DOC John Lennon the Jews by Ze'’ev Maghen in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy NikkiWonderful book; the author speaks about religious issues with a great sense of humor.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Zoltan HarsanyiThought provoking and well written.16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. How Hare Krishna Got Judaism All WrongBy rivkah30True Story. Ze’ev Maghen stumbles upon three Jewish Hare Krishnas in an airport in Los Angeles. Maghen; an American immigrant to Israel; fluent in six languages; immediately recognizes the accent of the Hare Krishnas who approach him.They are Shira; Ofer and Daron; all Israelis; all former soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces. After a brief bit of small talk; Maghen lets them have it. “What the hell are you doing here?... You are Jews! You are Israelis; for God’s sake! What the hell are you doing here; in this place; on a Friday morning; wearing these clothes; chanting those words and selling that book?”One by one; Shira; Ofer and Daron patiently explain to Maghen the absolute absurdity of Jewish belief and the superiority of Krishna Consciousness.“Don’t you see;” [Ofer] continued; thundering down from his nearly seven foot high pulpit; “that the Torah and its laws are no longer relevant to people’s lives today? All that hocus-pocus; all those archaic stories and ridiculous rules and time-wasting rituals and impractical practices!”“There’s just no rhyme or reason to any of it!” he forged on. “How can such obsolete; irrational poppycock still appeal to an intellectual person like you? Now; Hindu wisdom; on the other hand; that’s where you’ll find a truly compelling reflection of reality as it is. That’s where you’ll find profound insights for the rational person; for the reasoning; penetrating; philosophical mind; insights which not only do not contradict; but actually help us to better understand and take advantage of our modern age of scientific discovery and global responsibility. But Judaism? Judaism just doesn’t cut it in a thinking person’s world. Sorry.”Just as he was formulating his response to the Hare Krishnas deluge of anti-Jewish disinformation; Maghen’s ride showed up. John Lennon and the Jews is the book Maghen wrote in response to his airport encounter with Shira; Ofer and Daron.If Maghen; a professor at Bar-Ilan University; wasn’t a believing; observant Jew; his defense of Judaism would sound like it was penned by an irreverent heretic. He quotes Richard Gere in Pretty Woman; refers to a memorable Star Trek episode to make a point and calls John Lennon a “lilting limey”. He claims; “There is no such thing as Judaism;” spends two chapters discussing how ridiculous Jewish law seems before (whew!) redeeming it. Dissecting the choice of whether or not to live an affirmatively Jewish life; Maghen is a passionate advocate for saying yes to Judaism.There are many books about Judaism that are flat; bland and dry. John Lennon and the Jews isn’t one of them. Simply put; Maghen has a crush on authentic Judaism.[...]