Publisher's Synopsis
This book is for you if you wish to learn more about the fascinating history of the European Jew.
One of the oldest living people groupings on the globe is the Jewish people. The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Sumerians-all of whom have since vanished from history-lived side by side with the Jews. But Jews are still around. Despite all the difficulties, Jewish religion, laws, culture, and language have persisted for thousands of years. The Jews were able to uphold their traditions even after being expelled from their homeland and dispersed across the globe. They formed specific guidelines to live by while in exile through rabbinical literature like the Talmud, which provided them with a moral compass by which to live, regardless of where they would wind up. For the Jewish people, despite having to live in less than ideal conditions, this was a huge source of comfort. Their enduring ties to their traditions. Great brains, like Moses Mendelssohn, emerged even from the harshest ghettos in Europe and enlightened the world with their concepts. Because of how clearly this light shone, complete emancipation of Jews quickly became the standard in the developed world. But when the Nazis took control of Germany in the middle of the 20th century, calamity hit. This horrifying tyranny subjected the Jewish people to death and destruction on a scale that the world had never seen before. The Jews did survive the Holocaust, despite its atrocities. In addition to surviving, Israel, their former homeland, was soon revived and born again. The great ideal of having a Jewish safe haven became a reality in 1948, when Israel became a state.
