Catch The Jew!

by Tuvia Tenenbom

Overview

"Bluntly satirical…irresistibly fascinating…seductive and engaging." – New York Times
“Hugely entertaining, terribly funny, sarcastic, engaging, powerful, accusatory, judgmental, good!” – National Review

“A literary sensation.” – Haaretz

Catch the Jew! recounts the adventures of gonzo journalist Tuvia Tenenbom, who wanders around Israel and the Palestinian Authority for seven months in search of the untold truths in today's Holy Land. With holy chutzpah, Tenenbom boldly goes where no Jew has gone before, at times risking his life as he assumes the identities of “Tobi the German” and even “Abu Ali” in order to probe into the many stories in this strange land and poke holes in all of them.
From the self-hating leftists in Tel Aviv to the self-promoting PLO execs in Ramallah, from the black-clad Haredim of Bet Shemesh to the glowing foreign human rights activists in Beit Hanina, from Jewish settlers and the Christians who come from abroad to toil with them to ardent Jerusalem monks and Bedouins in surprisingly glorious shacks, Tenenbom takes on the people of the land, getting to know them and disarming them as he breaks bread and mingles with anyone and everyone.

Does Palestinian wife number one hate the Jews more than she hates wife number two? Who finances cash-rich NGOs pursuing a Judenrein Israel? Who sets Palestinian olive groves on fire and why? What is the emotional gravity that pulls idealistic human rights activists from other countries to Israel – and only to Israel? Who are the flaming feminists who sacrifice their lives for the rights of polygamists? Whose land is this, anyway?

By turns poignant, enraging, and laugh-out-loud funny, this unique travelogue lays bare the intensity of this turbulent land in an unprecedented, eye-opening education, person by person, city by city, and meal by meal. You will never look at Israel the same way again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789652297983
Publisher:	Gefen Publishing House
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Pages:	484
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tuvia Tenenbom is a best-selling author, journalist, dramatist, and the founder of the Jewish Theater of New York. He studied for his doctorate in English literature at St. John's University, earned his MFA in playwriting at CUNY-Brooklyn, BS in mathematics and computer science at Touro, and finished his rabbinical studies in Jerusalem. He also studied Christianity and Islam in Israel and New York as well as journalism, acting, theater, and finance (at NYU).
Tuvia was named one of "the best minds in America" by Germany's prestigious Die Zeit, and his theatrical work was hailed by the New York Times as "irresistibly fascinating" and by the Village Voice as “theater of integrity, inquiry and chutzpah.” Tuvia’s articles and essays have been published in leading Western media, including Die Zeit of Germany (in which he has a semi-monthly column), Corriere della Sera of Italy, Yedioth Ahronoth of Israel, and the American Fox News and Forward. He is the author of the Spiegel Top-10 Best Seller Allein unter Deutschen (I Sleep in Hitler’s Room in English), and the number one best seller in Israel Catch the Jew!

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/09/2015
Those interested in the Middle East conflict gain an entirely new, surprising, and often disturbing insider's perspective of just how unlikely peace really is, in Tenenbom's remarkable six-month account of his journey to all corners of the Holy Land. Born in Israel to an ultra-orthodox family, Tenenbom (I Sleep in Hitler's Room) left to pursue a career in journalism and theater, living in Germany and the United States. Posing mostly as a German, he returns to Israel after 33 years with a plan to observe and experience the people, the culture, and the prospects for peace. Presenting himself as a German or an Israeli journalist, depending on the situation, he interacts with Haredim, Knesset members, Israeli media, Jews living in disputed areas, right and left-wing Israelis, Arab leaders, PLO leaders, Bedouins, European "peace researchers," and prostitutes. Tenenbom's conclusions, many of which he arrives at while playing his dangerous charade, are bone-chilling and disheartening. His riveting tale, chock full of unbelievable and hilarious encounters, is highly engaging and emotional, eminently readable, brutally honest, and likely the most uncensored and eye-opening report readers will see. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

It's been a long time since a book affected me so deeply . . . There are those who compare Tuvia with Woody Allen but I think that these two are like oil and water. Whereas Woody is scared of his own shadow, Tuvia doesn't stop walking, deeper and deeper, in places most of us don't have the courage to enter.

Walla

The most important book I have read in the last five years

Channel 2 TV

Run to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy . . . I haven't laughed this hard out loud in a long time . . . This book is a must for anyone who wants to formulate an independent opinion on the reality in this region.

Israel Hayom

The humor in Catch the Jew! is razor sharp, it is highly intellectual and it's so funny that it will bring tears to your eyes. Tuvia, the ultimate leftist and humanist who loves all people, is everything the left pretends to be but is not. He exposes the European and Israeli leftists and human rights activists for what they are, racist and ignorant, and this creates an obvious tension that is at the core of this book. No wonder that some leftists are calling for his murder . . . Tuvia is curious as a cat, sly as a fox, friendly as a Labrador, and is also a man with seismographic sensitivities.

Mida