The Suicide of the Jews: A Cautionary Tale, by Tsvi Bisk
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The Suicide of the Jews: A Cautionary Tale, by Tsvi Bisk
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In this unconventional book, Tsvi Bisk asks: is the purpose of Zionism to recreate the Jewish past, or to create an alternative Jewish future that serves to redeem the past? Do the events of history determine how we must act by mindlessly following its tracks, or is their role to inspire us in how to manage the future? The Suicide of the Jews is a fable from the future; a cautionary tale about one of the noblest and bravest endeavors in human history - a story of unsurpassed idealism, heroism, invention and imagination. It is the story of a country which, in its infancy, inspired the entire world with its achievements and ability to survive in the face of overwhelming odds, but which may yet self- destruct as a result of policies that cling to the past rather than respond to the demands of the 21st century. The Suicide of the Jews is a ruthlessly logical extrapolation of current events that will please neither the left nor the right – a wake-up call to be heeded by all. Tsvi Bisk is an American Israeli futurist and social critic. He is contributing editor to The Futurist magazine with over 100 essays and articles to his credit. His previous books were Futurizing the Jews and The Optimistic Jew.
The Suicide of the Jews: A Cautionary Tale, by Tsvi Bisk - Amazon Sales Rank: #2029192 in Books
- Published on: 2015-10-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .80" w x 5.50" l, .90 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 354 pages
The Suicide of the Jews: A Cautionary Tale, by Tsvi Bisk Review In 2015 Tsvi Bisk brought out a third related book, this one starklytitled - The Suicide of the Jews: A Cautionary Tale. Darker in tone and message from the previous two, it urgentlywarns that "If Israel will not be a light unto the nations it will not be alight unto the Jews, and thus will not be able to mobilize the energy andpassion needed to survive." As a result of misguided policies that cling to thepast and have no investment in the democratic rule of law (theocratic power,settlement authorization, and land idolatry) Israel may yet self-destruct andbecome a third world state. Working in the prophetic tradition of speaking truth topower, Tsvi warns that power is being steadily gained by Israelis with littleappreciation for democracy, the Mizrahim (Jews from Arab countries), theultra-orthodox, and resolute Greater Israel settlers. He extrapolates out to2048, by which time Arabs and Orthodox extremists are the only ones left, thebest and the brightest having gone elsewhere by 2032: "By 2048, the countryknown as Israel has ceased to exist, 100 years after its establishment." (p.299). Highly regarded among futurists Tsvi Bisk does not presume to"tell the future," but instead ventures extrapolations from current events thatmerit pondering by all who appreciate how high are the stakes for Jewry (apeople), Israel (a nation), Judaism (a religion), and thereby, for all of humanity.Consistent with Tsvi's pessimism, TechCast's 130 experts put the probability ofPalestinian-Israeli peace at a low 15 %, and think it even far less likelyIsrael will soon be conquered by force (2% probability). Tsvi would have us recognize as well the threat from within,the challenges of redirecting cultural, ethical, and political drifts. Withcrisp, engaging, and always informative writing, he promotes a nuancedappreciation of the core challenge Israelis confront: Either become a lightunto the nations, or decline as a lost cause. - Arthur B. Shostak, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Drexel University.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A very important work By Educator Bisk, an Israeli long an optimist championing the idea that Israel's future in the global economy resides in its hi-tech and scientific sector, has in the last few years become increasingly pessimistic. In his lively and very readable assessment of Israel's political culture, he argues that the rise to political dominance of theocratic power and Greater Israel land mysticism will distort public finance, cut profoundly into scientific and liberal arts educational budgets, force a brain drain from Israel, and turn it into a third world state. If Bisk indicates thereby that he is no right-winger, he makes very it very clear that he is neither of the left. Palestinian refusal to accept Israel's offers of statehood have pulled the rug from under the left. In his mind, neither a two state solution, nor a one state solution with either an Arab majority electorate, or a Jewish apartheid state, is possible.What then? Bisk offers an extraordinary but plausible speculation, making his case first, with an illuminating discussion of the various forms of Zionism, those of Herzl, of Weizmann, who hoped for an Israel promoting liberal scientific life; of labor zionists such as Sirkin and Ben Gurion; of free market Greater Israel zionists such as Jabotinsky and Begin, and many more, to indicate how a combination of misguided and anachronistic idealisms and a variety of unintended consequences, are bringing Israel into what none of the contending zionists ever imagined, a theocracy with no investment in the democratic rule of law.But now comes a shocker, as Bisk, always the realist, unveils a quite believable prognosis, which he casts in the form of Bellamy's Looking Backwards -- that Palestinians will, for once, get their act together, and take advantage of their numbers to forge a potent political force. What certainly can result, and again, these strategic moves are speculations built on close term possibilities, is a Jewish nation drained of of its demoralized best and brightest, and moving toward suicide.A powerful book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Resentment leads to colonization? By Book Reader Word went out on the APF mailing list to check out this book and review it, so here is my review.Moving past the melodramatic title, I quickly noticed the author's near-obsession with resentment. He seems to believe the historical trajectory of Israel and its settler movement is what it is in significant part because of Israeli resentment against the well-known double standard that the world has had against Israel. But I see the double standard problem for Israel as mostly over at this point internationally. Similarly, the civilized world maintains a double standard whereby civilized countries are supposed to maintain higher standards than plainly criminal regimes of which there are a number of cases in the world today, but no one really classifies Israel among the North Koreas, Eritreas, etc. so of course Israel is expected to do better that those and that's not a double standard as the term is usually meant. Opposition to Israel's existence is mostly over, as is the idea that Israel should hold to (or be held to) higher standards than other advanced nations. On the other hand, opposition to the settler movement is due to legitimate international standards applicable everywhere, and not due to a double standard applied only to Israel. It is true that, historically, projects of conquest and colonization with displacement of the original inhabitants were generally accepted. But they are not any more. Similarly, the Japanese program of conquest and empire building in the 20th century was modeled after European activities earlier, but to Japan's detriment, these activities were no longer accepted or tolerated by the time Japan decided to do them. At this moment in history, Israel is engaging in a classic campaign of conquest, colonization, and perhaps displacement of pre-existing populations in the West Bank. This is no longer accepted internationally and it is not a double standard to oppose it. I'm not Israeli so I can't judge for sure his claim of a general resentment driving Israeli actions, but it seems very doubtful to me. The land idolatry mindset he also cites seems much more sensible. For a book on futurism, the coverage of history is extensive but citations are spotty and hence reliability is sometimes a question, particularly when he expounds on the collective psyche of Israeli society at various times in history. Extrapolating into the future, he does not cover alternative possible scenarios, focusing instead on the possibility of a demographically driven democratic ending of the state. For example, he imagines voters choosing to rename Israel to Palestine. Sorry but that just isn't going to happen. The more likely scenario is some combination of Israel foregoing formal annexation of the West Bank (thereby preventing the natives from voting), and curtailing of true democracy as required to maintain control. The latter is made more likely by his interesting projection that the Jewish electorate in Israel will become progressively more dominated by people who do not appreciate democracy, namely Mizrahim and ultra-orthodox land idolators, something that does in fact seem to be a trend.On the plus side, the author has some understanding of both Israeli and American Jewish mindsets, a combination sadly lacking among most commentators.So I'll call the book unique and interesting, but hardly the last word.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. In search of a new Zionism By Peter Margolis As usual, Tsvi Bisk has written a provocative and abundantly documented book that deserves to be read. I can only imagine that intellectual distance Bisk has traveled from optimistic (The Optimistic Jew, 2007) to suicidal (The Suicide of the Jews, 2015). The answer apparently is to be found in his perceived contrast between Jewish tradition "hijacked by a politicized right-wing religious establishment dedicated to land idolatry" and quintessentially secular Zionism.Yet something bothers me about this. It suggests that Jewish Nobel Prize laureates, Israeli companies traded on NASDAQ, patents, and venture capital are the true measure of Judaism as (in Bisk’s terms) an "ism", that is "an ideology about life that contains a religious tradition". Of course, NASDAQ etc. are worthy things, but what is there about them that would convince anyone to remain Jewish? And what of Jewish tradition itself? Has the religious tradition really become so completely discredited that it is best replaced by a technology-driven market economy, and the sooner, the better? Are we to believe that the settlement movement has stripped 3,500 years of Jewish tradition of any capacity to shed light on the human condition for Jews or anyone else?I note that the Jewish thinker Ahad Ha'Am, associated with “spiritual Zionism” that predicated Jewish political sovereignty on the revitalization of Judaism, is conspicuously absent from Bisk’s list of Jewish thinkers shaped by the Enlightenment. Perhaps it is this brand of Zionism (in contrast to both politicized secularism and politicized religiosity) that is missing from the mix? While the efforts to reclaim Jewish tradition from the right-wing settlement variety (and other forms of fundamentalism) by avowedly non-observant Israeli Jews is in its early stages, it is nevertheless not negligible, and probably not more of a long shot than was political Zionism itself at its outset. The combination of the online availability of all flavors of Jewish knowledge, with the unmet cultural and spiritual hunger of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, suggests new ways of constructing Jewish life in which any self-proclaimed Jewish authority purporting to be "authentic Judaism" is at best one pebble in the mosaic.Will this grow and develop? Who knows? One might very well be on safer ground to bet on the path to suicide. And while I take no comfort from it, I am forced to admit that some of those in the Diaspora who are inclined to creatively construct a self-invented Jewish identity mosaic have already tuned out Israel as a factor in their lives. Nevertheless, for the great majority of Jews who are neither completely religious nor completely secular (just as they inhabit a symbiotic reality that is neither entirely physical not entirely virtual), Israel, with its accomplishments, its challenges, and yes, its land retains an unrivaled symbolic power.Perhaps the model to be explored is not the brittle secular-Zionist/religious-settler divide, but the amorphous middle ground of the masortiim ("traditionalists," Jewishly committed Israelis who use the freedoms afforded by secularism to take Judaism on their own terms, rather than divest themselves of it or abandon it to the religious establishment), variously measured as constituting 20-40% of the Israeli population. In the Diaspora, this has its parallel, ironically enough, in the unmatched success of Chabad-Lubavitch, based on their willingness to provide episodic Jewish experiences, easily located online, without demanding dues or affiliation, to people who have not the slightest inclination to adopt an Orthodox lifestyle. While there is much about Chabad that deserves criticism, my point is that their symbiotic online/offline buffet-style Judaism is a functioning model that recommends itself to any Jewish ideology that wants to make itself felt in the Jewish world.Ultimately, it is the citizens of Israel who will decide their country’s direction. Let us hope that Israeli society continues to evolve a middle way between the stark and explosive dichotomy that Bisk presents. In any event, this book is a good read to stimulate thought about alternative futures.
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