How I Stopped Being a Jew

Shlomo Sand was born in 1946, in a displaced person's camp in Austria, to Jewish parents; the family later migrated to Palestine. As a young man, Sand came to question his Jewish identity, even that of a "secular Jew." With this meditative and thoughtful mixture of essay and personal recollection, he articulates the problems at the center of modern Jewish identity.

How I Stopped Being a Jew discusses the negative effects of the Israeli exploitation of the "chosen people" myth and its "holocaust industry." Sand criticizes the fact that, in the current context, what "Jewish" means is, above all, not being Arab and reflects on the possibility of a secular, non-exclusive Israeli identity, beyond the legends of Zionism.

About the author

Shlomo Sand studied history at the University of Tel Aviv and at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, in Paris. He currently teaches contemporary history at the University of Tel Aviv. His books include The Invention of the Jewish People, On the Nation and the Jewish People, L’Illusion du politique: Georges Sorel et le débat intellectuel 1900, Georges Sorel en son temps, Le XXe siècle à l'écran and Les Mots et la terre: les intellectuels en Israël.

Report

Perhaps books combining passion and erudition don't change political situations, but if they did, this one would count as a landmark. (In praise of The Invention of the Jewish People) Eric Hobsbawm Observer

Product details

• Authors: Shlomo Sand, Sand Shlomo
• Publisher: Verso
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 24.01.2023
• EAN: 9781784782009
• ISBN: 978-1-78478-200-9
• No. of pages: 112
• Dimensions: 120 mm x 190 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Education and learning > Teaching preparation > Vocational needs; Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Judaism; Israel, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, HISTORY / Jewish, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies, Jewish Studies, Judaism, Relating to Jewish people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities