Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Walking the Land

In a review of David Grossman's book, To the End of the Land, now published in English (a new one in Hebrew has by now appeared), you can find this:

The reader might not guess that the hiking holiday Ora takes represents a national pastime. Yael Zerubavel’s book Recovered Roots describes how Zionist settlers of the pre-state period were given special classes in local nature and geography, part of a practice called

Yediat ha-aretz (knowing the Land) [that] did not simply mean the recital of facts in the classroom, but rather an intimate knowledge of the land that can only be achieved through a direct contact…trekking on foot throughout the land was particularly considered as a major educational experience, essential for the development of the New Hebrews. For the non-Israeli reader, the association of hiking with laying claim to the land may be lost.

That element of hiking, of attempting to know not only the physical lay of the land, what happens every season, how to take advantage of what is there in the land amnd on it, what happened at that spot over the past three thousand years and how to quote a reference from the Bible or the Talmud or modern Hebrew literature is what contributes to our character as Zionists.

It is not an educational tool but an essence.

^

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"That element of hiking, of attempting to know not only the physical lay of the land, what happens every season, how to take advantage of what is there in the land amnd on it, what happened at that spot over the past three thousand years and how to quote a reference from the Bible or the Talmud or modern Hebrew literature is what contributes to our character as Zionists"

The Palestinians know all about the land and don't need no hikes.
Maybe it helps if you farm the land like the last 40 generations of your family did. And weren't born in Brooklyn.

YMedad said...

trust me, Anon., what makes me sohappy you comment is not the way you deride in spite and your grossly outlandish opinions and conclusions but your ignorance of what you write. TYou just pick up things and themse and spout off. On that walking bit, read this from three years ago to see how much the Arabs need to copy us even in this simple act of nationlist patriotism.

NormanF said...

Judging from anonymomous' comments, its clear he sees nothing amiss with Arab anti-Semitism. Which is why Western statesmen are backing Jewish redlining from Jerusalem and noted academics are backing unrepentant Nazi Gilad Atzmon. That is the spirit of our time. It is not about cultivating understanding and seeking peace but instead, it is about inciting hatred against Jews and denying them their national rights. I can see why he is upset with simple Zionist patriotism.

It all fits.

Anonymous said...

NormanF

the thing is you don't have any rights in The West Bank. That is key. I'm sure you are a loving family man but you are nuts. It's not because you're Jewish. It's because the land isn't Israel's to settle.
You can whine antisemitism all you want but you live on someone else's land and you are going to bring down the Jewish State.

NormanF said...

Israel's rights are found in the Bible. Ben Gurion, not exactly a religious Jew, was asked by the British what the source of Jewish claims were, he pointed to Judaism's holy book! The places mentioned in it are places Jews lived and walked thousands of years ago when the Arabs were a gleam in the eyes of history. To deny Jews the right to live and walk in the land of their fathers, is yes, anti-Semitism, pure and simple. The past, present and future of Israel are Jewish.

Deal with it!

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