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Books
The Necessity of Exile by Shaul Magid
Rachel R. Rosner responds to new concepts of exile.
Since Hamas’s heinous attack on Israel on October 7th 2023 – what some are calling ‘Israel’s 9/11’ – the world has seen a frenzy of claims for and against Israel’s right to exist and the justness of its military response. As the months have gone by, antisemitism has surged worldwide, to levels that were seen only last century, and a deepening rift between diaspora Jews and Israelis has come to dominate the Jewish political discourse.
The rabbi and scholar Shaul Magid’s The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance (2023) was written before the current Gaza war, and published shortly after it began. In the present heightened political climate, the book is undeniably provocative. Challenging cherished beliefs about Zionism, the Jewish diaspora and exile, and the State of Israel, Magid’s thought experiment to redefine Jewish ideals as an exilic state of ‘counter-Zionism’ treads on sensitive topics, and is sure to ignite discussion across political divides.
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