THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISHEDITIONBy ITS VERY NATURE, THE EMERGENCE OF A BOOK INTO THE world isa slow process. Ideas are initially groomed in thought and imagination. Form isconceived by reason, and the words deliver the fruits of the mind—a book brimmingwith expression. Then it is laid on the table and awaits the verdict: Will they buy it?Will they read it? Will they agree? Will they object? And perhaps, God forbid, theworst will happen—they will ignore it.This book tells of pain and, only in part, of hope. It tells the story of my parentsand of their destroyed worlds, of the state of Israel, of Jewish and human society inwhich eyes are still shut, where people dream of distant stories as though they wereconcrete reality; about me and those dear to me, who live in Israel and try to establishfor ourselves a new Jewish universe that is different from the travails of Jewishhistory.Fear and concern were my close companions during the writing of this book.Throughout the process of converting my thoughts into words, I relied on, conversed,and consulted ceaselessly with Yael, my spouse and life partner. When the time cameto release the book in Israel, I told her that if it did not cause a fierce backlash, thenIsrael must already be dying. The book makes harsh criticisms; it challenges oldfashionedideas, questions existential foundations, argues with sanctified truths,attempts to replace rigid national dogmas with new universal paradigms. And Yael,with her wisdom and patience that is so Jewish, sought to mitigate my tempest andbade me to wait. Anxious just like I was, anxious for me.We both knew that a towering wave awaited us. After all, it is not every day that aman who was once at the heart of the Israeli establishment gets up and thinks aloud.A man who was accompanied by heavy security because he was one of the Israel’s“symbols of the state” does not ask questions, certainly not ones that are too tough.It is customary upon reaching these lofty echelons to provide only answers, to offersedatives to dampen a painful reality, a verbal placebo. From the moment that the