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Pag* 10 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 23, 1977
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Wouk calls his
book ‘timeless’
by Herman Wouk
Preface to the revised edition of
‘"This is My G-d"
Strolling on the Fire Island
beach one fine June day, 1 met a
man who reminded me that ten
years earlier—the year I first
published This is My G-d—I had
dragged him from an ocean-front
cocktail party to help me make up
a quorum for Sabbath evening
services. I had not seen him since.
•“Tell me,” he said, “are you still
religious?"
The question took me aback,
but then I realized it was a
legitimate one. There had been
dizzying changes in those ten
years—in the human condition, in
world affairs, and in Jewish life.
Men have left bootprints on the
moon. The Jewish homeland has
saved itself from annihilation in
miraculous military victories.
Might it not argue mental rigidity
or indolence in a mat), if he could
live through such a wild decade,
holding serenely and without
alternation to ideas expressed in a
work like This is My G-d?
I think it might. My ideas are, to
some extent, changing.
When This is My G-d first
appeared, Israel's Six-Day War lay
eight years in the future, beyond
the power of any man to foresee.
The new Jewish state was in its
venth year of independence,
ivlost Jews in other lands regarded
it with sympathy, lent it charitable
support, and kept their distance; a
few Diaspora Zionists crusaded in
vain for a mass return to the
homeland; a few anti-Zionists
loudly proclaimed that Israel had
no claim whatever on their
resources or loyalties. Such were
the conditions in which this work
was written.
We live in a new Jewish era now,
the Six Day War having caused a
seismic change in our history. The
twenty-second chapter of this
book, entitled “Israel” is accurate
enough for the time of its writing.
To bring the realities of 1972 into
this new edition, I have added a
final essay entitled “The Ashes and
The Gold" which summarizes the
present drift of my ideas on this
central theme.
On re-reading This is My G-d, I
find little else that I would alter. I
have become mere interested in
Hassidism, but I remain essentially
an admirer, rather than a
participant, of that mystical sect.
My knowledge of Yiddish
literature has grown, and I am less
pessimistic now about its survival.
Modern Hebrew literature, too,
interests me more. All in all, if I
were to write it afresh now, the
book would have a more intensely
Jewish tone. Fourteen years ago I
was preoccupied with proving that
an educated Westerner could live a
traditional Jewish existence, not
only without any intellectual
sacrifices, but much to his
enrichment. Today I take that for
granted.
But This is My G-d is written
already. Its portrayal of what is
timeless in the Jewish religion
remains as accurate as I could
make it. I am glad that in fourteen
years I have received in a large
volume of mail from readers in
many countries no substantial
correction necessary to the text.
The success of This is My G-d
has been a satisfying reward for a
labor of love. I planned the work
for fellow Jews, perhaps a few
thousand of them, who had an
impulse to learn about the faith,
but lacked the time or the Hebraic
grasp to study the sources. Instead,
the book has found a place as an
informal popular guide and
reference work, for Jew and gentile
alike. In this edition, and for future
editions, 1 have added a subtitle,
The Jewish Way of Life.
There are many Jewish ways of
life in this day and age. 1 knowthat
well. In my book I describe them.
But the departure point of all of
them was and remains our ancient
and living faith. The very name for
the Mosaic Law in tradition is
Halakha—the Way.
For those who are looking for
the Way, and for those who are
merely curious about it; for anyone
who wants to know something
clear and true about our eternal
people, I wrote this plain book.
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