…Against the background of the growing (and even obligatory) trend of commercialization, cartelization, shallowness and banality in the world of book publishing and distribution in our country, a positive view must be taken of an attempt at personal seclusion and personal expression, as well as the willingness to fearlessly explore these areas.

Nimrod Publishing House revealed an element of such willingness when, with little fanfare, it published Eretz, Brith, the first book by Ofra Yeshua-Lyth. As we hope to explain later, this is an exceptional literary composition combining autobiographical narrative with the enunciation of a bold ideological concept. The book excels above all in its honesty, its lucidity of expression and the original manner in which it answers the question implied in the book's sub-title" "How was political Zionism defeated by the Jewish religion?"

Concisely and clearly, the cover of the book describes its main message: An examination from the critic's own colorful and entertaining perspective of "the basic failure of identity that afflicts the State of Israel, one of the few countries in the world that has yet to make a distinction between religion and the codex of civil legislation. Internal conflicts - communal, ethnic and social - are a result of this failure, which also lies at the heart of the regional conflict."

Anyone who after reading this now goes on to peruse the book itself will have to admit that this is indeed a description of the state of affairs in our country. Eventually, one is also likely to admit that due, at the very least to the combination of light narrative style with a direct, consistent and aggressive frontal flow, one did not lay down the book till it had been read to the very end.

Those who do indeed read to the end will understand why over a full year elapsed from the time of the book's publication, before anyone could be found to relate to it either in any of the electronic media or the written media.

Those reading to the end of the book will agree with me, at least in their heart of hearts, that there is little chance of finding writers from any of the media in Israel who will seek out the book Eretz, Brith in the wake of the review published here, and discuss its narrative.

No one has to agree with all the analyses, assumptions and definitions with which Ofra Yeshua deals when discussing the basic question of Israel's nature and identity. But it is impossible not to respect the courage, the honesty and the clarity with which she confronts these questions. It is also difficult to deny that she really takes the bull by the horns. Moreover, it can even be said that she grabs by the horns all of the bulls in the arena from the time that she names them one by one, ignoring the consensus on letting them be, and drags them from their hidden dens.

She does not hesitate to assert that it is "no mere chance" that Judaism is such an isolated and reclusive form of human culture. Moreover, an innocent aspiration to establish a democratic state with a Jewish character in the Middle East , "has drawn the Israelis into a strange, impossible and damaging effort to maintain by means of secular rule the statutory power of an outdated system of laws and religious stipulations, representing one of the most extreme versions of an ancient religion".

Ofra Yeshua readily understands that "only blindness or serious fatigue can explain" why non-religious Israelis "almost totally refrain from confronting the rigidity and sanctimoniousness with which Judaism defines their national identity". She clearly sees that "left and right are united in their aspiration to fight for any price to maintain 'a Jewish majority in the State of Israel'", and that the only difference between them is that "the enlightened left" want to achieve this goal by evicting Jews from parts of the country where non-Jews live, while "the right" expect to achieve it by evicting non-Jews from those parts of the country "coveted by the Jews".

"The Israeli community" as the author puts it, "has a need for complete isolation on a religious basis". She claims "this is indeed the basic Zionist failure, from which there is no escape", and "since the only Judaism acknowledged by the state institutions …. is orthodoxy, the Jews have no chance of maintaining a majority" between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. A partition of this area into two states might - perhaps -preserve a "Jewish" majority in the "Jewish" state for merely a few more decades, with that majority being forced to ceaselessly abuse "those designated to be second and third-class citizens". And of course, here is a surefire recipe for endless irredentism and violence.

An important and necessary conclusion to be drawn here is that placing religion in the center of the national experience "sabotages in advance the chances of the birth of a genuine new nation modeled on those immigrant communities that have blossomed throughout the world". Even if we are to agree, that a "cohesive Israeli community" emerged here during the initial years of the state, today it is "crumbling and collapsing under the pressures that have arisen due to the anachronistic principles and rules" that its members took on themselves.

I enjoyed reading your book Eretz, Brith. It is brave of you to touch on subjects that so many are afraid to approach out of fear of incurring the wrath of those who wish to tell us what to think and what to say.

A concerned person with a sober outlook feels alone in the face of the wall of ignorance and evil. Your book serves as a source of encouragement for those who are standing by the gates and warning of the dangers that will lead to a flood of ignominy. The book Eretz, Brith - How Political Zionism was Defeated by the Jewish Religion exceeds the bounds of its title, and mirrors the multi-faceted reality of our everyday life.

Eretz, Brith shatters illusions and breaks away from a consensus born of ignorance and falsehood.

I was able to identify with the human outlook emanating from every sentence in the book, and I recommend it for every reader who cares about our existence as a country, as a people and as a society in such a turbulent region as ours.

Eretz, Brith is one of these surprising books one discovers by pure chance. Somebody recommended that I read the book, so I did and found it an enriching experience. This is a book that looks deeply into the main delineators of life in Israel.

The author, Ofra Yeshua, does not repeat the common wisdoms of others, but deals with the issues that concern our very existence here, in her own independent and original manner.

It is a long time since I have read such a serious work that combines personal recollections within a pool of collective experiences. This it does faithfully and skillfully.

Eretz, Brith is a powerful and fascinating book about our increasingly dismal existence in this country of ours that has lost its way, at a time when innocent hope still lingers in the hearts of all of us. Despite its political character, the book is anything but a detached and elitist theoretical study. Its major achievement is in the fascinating connection that it makes between the personal and nationalistic, between a political philosophy that is expounded rhetorically and assertively, and a warm and touchingly human literary description of the author's family and her childhood in the nineteen fifties and sixties, in an innocent country that was still full of hope. [….] This is a subversive literary text, which within seconds moves the Zionist narrative to a new, refreshing and mongrelized phase, positioning the book at the forefront of the most important political and feminist texts to be written in recent years.

The book is amazing, touched my most sensitive chords and made me very mindful of everything that has aroused my concern in recent years […] So much courage and honesty have been combined in this book that it is really most embarrassing for me to say how touched I was by it.

Just a few words about the book. In my opinion, it is a gem […] What I particularly liked is the presentation of the most important, and also the most common components of the Israeli experience in a new and challenging light, in my eyes at least […] The analysis of the roots of the rise to power of the Shas party is brilliant. The section on the contemporary relevance of Altneuland is wonderful. The section on Washington is fantastic […]

…Thank you for the wonderful book you sent me […] It really is a most comprehensive and detailed review of the entire range of problems facing our society. This is a graceful work replete with interesting and attractive stories […] I found in the book chapters that are stunning in their pioneering nature. I do not think the matter of (Jewish ritual) circumcision has ever been explained so extensively and so effectively, together with a fine reflection of Herzel's works and many other interesting subjects. I took particular pleasure in the fact that you explicitly said how right it might have been after the Six Day War to open up our society to them [to the Palestinian residents of the occupied territories - translator's comment].

First and foremost, Yeshua-Lyth's book provides the reader's basic expectations - it is both fascinating and readable, while also presenting innovative and provoking insights.

Lyth very skillfully manages to create, chapter by chapter, an alternation between the personal and the general-national […] The reader is exposed to literary and historical sources that have for long been neglected. Sections from Altneuland present Herzel's stature not only as the visionary of the state, but also his amazing adeptness in anticipating the development of relations with the Arabs, and in presenting practical solutions that are still valid for (proper) leaders in our time. Fierberg's Le'un ("To Where") is also raised from oblivion to a surprisingly relevant extent.

Lyth's national and social concepts are difficult to digest even for those who regard themselves as diehard leftists […] One way or another, the book is very readable and remains with us over time. New viewpoints, even if they cannot be adopted personally, are acquired through reading the book.

[…] The book is notable for the painful exposure of our national-genetic weaknesses, but is actually written from an optimistic viewpoint. By the end of the book, one is overwhelmed by a strange sense of curiosity, wondering how this country really will look in another decade or two. However, not for a moment can one forget in this respect that one is not a bystander, as the matter concerns one's own future and the future of those nearest and dearest.

Eretz, Brith is a powerful, fascinating and challenging book that does not just make do with a conceptual description of reality but aspire to change it. Simultaneously, it lays bare the expositive and emotional planes, addresses the intellect and asks major fundamental questions about life in Israel. This is a book that asks: "Why are people ill at all", rather than "How is it possible to shorten the queue to the doctor". The book offers a different format for perusing religiosity and secularity, and faces head-on and lucidly the issue of separation of religion and state.

I have not seen such a sharp and relevant and such clearly flowing critique on the ruling institutional religion since I read Andor Jay's ample novel Walter Walter decades ago. Ofra Yeshua-Lyth's book Eretz, Brith prompted me to make this literary association. […]

It is difficult to think Eretz, Brith will leave any of its readers indifferent. Reactions when reading the book range between "exactly what I thought" (in my case, on the religious-secular issue) and "I haven't though about this from that angle" (chapters on the demographic issue) up to "I never even thought about it" (Jewish ritual circumcision). There are those who will be outraged by the opinions expressed in it on the different matters discussed, there are those who will completely or partly agree, and it can be very reasonably assumed that there are those who in their pious wrath will lambaste the writer and what she writes […]

A book that truly reaches the heart […] A wonderful text on racism, nauseating ethnicity and life amidst a multiple and concealed identity. Unfortunately, some of today's children could write a text such as this on their childhood in forty years time […] I devoured the book ravenously and only stopped once because of the day's work […]

My dear Ofra, your book held me in its grip from beginning to end. Apart from your own personal viewpoint, it exposes everything that we wanted to brush under the carpet. You are to be congratulated for confronting head-on problems that many of us prefer to ignore or forget completely. You skillfully describe what others think in their heart of hearts but dare not say. Even if I sometimes disagree with your conclusions, and here and there I feel like arguing about one point or another, I think this book is obligatory for those who care about where they are living and what kind of country we will bequeath to our children.

Dear Ofra,
This morning at 4am I finished reading your fascinating and challenging book. I have to admit, reading took longer than I expected. Partly because I am one of those who read every word never missing a line, but mainly because I enjoyed the process of reading which included the pain over the reality so skillfully described. It was like savoring vintage wine and holding the liquid in one's mouth to prolong the pleasure, knowing it is bound to induce a bad heartburn once it reaches the sore stomach ulcer.

Indeed, not only did I completely identify with your analysis but it sifted further into my painful inner conscious which I constantly try to suppress knowing how little I may do to change the daily reality and its implications on the future.

The last, wonderful chapter set my imagination blooming into a hopeful future which unfortunately I have no chance of seeing in my own lifetime. Thank you.

I have read "Eretz, Brith" in one gulp from the first word to the last, and enjoyed every moment. Many descriptions brought back exciting moments, I was sorry when the book came to an end. I am sure I shall get back to it some day, as one does with those beloved books that survive any length of time.