היום השמיני: ישראל שאחרי 7 באוקטובר

by Micah Goodman, מיכה גודמן

במלחמה אנחנו נוטים להציג שאלות דחופות: מה עלינו לעשות כדי לנצח. את מי להתקיף, מתי להתקיף, וכיצד להתקיף. הדיון בשאלות הללו רווח בשיח הציבורי, וזה דיון חשוב. הספר הזה מניח על השולחן שאלה אחרת. הוא לא שואל מה עלינו לעשות כדי לנצח, הוא שואל מי עלינו להיות כדי לנצח.

236 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

Micah Goodman is the author of four best-selling books in Israel including Maimonides and the Book That Changed Judaism. He is president of Beit Midrash Yisraeli–Ein Prat, and a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Ohad Itai · Rating 3 out of 5]

אני אוהב את הכתיבה והרעיונות של מיכה גודמן.
אבל ברור שהספר הזה שייך לז׳אנר של הספרים שיצאו יחסית מהר בעקבות 7.10.
יש בו הרבה רעיונות יפים וניסיון להיות אופטימי ולהתוות דרך קדימה. פחות אהבתי חלקים מהותיים של הספר, שניתן לכנותם ״בשבחי האחדות״, הרגיש לי קצת דידקטי ופחות מתאים.

[Amir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Micah continues his tradition of explicating and lobbying for moderation and the large expanse of middle majority -- who are definitionally more quiet about how they want to see the future. In this book, he describes the polarization that tore apart israel -- making it particularly susceptible to the October 7th tragedy -- and describes how the country can come together to build a more durable, moderate society in its aftermath.

Good read. No one quite uses language like he does or knows how to explain complex problems so eloquently.

[Michael Milgrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as an Ebook, an edition which does not yet show up on Goodreads. I do not recommend the Ebook because the footnotes do not link to the text and there are a lot of footnotes.
I first encountered Micah Goodman when a friend recommended his book on the biblical book of Devarim. It was interesting and so was his book on the Guide to the Perplexed. Since his time at the Hartman Institute Goodman has become a sort of pundit, commenting on current affairs. I have seen one of his podcasts in English but didn't read Catch 67. He has a real penchant for turning phrases, to the point of it seeming more like a compulsion than a way to make an important point.
This book uses polling data (one good thing about the Ebook is that it has links to the polling data) to show that Israelis are more unified than they think and there is a way for them to avoid the polarization that threatened their society and made them vulnerable to their enemies. This could be good advice given what we see about the divisions starting to re-emerge as the war goes on for months. Unfortunately, I don't find his analysis persuasive. (Of course, since I am not Israeli it doesn't matter much what I think but...) His polling data shows that there is an Israeli center that agrees on major issues but can't form a government because the various factions that make up the center identify each other as enemies either on the right or the left. This center, he reasons, believes strongly that Israel must be both Jewish and democratic while the extremes believe in only one or the other of these. This is logical, so far as it goes. However, he doesn't really have any idea how his central consensus can achieve actual political power given the polarization he describes and the structure of the Israeli political system. Nor does it seem that it could hang together very long if it did. So, although I assume he meant the book to provide reason for optimism, it doesn't, at least for me.

[Lior Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

קריאת חובה לכל הישראלים

[adina · Rating 5 out of 5]

ברור
ספר מדהים כמו כל הספרים שלו
קצת איטי באמצע אבל ספר ככ חשוב
ממליצה בחוםםםם

[Alex Roitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

צלול, טיעונים אלגנטיים, מתחמק מהפילים הגדולים

[Riva Kraizelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

ניתוח מעניין של המצב אחרי 7 באוקטובר, אבל אין מסקנות ישימות

[Avi Eisenman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this one. An engaging analysis of the dilemmas in Israeli society and politics before and after October 7th. A cogent and urgent argument for political nuance and social unity as a necessity for survival.

מאוד נהנתי מספר הזה. ניתוח מרתק של הדילמות בחברה ובפוליטיקה הישראלית לפני ואחרי ה7 באוקטובר. טיעון קוגנטי ודחוף להכניס ניואנסים לפוליטיקה ולהרבת באחדות חברתית כהכרח להישרדות .