Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage by Dov S. Zakheim; Maggid Books © 2016; ISBN 9781592-643691; 246 pages including appendices; $27.95
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – From the standpoint of one in whose family there have been several intermarriages in which the children have been raised as Reform Jews, I read this biography of the biblical Nehemiah with both consternation and admiration.
Consternation because Nehemiah failed to see that with intimate exposure to Judaism, many non-Jews will become enamored of our religion and without pressure will seek to convert, bringing with them adult perspectives that can strengthen our community. Nehemiah not only forbade intermarriages, he drove people who disobeyed his edict out of the community.
Admiration because Nehemiah was a master politician and administrator. After Jews were permitted to return to Judea from the Babylonian exile, he took a leave of absence from his position as a top adviser to the Persian emperor, traveled to Jerusalem, and proceeded to rebuild the city, restore and enlarge upon Jewish practices, reinvigorate the sense of Jewish nationhood, and outmaneuver his non-Jewish and Jewish opponents.
Author Zakheim deserves congratulations not only for his biblical scholarship but also for his ability, as a former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, to decipher the underlying political situation within which Nehemiah had to operate and to compare deftly Nehemiah’s times to current times in which Israel must deal both with outside opposition and internal dissent.
Accordingly this book will have two equally enchanted audiences. Those who love biblical studies, and those who relish the art of politics.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)