by Avraham Burg
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INDEX
Abcarius Bey, Nasib, 125–126
Abcarius House, 125–127
Abraham, 173–176
Absalom’s Pillar, 17
admission committees for Jewish rural communities, 249
Agnon, S. Y., 95
Ahasuerus (King), 13
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), 152
Akiva, Rabbi, 172
Algeria, 255
Alignment Party, 83–84
Alterman, Nathan, 53
Altneuland (Herzl), 255
American Jewry, 151–153, 210
analogy, role of, 255
anti-Semitism, as justification for isolationism, 39–40
Appalachian Trail, 119
Aschheim, Steven, 306–307
Ashkenazic Jews, 110, 156, 178, 184, 214
assimilation, 241
atomic bombs, 115
Auschwitz, 249–250, 283–284
Austria, 216
Avrushmi, Yona, 90
Azoulay, André, 247
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 306
back problems, author’s, 20, 74–75
Bakshi, Meir, 133
Bar-Lev, Haim, 84
bar mitzvah, 210
author’s children’s, 161
Avraham Burg’s, 24–28, 67, 144
preparatory lessons in Hebron yeshiva, 45–46
watches received at, 28
bat mitzvah, 161–162, 210
Battista, Gian, 221
Bauman, Zygmunt, 218–219
Bayit Vegan neighborhood, 30
Begin, Menachem, 53
Avraham’s 1982 meeting with, 78–80
at Avraham’s bar mitzvah, 26
Lebanon War, 73–74, 76, 78–80
opposition to, 83–84, 87
peace process with Egypt, 67–71
thirst for popularity, 88
Beilin, Yossi, 101
Beit Hillel synagogue, 142
Beit She’an valley, 59–60
Bellgardt, Otto, 284
Ben-Gurion, David, 181–182, 236
Ben Ner, Avner, 48
Ben Tzruya, Yoav, 48
Ben-Zvi, Rachel Yanait, 53
Berlin, 306
author’s meeting with Helmut, 268, 278–279
author’s visits with son Noam, 253–254, 284–285
Berlin Marathon, 259–260
book burning in, 41
connection to its past, 234
Joseph Burg and, 145, 168, 190
Red Army and, 273–274
Zionist, 145
Berlin Wall, 50, 137, 221–222, 234, 238
Berlin Zoo, 253–254
betwixt and between, 288–289, 291, 299
Bible, 19, 79
“big ship” political strategy, 108
Bitton, Charlie, 214
Black Panthers, 214
blog, running, 129
Bnei Akiva youth movement, 37, 47, 49, 172
books
author’s library, 123–124
burning of, 41–42
Boutros-Ghali, Boutros, 69
branch, 47
Breaking the Silence, 200, 202
Brexit, 219, 302
Bronfman, Edgar, 216
Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, 200, 219, 241, 305
Buber, Martin, 95
Buddhism, 40–42
Burg, Avital (daughter of Avraham), 206
Burg, Itay (son of Avraham), 75, 82, 215
Burg, Joseph (father of Avraham)
Akiva Ernst Simon and, 143
on Arab-Israeli peace, 215
Avraham’s bar mitzvah and, 24–28
Avraham’s departure for military service, 60
Avraham’s joining of Labor Party, 88
Avraham’s politics and, 82, 85–88, 102
Avraham’s wedding day, 85–86
books of, 124
cousin Velvey and, 190–191
death and funeral of, 164, 166–170
diplomatic efforts of, 67–70
division of labor with spouse, 162–164, 297
on equality, 166, 168–170
God and, 169–170
hospital visit to Avraham (1983), 91
at international youth Bible quiz welcome, 164–165
kippah and, 138–139, 148, 150
lack of writing by, 128
language fluency, 182
Lebanon War and, 75, 77
Leibowitz and, 145–147
personal attributes of, 50–52, 82–83, 85, 128
prayers at Kotel, 20–21
religious faith of, 19–21
synagogue attendance, 142–143
as teacher, 139–140, 297
travels of, 136–138
Zionist movement and, 22–23
Burg, Noam (son of Avraham), 253–254, 281, 283–284, 306
Burg, Rivka (mother of Avraham)
Avraham’s bar mitzvah and, 24–25
Avraham’s political views and, 81
Avraham’s return from war, 76
Avraham’s school play and, 10–11
books in the home, 124
cooking for the Sabbath, 44
division of labor with spouse, 162–164, 297
encouragement of Avraham to write, 190
friendship with Yael Burg, 81
generosity of, 129
HaOlam HaZeh and, 134
Hebron and, 182–189, 193, 200–201, 251
introduction to husband’s friends, 137
language fluency, 182
personal attributes of, 189, 191
preparation for respected guests, 125
religious identity and, 205
Tomb of the Patriarchs and, 200–201
Umm Shaker and, 193–194
Uzi cartridges, 9
on witches, 38
Burg, Roni (daughter of Avraham), 75, 82, 161–162, 258–259
Burg, Yael (wife of Avraham)
on Avraham’s Haaretz interview, 257
as childhood girlfriend of Avraham, 32, 35–36, 39, 49, 54
friendship with Rivka Burg, 81
immigration from France, 35, 223
wedding, 67, 85–86
burning books, 41–42
Bush, George W., 132
camels, 98–99, 100
Camp 80, 60–61
The Capuchin Tomb (Roth), 304
Carter, Jimmy, 68
cedar of Lebanon, 266–268
Chabad movement, 154
Chanukah, 210
author’s love of holiday, 10
songs, 11–13
transfor
mation of holiday, 11–13
China, 265–266, 268
chosen people, 142, 293
Christian Phalangists, 82
circumcisions, 96–97
citizenship, French, 224–225
Cohen, Haim, 44
Cohn-Bendit, Danny, 222
collective, 23, 39, 66, 128, 155, 283, 286, 291
College for Jewish Heritage, 144
confederation of Israel and Palestine, 245–246
conscious pariahs, 286
Conservative Jews, 152, 211
corruption, political, 100, 112
crashing airliner analogy, 294–295
Dalai Lama, 264–266, 268, 292
Davar (newspaper), 88
David (King), 17
Dayan, Moshe, 68, 127, 235–236, 238
Days of Awe, 82
deception, by government offices, 80
delicacy, 86
Demnig, Gunter, 238
democracy
future of liberal democracy, 231
in Israel, 53, 167, 177–178, 228, 256, 293
disagreement, 254
Döblin, Alfred, 259
Document of Ten, 100–102
d’Olmo, Gertraud Auer Borea, 200–202, 219, 221, 241, 305
Dome of the Rock, 17
Doxa watch, 26, 28
dreidels, 10
Dresden, 3, 137, 151, 171, 190–191, 215, 251
Dubois, Marcel, 95
Dung Gate, 18
education, author’s
elementary, 6, 9, 133
musical, 25
yeshiva, 25, 29–32, 54–57
Eichmann, Adolf, 127, 253, 277
Einstein, Albert, 234
Eisner, Isi, 77
Eldad, Israel, 95
Eliav, Arie Lova, 287
Elon Moreh, 64
Enlightenment, 150
environmental damage, 267
ephod, 182
Epstein, Baruch Halevi, 19–20
equality, 158–161, 170, 261
Joseph Burg and, 166, 168–170
leftist worldview, 176–177
women, 165–166, 168–170, 176
Eshkol, Levi, 26, 118
ethnic separation, 95
Europe, 211–225, 247
ability for renewal and reinvention, 220
as body of ideas, 223
as continent of peace, 216, 220
militaries of, 216
as society of differences, 218–219
Swiss banks, 216–217
Zweig on destruction of, 301–308
See also specific locations
European Jewry, 52, 211–212, 216, 223, 287
family, 155–156
Farage, Nigel, 302
feminism, 164, 170
Festival of Lights, 11
Flusser, David, 95
fog of war, 76
force, 234–235, 237
four-hundred-thousand-people protest, 86
France, 223–225, 255
Freud, Sigmund, 234, 237
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 219
Gamasi, Muhammad Abdel Al Ghani, 69
Gaza Strip, 110, 235–237, 239
Gebirtig, Mordechai, 27
gentiles
author’s earliest experiences with, 39
righteous, 179, 188, 252
gentleness, 85–86
Germany, 259–261
chosen race, 293
defeat in World War II, 228
Dresden, 3, 137, 151, 171, 190–191, 215, 251
Israel compared to, 255–256
Joseph Burg and, 3, 22, 28, 137, 140, 145, 190–191, 215
Nazi, 155, 250–251, 259–260, 269–271, 274, 277, 279, 284
new Germany, 224, 229
protests against in Jerusalem, 253
Zionist movement, 22, 145
See also Berlin
girlfriends, 39
Go Forth doctrine, 173
God Is Back (Burg), 132
Golan Heights, 51, 110
Goldstein, Baruch, 193
good and bad, separation of people into, 150, 155
Gordon, Judah Leib, 150
Gouri, Haim, 53
Greater Israel, 49, 54, 64, 71, 78, 198
Grunzweig, Emil, 90
Gur, Mordechai, 70
Gush Emunim, 110
Haaretz (newspaper), 257
halachic argument, 26–27
Haman, 13
hamantaschen pastries, 13
Hanita, 64
HaOlam HaZeh (news magazine), 134
Har-El synagogue, 7
Har-Zion, Meir, 48
harvest, celebration of, 14
Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, 47
Hatzofeh (newspaper), 36
health service organizations, 100
Hebrew language, 181–182, 207, 209–211
Hebrew University, 306
Hebron
author’s visits to, 195–197, 200–203
Dan Pell and, 198–200
massacre in 1929, 3, 50, 185–189
Rivka Burg and, 182–189, 183, 200–202, 251
settlement, 50, 185–186, 253
Tomb of the Patriarchs massacre (1994), 193
ultra-Orthodox yeshiva, 25
heder, 25
Heine, Heinrich, 41
Helmut, life story of, 269–279
heroes, 13
Herzl, Theodor, 183–185, 255
Herzliya Gymnasium, 139–140, 168
Herzog, Avigdor, 25
Herzog, Chaim, 127
hesder, 55, 60
Hesse, Hermann, 35
Hillel, school of, 297–298
Histadrut labor federation, 83
Hitler, Adolf, 255, 270–274, 301–302
Hitler Youth, 270–271
holidays, 13–14
Holocaust, 215–218, 233, 260–261, 281–283, 287
Israel founding and, 52
Joseph Burg and, 170, 215
legacy of, 249–255
March of the Living, 283–284
Swiss banks and, 216
Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, 167–168
The Holocaust Is Over; We Must Rise from Its Ashes (Burg), 285, 305
Holocaust Memorial Day, 283–284
homeland, 182, 246
hot plate, electric, 43–44
hot water dispenser, 43–44
house, Avraham Burg’s childhood, 125–127
Hula Lake, 266–267
human sacrifice, culture of, 173
identity, 23, 42–43, 71, 108, 149
complex European, 222
Israeli, 27, 103
Jewish, 205, 210, 212, 218, 292
from local to global, 205–231
names and, 172–173
view through national prism, 174
idolatry, 32–33, 41
Independence Day, Israel’s, 13
Isaac, 173–175
Ishmael, Rabbi, 172
Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 56, 61, 77, 199
Israel Institute for Sacred Music, 25
Israeli-Egypt peace process, 67–71
Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement (1994), 242
Issa (Palestinian activist), 202
Italy, 228–229
Jacob-Israel, 174
Jacoby, Jonathan, 151
Japan, author’s visit to, 40–42
Jerusalem
dividing wall, 221
Old City of, 17–18, 49, 126
Jewish Agency
Burg as chairman of, 14–15, 165, 216, 252
children’s march to headquarters of, 14
packages from, 4
The Jewish Century (Slezkine), 293–294
Jewish culture, 149, 158, 175, 250, 254, 288, 293, 296–299
Jewish law, 39, 43, 45, 96, 286, 297
Judaism
contemporary, 18, 172, 223, 292
as a cultural civilization, 149
genetic, 250
humane, 153
of pac
ifism, 9
redemption in, 107
Kahane Chai movement, 154
Kaplan, Eliezer, 127
Karlinsky, Nahum, 77–78
Katznelson, Berl, 287
Kfar Etzion, 48–49, 64
kibbutz, 48, 59, 61, 64, 75
Kidron, Avraham, 127
King, Martin Luther, 291
Kipnis, Levin, 14
kippah, 63, 64, 81, 101
author’s, 133, 135–138, 148–151
Joseph Burg’s wearing of, 139, 148, 150
pictures of Joseph Burg without, 138–139
Knesset
body composition of members, 130
Burg as speaker, 109, 117, 119, 225, 259, 264
Burg’s first term (1988–1992), 93–105
Burg’s leaving of, 120
nature of, 94–95
Kook, Abraham Isaac, 63, 172
Kook, Tzvi Yehuda, 63, 172
Kotel
cults attached to, 18
prayers of author’s father at, 20–21
visit by author’s parents (1967), 8–9
Krastev, Ivan, 221–222
Kreisky, Bruno, 241, 305
Labor Party
Burg’s discontent with, 109
Burg’s joining of, 87, 108
conservative nature of, 111
convention (1991), 100–102
corrupt linkage to organizations, 100
Davar newspaper, 88
Document of Ten, 100–102
history of, 108
internal elections of 1992, 103
leadership race (2002), 112–113
partnership with Likud, 99
Yom Kippur War and, 76
Land of the Hart (Eliav), 287
Lapid, Tommy, 101
law
Jewish, 39, 43, 45, 96, 286, 297
pork, 96
religious, 37, 146, 157
Lazare, Bernard, 286
Le Pen, Marine, 302
Lebanon War, 73–82, 118
left wing, Israel
absence of, 111
conservative nature of, 110–111
leftist
author’s self-identification as, 176
