God of Israel

This Is My God — The Jewish Way of Life, by Herman Wouk (Collins £2.75) It is interesting that a bestselling novelist, the author of "Marjorie Morningstar" and "The Caine Mutiny", should give the public such a personal confession of his faith. This hook appeared in the United States in 1959, and the author needed little updating except for an "Afterword" on the Six Day War in Israel. As far as the description of the Jewish religion is concerned, the book contains little that is not found elsewhere. But it makes easy reading and contains relevant information for the non-Jewish reader.
The author follows a simple outline: the meaning of Torah (Pentateuch), its commentaries, the authority of the Oral Law, the Feasts. Both at the beginning and at the end he deals with the history of the Jewish people and finds in their survival, as well as in the foundation of the State of Israel, proof of the presence of the divine in the secular events.
What makes the book agreeably different from the usual, merely descriptive account is due to the fact that the author manages to intersperse it with a number of episodes from his own religious upbringing and development. His brief relation of his first visit to Israel is moving. He also avoids the pitfalls of apologetics, but presents himself with great simplicity as a man of faith. Ile does not overlook the many factors which, since the Enlightenment and the emancipation, have caused the loss of many to the Jewish community, and proposes a reasonable plan of religious training, which should go hand in hand with secular education, at both school and college level.
Another pleasant feature is the absence of polemics, both against Jews who might think differently — Reform and Ultra-orthodox — or against members of another faith. Nor is there the usual acrimonious discussion of anti-semitism, though he certainly does not ignore its existence.
This is a book by a tolerant man who practises the main tenet of his faith, which he summarises in the famous saying by Rabbi 1-lillel in the first century B.C., addressed to a prospective proselyte: "What is offensive to you do not do to others. That is the core of Judaism. The rest is commentary. Now carry on your studies."
It is a book to be recommended to anyone who wants a first, if somewhat superficial, acquaintance with Judaism.