

This was an excellent book. When I originally picked the book up I wasn't sure what to expect. I wanted more than a general overview of Jewish history. I also wanted something that would help me understand the Middle East conflict better but also provide an objective analysis of it. This book did just that. That is not to say that there weren't parts of the book I found really subjective in its material. The first few chapters dealing with the biblical history of the Jews seemed to be presented in a more cynical light (especially when Jesus Christ was introduced). Likewise the last chapter or two of the book also had a rather subjective tone dispersed through out its discussion of the middle eastern conflict in the last century. The majority of the book however, which discussed Jewish history between their biblical origins and their modern day circumstances, was a very interesting comprehensive analysis. I especially liked the author's ability to differentiate the difference between anti-Jewish sentiments and anti-semitism. I was also encouraged by the author's very objective analysis of circumstances where both Jews and Christians were victims (and more often than not, the Christians made up the majority of such victims). By the end of the book, one as a greater appreciation for the intriguing journey of the Jewish peoples. They are fascinating as a culture, and their ability to survive as such regardless of their home or their conquerors. The book does not deal with any recent middle eastern events given that the author died in the early nineties, but the analysis has definitely motivated me to get more information.