In this first comprehensive history in English of the Jews of Hebron, Jerold S. Auerbach explores one of the oldest and most vilified Jewish communities in the world. Spanning three thousand years, from the biblical narrative of Abraham's purchase of a burial cave for Sarah to the violent present, it offers a controversial analysis of a community located at the crossroads of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle over national boundaries and the internal Israeli struggle over the meaning of Jewish statehood. Hebron Jews sharply challenges conventional Zionist historiography and current media understanding by presenting a community of memory deeply embedded in Zionist history and Jewish tradition. Auerbach shows how the blending of religion and nationalism_Orthodoxy and Zionism_embodied in Hebron Jews is at the core of the struggle within Israel to define the meaning of a Jewish state.

Jerold S. Auerbach is professor of history at Wellesley College. His books include Explorers in Eden: Pueblo Indians and the Promised Land, Are We One? Jewish Identity in the United States and Israel, Jacob's Voices, Rabbis and Lawyers, Justice Without Law? and Unequal Justice. His articles and reviews have appeared in numerous journals, including The New Republic, The Nation, Harper's, and The New York Times.

Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1. Biblical HebronChapter 2. Holy SiteChapter 3. CommunityChapter 4. CatastropheChapter 5. ReturnChapter 6. RenewalChapter 7. CrisisChapter 8. EnduranceChapter 9. LegitimacyAfterword: MemoryEpilogueBibliographyAbout the Author