The Weight of Three Thousand Years
Forewords by Gore Vidal and Edward Said
With a new introduction by Norton Mezvinsky
Pluto Press, 2002 (1994)
Amazon.com (2024 edition)
Publisher’s description of the 2008 edition:
Israel Shahak was a remarkable man. Born in the Warsaw ghetto and a survivor of Belsen, Shahak arrived in Israel in 1945. Brought up under Jewish Orthodoxy and Hebrew culture, he consistently opposed the expansion of the borders of Israel from 1967.
In this extraordinary and highly acclaimed book, Shahak embarks on a provocative study of the extent to which the secular state of Israel has been shaped by religious orthodoxies of an invidious and potentially lethal nature. Drawing on the Talmud and rabbinical laws, Shahak argues that the roots of Jewish chauvinism and religious fanaticism must be understood before it is too late.
Written from a humanitarian viewpoint by a Jewish scholar, this is a rare and highly controversial criticism of Israel that will both excite and disturb readers worldwide.
Blurbs and reviews on the back cover and in the front matter:
“Shahak is an outstanding scholar, with remarkable insight and depth of knowledge. His work is informed and penetrating, a contribution of great value.”
Noam Chomsky
“Let me recommend [Shahak’s] latest book … In it Shahak subjects the whole history of Orthodoxy to a hilarious and scrupulous critique.”
Christopher Hitchens, The Nation
“The future of the Palestinian people would have looked much brighter if there had been more Israelis like Shahak … An outstanding personality.”
The Jerusalem Times
“Shahak is a very brave man who should be honored for his services to humanity … One of the most remarkable individuals in the contemporary Middle East.”
Edward Said
“This is a remarkable book … [It] deserves a wide readership, not only among Jews, but among Christians who seek a fuller understanding both of historical Judaism and of modern-day Israel.”
Ted Schmidt, Catholic New Times
“Shahak’s overview of Jewish history is both erudite and readable … The shell containing the polemic core of the essay, in which the Jewish religion’s attitude to non-Jews is exposed and dissected … is a trail-blazing, double taboo-breaking piece of dynamite.”
Middle East International
“Above all, Shahak has the courage to say what most Israelis do not dare to say and definitely do not want to hear … Remarkable, powerful and provocative.”
London Review of Books
“Anyone who wants to change the Jewish community so that it stops siding with the forces of reaction should read this book.”
Raphael Salkie, Jewish Socialist
“Shahak is the latest – if not the last – of the great prophets.”
Gore Vidal
“[This is] a powerful book calling on Jews … to face up to some abhorrent aspects of their own religious heroes and traditions … Israel Shahak’s stirring challenge has deep relevance for Israel’s present policies.”
Tom Harpur, The Toronto Star
“Israel Shahak won fame in Israel by his principled persistence in telling truths which most Israelis don’t like to hear.
[This] book offers three central theories … [one] is that the heritage of Jewish fanaticism, especially in the domain of Jewish attitudes towards Gentiles, is a stumbling block preventing the development of a secular and enlightened Jewish civilization.”
Benyamin Beit-Hallahmi, Haaretz
“The real test facing both Israeli and diaspora Jews is the test of their self-criticism, which must include the critique of the Jewish past. Most disturbing, Shahak insists that the religion, in its classical and Talmudic form, is ‘poisoning the minds and hearts’. This controversial attack of Isreal by a Jew is bound to alarm Jewry worldwide.”
American Library Association Booklist
“[Shahak is] a fine scholar and Israel’s foremost defender of human rights … [this is] a ruthlessly penetrating examination of Jewish religion and history.”
Ian Gilmore, London Review of Books
“We should all be grateful that Dr Shahak has persevered and given us this important work. His message gets to the heart of U.S.-Israeli relations. It is not only Jews who should read Jewish History, Jewish Religion, but Christians as well.”
Grace Halsell, Middle East Policy
“Shahak’s book is among the few that are most essential to those of us interested in the Middle East.”
Henry Fischer, The Link
Chapters:
1 A Closed Utopia?
2 Prejudice and Prevarication
3 Orthodoxy and Interpretation
4 The Weight of History
5 The Laws Against Non-Jews
6 Political Consequences
About the Author:
Israel Shahak was a resident of the Warsaw Ghetto and a survivor of Bergen-Belsen. He arrived in Palestine in 1945 and lived there for the rest of his life. He was an outspoken critic of the state of Israel and a human rights activist. He was also the author of the highly acclaimed Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel (Pluto Press, 1999) and Open Secrets: Israeli Nuclear and Foreign Policies (Pluto Press, 1997).
Jan Olof Bengtsson 