Why I Wrote a Jewish Pocket History in This Moment
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks, American Jewry has been thrust into an “eighth front” of the Israel-Hamas war: the fight for truth amid a torrent of lies. Members of our community have faced unprecedented vitriol online, on university quads, and in the streets of major cities for their support of Israel.
Oct. 7 served as a wake-up call for American Jews of all stripes. In an instant, the rug was pulled from under us. Many of us felt betrayed by fair-weather friends who bolted when we needed them most, worn down from justifying our views to a war-weary public, and demoralized by fears about our place in Western society.
As our community grapples with this fallout, we have tended to direct the blame outward. Why, despite the long shadow of the Holocaust, has the West tolerated this onslaught of hatred? How has America, the “golden land” whose shores have afforded Jews untold opportunities, stood by this erosion of its liberal values?
These are important questions – but the current moment also demands an internal reckoning.
After Oct. 7, while I was an undergraduate at Princeton University, I witnessed firsthand the effects of a discourse untethered to the truth. When students took part in anti-Israel protests, I was often struck not only by the immorality of their words, but by their disregard for history and contempt for the facts.
Equally concerning has been the widespread lack of historical knowledge within the American-Jewish community. I have seen many voices in our camp who are passionate and engaged, but who lack the grounding necessary to make sense of today’s events. What troubles me most is not their heart – which is in the right place – but that their lack of historical perspective leaves them reacting defensively in the face of opposition.
As Jews, we feel history deep in our kishkes. We are inheritors of a narrative that is at once beautiful, tragic, and eternal. Our rituals are suffused with references to our persistence amid the churn of civilizations. Our texts encourage us to take a long view of history and warn of the perils of shortsightedness. We reaffirm this every Passover when we recite the Vehi Sheamda: In every generation, our enemies rise up to destroy us, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers us from their hands.
And yet, for too many American Jews, there has been no truly accessible resource that situates today’s reality within the proper historical frame.
In the summer of 2024, I decided to write the book I wished had existed: a pocket history capable of communicating our four-thousand-year story in a concise and intelligible format. After extensive research, I completed A Brief History of Israel and the Jewish People, which was recently published by Wicked Son.
The goal of my book is simple: to give readers the historical grounding needed to engage thoughtfully in current debates. The primer assumes no prior knowledge and is intended for audiences from an array of backgrounds, ages, and political persuasions. Lively and narrative-driven, it is intellectual without being academic, informative without being dense, and comprehensive without being excessive.
The work has been endorsed by leading Jewish thinkers, including Rabbi David Wolpe, Dara Horn, Professor Gil Troy, and Yossi Klein Halevi. With philanthropic support, 10,000 copies have been pre-purchased for distribution to Jewish institutions across the country, and circulation is already underway through synagogues, campus groups, summer camps, community centers, and nonprofits.
Despite the challenges we now face, I remain optimistic about the future of American Jewry. But this destiny is not guaranteed: it requires vision, resolve, and a recommitment to our historical inheritance. After the noise subsides, we must rebuild cohesion by affirming our shared past.
Understanding our history is a prerequisite for our people’s success. That is the beating heart of this book – and the cause our moment demands.
