Each month one member of the professional staff will recommend a book with a short write-up. Here is the first installment:

The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and World War II
by Howard Blum (Perennial Press)

The men who comprised the Jewish Brigade were perhaps among the bravest Jewish men in history. These men, living in Palestine during the War, were itching for the opportunity to take up arms and help the British conquer the Nazis. Aware of what was happening to their brethren across Europe, they eagerly wanted to confront the Nazis and exact a tiny piece of revenge in the name of the Jewish people. Eventually they receive an opportunity and when they do, they not only fight courageously in battle, but some of them become so obsessed with revenge after what they have seen that they form squads that lead campaigns across Europe in search of Nazi war criminals. In the midst of their actions, they meet a Jewish orphan girl whose story convinces them to shift their goals. Rather than concentrating on death, they begin to focus on life. They subsequently seek out Jewish orphans and help them find passage to Palestine.

Although a nonfiction work, Blum weaves together firsthand accounts and anecdotes to produce a book that reads just like a mystery fiction thriller. In reading this book, I felt great admiration for the men of the Jewish Brigade and marveled at their courage, intensity, and commitment to the Jewish people. This book embodies the ancient Jewish teaching, “kol aravim
zeh bazeh - Each Jew is responsible for his fellow Jew.”

The Brigade is a very easy book to read and very hard to put down. It captures quite clearly the world in which these men lived and the values that they held in regard. It is an inspiration to all who understand the sacred bond that all Jews share.


L’Shalom,
Jeremy Barras