<DIV><P>A <I>NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW</I> EDITORS' CHOICE</P><P> </P><P>A <I>SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</I> BESTSELLER</P><P> </P><P>In AD 70, when the Second Temple was destroyed, a handful of visionaries saved Judaism by reinventing it, taking what had been a national religion and turning it into an idea. Whenever a Jew studied—wherever he was—he would be in the holy city, and his faith preserved. But in our own time, Zionists have turned the book back into a temple, and unlike an idea, a temple can be destroyed. With exuberance, humor, and real scholarship, Israel is Real offers "a serious attempt by a gifted storyteller to enliven and elucidate Jewish religious, cultural, and political history . . . A powerful narrative" (<I>Los Angeles Times</I>).</P></DIV>