Bøker av Rick Richman

This is the story of how Zionism, supported by Americanism, created a modern miracle—told through the little-known stories of eight individuals who collectively changed history.And None Shall Make Them Afraid presents eight historic figures—four from Europe (Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, Vladimir Jabotinsky, and Abba Eban) and four from America (Louis D. Brandeis, Golda Meir, Ben Hecht, and Ron Dermer)—who reflect the intellectual and social revolutions that Zionism and Americanism brought to the world.In some cases, the stories have been forgotten; in other cases, misrepresented; in still others, not yet given their full due. But they are central to the miraculous recovery of the Jewish people in the twentieth century. Taken together, they recount both a people’s return to its place among the nations and the impact on history that a single individual can make.More than a century ago, after studying the early Zionist texts, Brandeis concluded that Jews were the “trustees” of their history, charged to “carry forward what others, in the past, have borne so well.” The stories in this book—recording the extraordinary efforts of extraordinary individuals that created the modern state of Israel and then sustained it—reinforce Brandeis’s observation for our own time. The story of Zionism, and its interaction with Americanism, is a continuing one. This book is not only about the past, but the present and future as well.

Racing Against History is the stunning story of three powerful personalities who sought in 1940 to turn the tide of history. David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir Jabotinsky, and Chaim Weizmann-the leaders of the left, right, and center of Zionism-undertook separate missions that year to America, then frozen in isolationism, to seek support for a Jewish army to fight Hitler.Their efforts were at once heroic and tragic. The book presents a portrait of three historic figures and the American Jewish community-at the beginning of the most consequential decade in modern Jewish history-and a cautionary tale about divisions within the Jewish community at a time of American isolationism. Based on previously unpublished materials, the book sheds new light on Zionism in America and the history of World War II, and it aims to stimulate discussion about the evolving relationship between Israel and American Jews, as the Jewish State approaches its 70th anniversary under the continuing threat of annihilation. A book for general readers, history buffs and academics alike, it includes 75 pages of End Notes that enable readers to pursue the stunning story in further depth.