Where God Was Born

Starred review from July 11, 2005
The third of Feiler's books on the Bible and the Middle East, this is another absorbing blend of travelogue, history, Bible commentary, memoir, current events and passionate preaching. In Walking the Bible
(2001), Feiler surveyed the Torah. This sequel picks up with Joshua, first of the prophetic books, and follows Israel's story through the Hebrew scriptures: from the invasion of Canaan through the reigns of David and Solomon to the Babylonian captivity and the Diaspora. What differentiates Feiler from most other Bible commentators is that he actually visits the places he describes, despite Palestinian suicide bombers, Iraqi insurgents, Iranian fundamentalists and his very worried family back home. Readers will almost effortlessly learn a lot about antiquity—thanks again to his travel companion, archeologist Avner Goren—and also about recent history, today's headlines and Feiler's own spiritual journey. Enlarging on his vision of unity in Abraham
(2002), he contends that the Bible's moral vision transcends land, power and nationality. "The only force strong enough to take on religious extremism," he concludes, "is religious moderation." For Feiler, now ready to affirm his Jewishness, this means "willingly asserting your faith in public, not with raging fire but with a single, quiet flame." Agent, David Black.
20-city author tour.

September 1, 2005
Author and journalist Feiler has made something of a cottage industry out of the spiritual/biblical travelog, from "Walking the Bible" to "Abraham" to this work, which loosely picks up biblically where "Walking "leaves off -that is, with Joshua set to enter the land of Canaan. Coupled again with the late archaeologist Avner Goren, Feiler travels the land querying issues of conquest, autonomy, ethnic identity, and ultimately, what it means to be an Israelite without a land (his work ends with the rising influence of Hellenism and pressures from Christianity on diaspora Judiasm). Known as something of a word maven, Feiler does not fail to conjure up grandiose verbal images here, referring to Hanukkah as "a way for Jews to participate in the American sport of competitive consumption" and remarking on Babylon's lack of a "huggable hero." He engages Christian as well as Muslim religiosity along the way, broaching issues of religious and ethnic violence and animosity (with no real resolution). If Feiler's previous works are popular in your collections, then you'll want this quick and readable one, too. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "5/15/05.] -Sandra Collins, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
Feiler treads on very dangerous ground in this marvelous account of his journey to Israel, Iraq, and Iran--an expedition beginning with a treacherous helicopter ride over the West Bank and ending with an equally perilous airlift into Baghdad. Using the second half of the Hebrew Bible as his guide, Feiler retraced, and he reinterprets, Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land, David's struggle with Goliath, the capture of Jericho, and the history of the prophets. In tandem, he recounts discussing the Bible with people he met along the way, who range from military chaplains to archaeologists. He visited Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Baghdad, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Babylon, and Tehran, and found that exploring through the prism of the Bible allowed him to see everything in a new light. Now he wonders, most of all, about the role of religion in contemporary life. Can faith and tolerance coexist? Is religion a source of conflict or of peace? Erudite yet immensely readable, he chronicles a spiritual journey to the roots of Western civilization.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)