Next Year in Jerusalem: Portraits of the Jew in the Twentieth Century

Plot

Erudite, beautifully written essays by outstanding writers like George Steiner, Walter Laqueur, Leo Rosten, Harry Golden and Stephen Aris do much to illuminate the nature of Jewish contributions to the twentieth century in commerce, the arts, etc. The astonishing awful chapter by the brilliant but eccentric Arthur Koestler does not mar the achievement of this book. Wisely, there are no attempts to present an overgeneralized, mystical Jewish "essence" in these pages but rather concrete, yet thoughtful middle-ground perspectives on what is and is not distinctively Jewish about the achievements detailed here. An oversized volume with many black and white photos.