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The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism
As Israel increasingly becomes the center of global Jewish life, Jews everywhere are undergoing a process of Israelization.
“ The Israeli Century is one of the most important books of our generation, emphasizing how Israel is becoming the center of the Jewish People’s existence and is laying the solid foundations for its future.”—Isaac Herzog, President of Israe
In this important breakthrough work, Yossi Shain takes us on a sweeping and surprising journey through the history of the Jewish people, from the destruction of the First Temple in the sixth century B.C.E. up to the modern era. Over the course of this long history, Jews have moved from a life of Diaspora, which ultimately led to destruction, to a prosperous existence in a thriving, independent nation state. The new power of Jewish sovereignty has echoed around the world and gives Israelis a new and significant role as influential global players.
In the Israeli Century, the Jew is reborn, feeling a deep responsibility for his tradition and a natural connection to his homeland. A sense of having a home to return to allows him to travel the wider world and act with ease and confidence. In the Israeli Century, the Israeli Jew can fully express the strengths developed over many generations in the long period of wandering and exile.
As a result, Shain argues, the burden of preserving the continuity of the Jewish people and defining its character is no longer the responsibility of Diaspora communities. Instead it now falls squarely on the shoulders of Israelis themselves. The challenges of Israeli sovereignty in turn require farsighted leaders with a clear-eyed understanding of the dangers that confront the Jewish future, as well as the incredible opportunities it offers.
“ The Israeli Century is one of the most important books of our generation, emphasizing how Israel is becoming the center of the Jewish People’s existence and is laying the solid foundations for its future.”—Isaac Herzog, President of Israe
In this important breakthrough work, Yossi Shain takes us on a sweeping and surprising journey through the history of the Jewish people, from the destruction of the First Temple in the sixth century B.C.E. up to the modern era. Over the course of this long history, Jews have moved from a life of Diaspora, which ultimately led to destruction, to a prosperous existence in a thriving, independent nation state. The new power of Jewish sovereignty has echoed around the world and gives Israelis a new and significant role as influential global players.
In the Israeli Century, the Jew is reborn, feeling a deep responsibility for his tradition and a natural connection to his homeland. A sense of having a home to return to allows him to travel the wider world and act with ease and confidence. In the Israeli Century, the Israeli Jew can fully express the strengths developed over many generations in the long period of wandering and exile.
As a result, Shain argues, the burden of preserving the continuity of the Jewish people and defining its character is no longer the responsibility of Diaspora communities. Instead it now falls squarely on the shoulders of Israelis themselves. The challenges of Israeli sovereignty in turn require farsighted leaders with a clear-eyed understanding of the dangers that confront the Jewish future, as well as the incredible opportunities it offers.
464 pages, Hardcover
Published November 16, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2021
Yossi Shain creates a dramatic political overview of Jewish History from the destruction of the First Temple up to the creation of the State of Israel and its current and possible future challenges. It is the book that should be read before thinking about what the next big idea needs to be to propel Israel forward.
If I have a concern about the books thesis, it is the level of confidence that the author has that in some ways the return to Jewish sovereignty (for a third time) should be the last time we see the oscillation between sovereignty and exile.
As soon as we assume that Israel should exist in perpetuity, I begin to be concerned of the opposite outcome (as has happened before in history). In this sense and with some irony Shain joins the redemptive streams of religious Zionism that the State of Israel is a one way street towards a Messianic outcome (even if that outcome is not a religious one). Paradoxically, is is the very concern about Israel's existential risk (internal in my view and not external) that will drive leaders and society in general to mitigate that risk by driving Israel to new heights with an evolving and challenging mission statement.
To a degree Professor Shain sees a dichotomy between Israel as Start-Up Nation or a Halachic (theocratic) State as the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox become a dominant part of Israeli society.
Perhaps the resolution of the challenge that is set by the book is to consider not how the two compete, but how in a developing Jewish paradigm, the two co-exist and even compliment one another.
Start-Up Nation without a Jewish heartbeat lacks a rasion d'etre, but fundamentalist religion alone without the context of living in the modern and dynamic society will take Israel inevitable backwards and perhaps to failure.
Cannot recommend The Israeli Century highly enough!
If I have a concern about the books thesis, it is the level of confidence that the author has that in some ways the return to Jewish sovereignty (for a third time) should be the last time we see the oscillation between sovereignty and exile.
As soon as we assume that Israel should exist in perpetuity, I begin to be concerned of the opposite outcome (as has happened before in history). In this sense and with some irony Shain joins the redemptive streams of religious Zionism that the State of Israel is a one way street towards a Messianic outcome (even if that outcome is not a religious one). Paradoxically, is is the very concern about Israel's existential risk (internal in my view and not external) that will drive leaders and society in general to mitigate that risk by driving Israel to new heights with an evolving and challenging mission statement.
To a degree Professor Shain sees a dichotomy between Israel as Start-Up Nation or a Halachic (theocratic) State as the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox become a dominant part of Israeli society.
Perhaps the resolution of the challenge that is set by the book is to consider not how the two compete, but how in a developing Jewish paradigm, the two co-exist and even compliment one another.
Start-Up Nation without a Jewish heartbeat lacks a rasion d'etre, but fundamentalist religion alone without the context of living in the modern and dynamic society will take Israel inevitable backwards and perhaps to failure.
Cannot recommend The Israeli Century highly enough!
June 22, 2024
Despite the title, the book actually covers 2,500 years of Jewish history and associated antisemitism in various places across the Middle East, Western and Eastern Europe, culminating in modern Jewish attitudes towards Israel.
There's a LOT of information in the book, often with so many details that it's hard to remember what we were talking about. The writing is clear but somewhat academic and dry with some translation artifacts, so although it's generally interesting it's not really an easy read.
Audiobook: the narrator doesn't help making following the themes any easier, with uneven pacing, soporific intonation, and horribly mispronounced words in every language (including the bafflingly bad decision to pronounce Jews' in two syllables, with the extra 's' at the end like Gollum saying "Sneaky Little Hobbitses")
May 15, 2026
Quite an interesting book. Shain frames the modern tensions within Israel and between Israel and the Jewish diaspora as a consequence of the dual history of Jewish sovereignty and exile. He goes into quite a deep level of historical detail to show the influence of exile and diaspora in forming Rabbinic Judaism. He similarly charts the Jewish historical precedents to which that the founders of Israel harkened back to, during its pivotal early years, to shape their view of what a sovereign Jewish nation state should look like. He then takes these two currents down to the present (circa mid 2020) to show what they can mean for the future of the Israeli nation and Jewish diaspora. Definitely a thought-provoking work that is well worth the read (though with a caveat that there’s about 3000 years of history that Shain makes a point to not gloss over).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews