Religion

I just finished reading Michael Chabon's excellent The Yiddish Policeman's Union (for which there are total spoilers below the fold, by the way). A very interesting read, having just visited Israel recently. For those who are not familiar, the novel deals with an alternate timeline in which the United States offered a large tract of land in Alaska as a safe haven for European Jews fleeing the Holocaust (a plan that was proposed in real life, but killed in committee in the Senate. In the book, the main detractor of the plan is killed in a car accident). Incidentally, or perhaps because there were not enough refugees to populate the then-fledging State of Israel, the independence war of 1948 is lost to the Arabs (in real life, it was won) and Israel collapses. Only a few die-hards remain in Jerusalem, which is otherwise entirely under Arab control.

I just returned from a 12-day trip to Israel provided to me by a conclave of Zionist masterminds Birthright Israel which hands out free trips to the Holy Land for Jews aged 18-26. On the whole, it was a pretty positive experience. This particular trip was for people 22 and over, so it generally screened out the people who planned to use the trip mostly as an excuse to party and drink in a country whose drinking age is 18. Our group, fortunately, consisted mostly of pretty smart folks who had a more or less sincere interest in seeing Israel for what it was and trying to understand what our relationship to it as American Jews ought to be.