I've been thinking about your post all week. I feel like I'm missing something. Is the idea that Zionism is threatening to literary elites because it threatens to displace them from power? That the kind of story Zionism is--a long story, not encompassing any one human life and ego--is a threat to ego-centered storytellers? Many thanks.
First and foremost, thanks so much for your message. Telling a writer "I've been thinking about your post all week" is manna from heaven. So often we send stuff into the world, and the response is silence. ‘Anyone out there??!!’ To know that something I wrote stayed with you & made you think -- it means the world to me.
Second, how to distill that David Hare post? Hmmm... let me try this: Years ago I was in Jerusalem to report and write a magazine story. One day I'm talking to a group of Orthodox Jews who are curious about my goals and motivation. I tell them I'm writing a story to help people understand what's happening in Jerusalem. They were amused. They may have even laughed. They said, in effect: ‘You want people to understand what’s happening here? They don’t need you to tell some story of your own making. You’re not qualified. What they need to read is the Hebrew Bible. That is the master story that informs much of what’s happening here.’ … Back then I thought they were nuts. Today, not as much.
Put another way: Writers like David Hare want their words and stories to be the makers of meaning. Religious people would say David Hare’s frame for meaning isn’t tethered to anything beyond David Hare.
Or how about this: Most of us have time to belong to only one book group. David Hare and other writers would be happiest if you allotted your one wild and precious life to their books; Danny & Sarah Weiss would rather read the book of Genesis. Judaism: The World’s Oldest Book Group. … The Zionist project makes millions of people to believe that prophecy has been fulfilled. The Bible, they say, is a better lens to make sense of the world than the latest play by David Hare and his fellow creatives. That is potential poison for most publishing houses.
Does that help? Or have I confused you even further?
But for the literary business to ostracize Jewish people for the reason you explain, wouldn't the lit business have to agree that the Zionist project poses this threat? And it seems to me that unless they ARE a certain kind of religious Jewish person, they wouldn't agree that this threat exists . . . and thereby it wouldn't post a threat to them?
I see your point, and it's a good one. ... I find myself frequently returning to a quote from theologian Paul van Buren, who highlights why the modern nation-state of Israel is so disorienting, even for the most secular Christian. See this post... https://open.substack.com/pub/outofbabel/p/the-sad-case-of-tom-friedman ... then scroll down to the bold section heading "And this:" ... This, I think, is one reason Zionism drives people nuts.
I have a working theory to explain why Jews are now getting shoved out of the literary space. Just a theory, though...
https://outofbabel.substack.com/p/id-prefer-that-you-talk-about-me
I've been thinking about your post all week. I feel like I'm missing something. Is the idea that Zionism is threatening to literary elites because it threatens to displace them from power? That the kind of story Zionism is--a long story, not encompassing any one human life and ego--is a threat to ego-centered storytellers? Many thanks.
First and foremost, thanks so much for your message. Telling a writer "I've been thinking about your post all week" is manna from heaven. So often we send stuff into the world, and the response is silence. ‘Anyone out there??!!’ To know that something I wrote stayed with you & made you think -- it means the world to me.
Second, how to distill that David Hare post? Hmmm... let me try this: Years ago I was in Jerusalem to report and write a magazine story. One day I'm talking to a group of Orthodox Jews who are curious about my goals and motivation. I tell them I'm writing a story to help people understand what's happening in Jerusalem. They were amused. They may have even laughed. They said, in effect: ‘You want people to understand what’s happening here? They don’t need you to tell some story of your own making. You’re not qualified. What they need to read is the Hebrew Bible. That is the master story that informs much of what’s happening here.’ … Back then I thought they were nuts. Today, not as much.
Put another way: Writers like David Hare want their words and stories to be the makers of meaning. Religious people would say David Hare’s frame for meaning isn’t tethered to anything beyond David Hare.
Or how about this: Most of us have time to belong to only one book group. David Hare and other writers would be happiest if you allotted your one wild and precious life to their books; Danny & Sarah Weiss would rather read the book of Genesis. Judaism: The World’s Oldest Book Group. … The Zionist project makes millions of people to believe that prophecy has been fulfilled. The Bible, they say, is a better lens to make sense of the world than the latest play by David Hare and his fellow creatives. That is potential poison for most publishing houses.
Does that help? Or have I confused you even further?
But for the literary business to ostracize Jewish people for the reason you explain, wouldn't the lit business have to agree that the Zionist project poses this threat? And it seems to me that unless they ARE a certain kind of religious Jewish person, they wouldn't agree that this threat exists . . . and thereby it wouldn't post a threat to them?
I see your point, and it's a good one. ... I find myself frequently returning to a quote from theologian Paul van Buren, who highlights why the modern nation-state of Israel is so disorienting, even for the most secular Christian. See this post... https://open.substack.com/pub/outofbabel/p/the-sad-case-of-tom-friedman ... then scroll down to the bold section heading "And this:" ... This, I think, is one reason Zionism drives people nuts.