Sparks Commentary: A review of Simon Schama's “The Story of the Jews”

“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

– The Hebrew Bible, “The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy,” Chapter 7, Verse 6 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

This is more of an ethnic history than a religious history …

Before watching this series, I had watched another documentary by the same filmmaker, which was Simon Schama's “A History of Britain.” Since Mr. Schama is also British, this was a television history of his own country, and was an inside perspective. This film is similar, because Simon Schama is Jewish, and can thus give an inside perspective on his own ethnic group. He is clearly familiar with the Hebrew language, and he displays this fluency at a number of times throughout this series. But as it turns out, not all ethnic Jews are of the Jewish faith, so there is thus a difference between being ethnically Jewish, culturally Jewish, and religiously Jewish. Mr. Schama is clearly ethnically Jewish and culturally Jewish, but may not be religiously Jewish. Thus, he has struck some as an odd choice to make this series. But considering how many ethnic Jews would match this description, it seems like it works for me. If you want to learn more about their faith, this film will give you some useful background; but you might actually be better off turning to some other source, for this particular kind of information. This is more of an ethnic history than a religious history, and pays only minimal attention to the history of Judaism. Nonetheless, it is still quite good for what it does have to offer.

Episode 1: “The Beginning” (ancient times)

Most of this series’ rare attention to the Jewish faith comes from the very first episode. This is an episode that covers Hebrew history in ancient times, including the formation of their distinctive religion. He also talks briefly about the Hebrew language and the Hebrew writing system, and then briefly discusses some of the writing of the Hebrew Bible. Although it would seem that Mr. Schama is not really a believer, he clearly has much respect for the Hebrew Bible as literature, and I am in agreement with him that it is indeed great literature (among other things). He briefly discusses the experience of the Jews at a place in Ancient Egypt called “Elephantine.” If memory serves, he also discusses their interactions with Greek kings and philosophers, and the Maccabee revolt against Greek rule (technically Macedonian rule). The influence of Greek ideas left an indelible mark upon Jewish philosophy, which is still debated to this day. Another subject covered here is the Temple of Solomon, which was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II around 587 BCE, after a long Siege of Jerusalem of about two years. A Second Temple was built in 516 BCE, and later destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE (something that I cover elsewhere in some detail). He also mentions how the Romans renamed Judea to “Palestine,” following the Bar Kokhba Revolt by the Jews against the Romans. And finally, he mentions the writing of the Mishnah (the first of the Talmuds). But he does not really go into the later writing of the Gemara (a later Talmud). Unlike the Hebrew Bible, these are distinctive Jewish scriptures, not shared by anyone else. Thus, if one wants to understand Judaism, one would do well to study these Talmuds. (But I should mention that most of this ancient period, including the religious history, is better covered by the PBS film “Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites,” which I review here.)

Artistic depiction of the First Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem

Episode 2: “Among Believers” (the Middle Ages)

The second episode briefly covers the Jewish experience of the Middle Ages, and their interactions with Christians and Muslims during this medieval period. I will not attempt to cover all of these things here, since it would be impossible to do justice to this topic in a single paragraph. But I should at least mention that one major focus is on the Antisemitism that they encountered there. For a time, at least, it was actually worse in the Christian world than it was in the Islamic world – something that cannot be said of things today. The brevity with which he covers these things is almost painful, since he tries to cram the entire medieval period of Jewish history into one solitary episode. This series definitely has a disproportionate focus on the last few centuries. This has major drawbacks, but it also has some compensating advantages, so I won’t complain too much here.

Slaughter of Jews in Barcelona in 1391

Episode 3: “A Leap of Faith” (the European Enlightenment)

The third episode covers Jewish history during the European Enlightenment, which they experienced as a bright and hopeful moment. Among other things, he gives some extensive discussion of Jewish accomplishments in the arts (including classical music). These accomplishments are considerable, and are admired even by many who are not of their faith. But he seems to omit the comparable Jewish accomplishments in the sciences, which are also considerable. This may be understandable, since Simon Schama is more of an art historian than a historian of science, and this is thus not really his area of expertise. Nonetheless, it is an omission that I should mention here. In fairness, though, what he does cover in the Jewish art history is great stuff, and shows the enormous range of their culture’s accomplishments.

Moses Mendelssohn, a Jewish composer during the Enlightenment

Episode 4: “Over the Rainbow” (Old World and New World)

The fourth episode is called “Over the Rainbow,” and it is divided mainly into two parts. One of them shows their experience in the Old World, particularly in the regions of Russia and Eastern Europe. The other shows their experience in the New World, as numerous waves of them emigrated to distant America. The contrast between the two worlds is striking, because he shows the violent Antisemitism that they encountered in the Old World. Organized massacres called “pogroms” were not uncommon in Russia and Eastern Europe, and their experience there was among the worst in recent European history (although not as bad as the later Nazi Holocaust). The episode gets its title from the Jewish American songwriters Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, who co-wrote the song “Over The Rainbow,” written for “The Wizard of Oz.” Simon Schama makes the argument that in the composers’ minds, America was the kind of place where dreams “really do come true,” even for oppressed minority groups like their own. In other words, America was the kind of place where “Jews could be Jewish,” and still be a part of the larger culture. As the experience of Russia and Eastern Europe had shown, this was not always possible in the Old World, and was a dream that had not really come true for them there.

Harold Arlen, the Jewish American composer who wrote the tune to “Over The Rainbow”

Yip Harburg, the Jewish American song lyricist who wrote the lyrics of “Over The Rainbow”

Episode 5: “Return” (the modern state of Israel)

The fifth episode is called “Return,” and it focuses on the history of the modern state of Israel. Despite his liberal views, Simon Schama is an unapologetic Zionist (something that I admire). In discussing Israeli history, he mentions the “Balfour Declaration” of 1917, in which the British announced their desire to create a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Then he goes into World War Two and the European Holocaust. Few groups have ever suffered such terrible persecution as the Jews suffered during the Holocaust. Their ordeal there was part of the reason that the West would later create the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, thus allowing the Jews to return to their most ancient homeland. I could not possibly do justice here to such a complex topic, but suffice it to say that it is good coverage; and that in covering Israeli history, it presents an argument for a Zionism of necessity. It is not popular to say some of these things among Western liberals today, and many of them would prefer a more “politically correct” analysis. But Israel is not as “one-dimensional” as the left sometimes makes it out to be, and the left would do well to examine Mr. Schama’s arguments with an open mind. They might then see some complexities that they haven't seen before, and the emptiness of the arguments (almost stereotypes) about Jews in modern Israel.

David Ben-Gurion publicly pronouncing the Israeli Declaration of Independence – 14 May 1948

Conclusion: This is a good introduction to the history of a well-accomplished ethnic group

Anti-Israeli leftists may find the last episode somewhat hard to swallow for this reason, as it presents a case that they would feel uncomfortable with. But one thing about which the left and right agree today is that Jews have indeed been victims throughout most of their history. In the earlier parts of this series, the left would agree that the Jews were “victims” in those times (which they were), and that Simon Schama’s coverage of this Antisemitism is “spot-on accurate” (which it is). But beyond the discussion of the opposition that they encountered, it is a good introduction to the larger history of the Jewish peoples, and the accomplishments that they pulled off despite these hardships. This film is as much about Jewish identity as it is about Jewish history. Jews have long exerted a massive influence beyond their modest numbers, and made lasting contributions to both world history and human happiness.

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.”

– The Hebrew Bible, “The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel,” Chapter 28, Verse 25 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

DVD at Amazon

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