Customer Review
 A new look at the life of Jesus for a new time.,
This review is from: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Kindle Edition)
First I must say I was born Jewish to a father who went through the Holocaust and grandparents who lived through pogroms in Russia ( today Ukraine) . I also lived in Israel and had visited many of the holy sites in Israel as well as throughout the Mediterranean Sea. I also partook in archaeological digs and visited many sites now being uncovered throughout Israel. I also have had many Christian friends throughout my life. What was apparent to me before I read this book ( actually listened to the audio version which was very well done) was that what I had learned , and what my friends had learned about the story of Jesus and the Jews of this time was to say the least - not fitting with what was being dug up from the ground and with the new political reality of Israel and the modern Jew. Thus, a revision of an ancient story in a more scientific way was wanting and I think Reza Aslan did this as well as anyone could have. The very first time I came to understand that what happened during the Jewish Revolt in ancient Judea and what was being told when I was growing up was when I had a look at the Arch of Titus in Rome. Here we have an arch of arches to what the Roman's in 80 AD thought was their greatest victory. However , one only has to look at what Hollywood considers the great battles of the Roman's and find out there was not one movie about the Jewish Revolt against Rome till recently. Thus, for me, the conclusion was that there was a great frame -up of the Jewish people and as Ariel Sharon use to like to say " facts on the ground" and the narrative were not matching up. On the other hand, the rabbinical Judaism total rejection of Jesus's life and story and what it means to so many people in the world ( even if they do not accept him as a messiah) seems like burying your head in the ground. Now, with a new alliance booming between many Christians and Jews and Israel - after all we are still in the same "movie", a new honest look has to be taken as to define our common modern goals and relationship. The fact that Reza Aslan is now of the faith of Islam only hopes he would write such a book for his faith too. Author- " Leaving Home, Going Home , Returning Home : A Hebrew American's Sojourn in the Land of Israel".
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