How I Stopped Being a Jew

Description

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.

Shlomo Sand studied history at the University of Tel Aviv and at the Ecole des hautes etudes 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 debat intellectuel 1900, Georges Sorel en son temps, Le XXe siecle a l'ecran and Les Mots et la terre: les intellectuels en Israel.

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 * Sand's quiet earthquake of a book is shaking historical faith in the link between Judaism and Israel. (In praise of The Invention of the Jewish People) -- Rafael Behr * Observer * No discussion of the region any longer seems complete without acknowledgement of this book. (In praise of The Invention of the Jewish People) * Independent on Sunday * A radical dismantling of a national myth. (In praise of The Invention of the Jewish People) * Guardian *