Jerusalem Curiosities

by Abraham Ezra Millgram

Book Overview

Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It is a city of strange contradictions and astonishing curiosities. This book seeks to help readers grasp Jerusalem's unique role in the history of mankind, as it charts the "curiosities" of the city--not to be confused with "trivia" about the city--through the centuries, and right up to the late 20th century.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0827603584
• ISBN13: 9780827603585
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Jewish Publication Society
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Valuable; entertaining & enlightening with a caveat

The author, a late monument of the Jewish Enlightenment, has given us a vividly conceived and vividly written potpourri of Jerusalem realities. All aspects of the city's history are considered, and there is an especially well-conceived and concise run-down of traditional Arab life in Jerusalem. Everyone, including Black Hebrews and tiny cults from the Far East, have a place here, in the modernity of modern Jerusalem. But there's no doubt about who's in charge, and who the city belongs to. Millgram sees Jerusalem as a Jewish place, with all others accepted, as long as they remain subordinate. I once heard someone, I think Gershom Gorenberg, say that the fundamentalist Protestants of America view the Jews who currently hold HaAretz, prior to the Rapture, as something like "hobbits". The author's view of the Arabs is a bit like that. Highly recommended as an educated and humane introduction to historical Jerusalem, as long as you keep in mind that an honest Zionist is your guide.

A scholar's love of the holy city

Rabbi Milgram was a devoted Jewish scholar and educator. His great knowledge and love of the City is everywhere present in these pages. There are so many different was of seeing the Holy City. This work provides an excellent look at some of them.

An interesting book about Jerusalem

This book has plenty of things to say about Jerusalem. As the author says, these are "curiosities" not "trivia." We find out why Jerusalem became a center for Judaism but not for Christendom or Islam. We learn about the Crusades. About the Temple Mount, the Tower of David, and the Siloam and Bethesda Pools. And about holy places of the Jews, Christians and Moslems. There is a section on the British in Jerusalem, which starts with Lord Palmerston's 1839 directive to the British Consul to exert friendly protection to all Jerusalem Jews, whether they be British subjects or not. It also tells of the increasing British antagonism to the Jews in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. There is also a chapter about the divided Jerusalem of 1948 to 1967, and Jordanian rule in the Eastern portion, followed by the reuniting of the city in 1967. Overall, it is a good read about Israel's capital city.