By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Reviewing a book by a political activist with one by a rabbi is not something I would normally contemplate: they obviously have different approaches to life. However, the latest works by Israeli author and political activist David Grossman and a French religious leader, Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, speak to the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. Most of Grossman’s essays in “The Thinking Heart: Essays on Israel and Palestine” (Vintage International) were written before October 2023, which makes them heartbreakingly prophetic. Horvilleur’s “How Isn’t It Going?” (Europe Editions) deals directly with how she and others in France felt in the weeks after the October 7 attacks. Reading these two works together was a reminder of just how precarious life can be for Jewish people across the world. 
Grossman is a controversial figure because he has long advocated for peace and opposes the current right-wing government of Israel. Yet, Grossman has paid his dues: his 20-year-old son, Uri, died in Lebanon in 2006 during his army service. Plus, it’s clear that Grossman loves Israel and cares deeply about its future. As he notes in the preface to his work, he feels “a certain outrage” whenever a U.S. president announces that he supports Israel’s right to exist. Grossman writes “the statement is well-meaning, but could we imagine a president making a similar declaration about France’s right to exist? Or Italy’s, Holland’s. Egypt’s, India’s? Of all the countries in the world, Israel alone finds itself in this absurd predicament.” 
What disturbs Grossman is that the current Israeli government believed it could ignore the dissatisfaction Palestinians living in the territories felt about the restrictions they dealt with on a daily basis. What October 7 proved is that there can be no peace unless that problem is squarely faced. However, Grossman does not believe more war and bombs will solve the problem. For the author, if Israel is to continue to exist, the focus must be on achieving peace with its neighbors, rather than expanding settlements or gaining more territory. Only peace will ensure the country’s survival, but there will only be endless war unless these underlying issues are solved. 
Grossman is also clear that nothing the Israeli government did over the years excuses the Hamas attack. But he talks about previous Israeli responses to events that have helped create a continuing cycle of violence, just as has the oppression of the Arab population in Gaza and the West Bank. Grossman mourns the never-ending cycle of violence that causes death on both sides. Although a secular Jew, he wants his very Jewish country to live up to Jewish ideals and is concerned with “the fusing of religion with messianism, of faith with zealotry, of the national with the nationistic and fascistic.” 
“The Thinking Heart” offers much food for thought as Grossman balances his love of country with his despair at the path it has been taking. Reading essays that in many ways predict the violence that occurred proves startling and disturbing. Anyone who cares about Israel should read this work, whether or not they think they agree with Grossman’s approach to events.
While Grossman focuses on Israel, Horvilleur concentrates on Jewish life in France. This leads her to have imaginary conversations with her deceased grandparents, along with real conversations with her children and friends. Her shock and horror at the October 7 attacks makes her question how her ideas about being Jewish. She keeps being reminded of a Yiddish phrase that echoed through her childhood: “oy a broch!” (“What a curse!”) It’s exact meaning depends on the context. Horvilleur notes that the phrase “designates that very Jewish capacity of knowing how to complain with humor. It carries the power of a sob that explodes into laughter.” However, she, unfortunately, is so distressed that she can’t find any humor in the current situation. Instead, it reminds her of how Jews are often blamed for the evil done to them. Even those seeking to be a perfect citizen of their country may be in danger. 
Horvilleur discusses the antisemitism she sees, some of which is disguised as anti-Zionism, although she is greatly disturbed by those who say they are only against Israelis, not Jews. However, she also notes the relationship antisemites have with Jews: “Full of hate [the antisemite] sees himself as the victim of a terrible inequality. He is deprived of something, it has been taken from him, usurped. He has been cheated by life or by a neighbour, by his wife’s lover, by his banker or by God, it doesn’t matter which. But he knows very well where all this started. While the racist has a superiority complex, the antisemite sees himself diminished, amputated.” 
What is also disturbing is how little sympathy some people feel for the victims of October 7 or those affected by the increasing antisemitism that is occurring in France. Horvilleur notes there are those who refuse to go to demonstrations against antisemitism because they believe there will also be racists present. She writes about how “hatred against Jews is paradoxically fueled by so-called antiracism. A brilliant shorthand is at work: let’s be in the side of the weak, the victims, the vulnerable. The problem is that while the list of victims is long, the Jews don’t appear on it. Strange. Even when they’re assassinated, defenestrated, burned, tortured, raped or kidnapped: nothing renders them vulnerable enough to be worthy of protection.” 
Horvilleur doesn’t have any real answers, but knows that the questions she discusses are important. She, like Grossman, longs for peace – a fair peace for everyone. Her work opens with a quote from a poem by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and ends with a quote from one by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Horvilleur notes that there are no words of hate in their poems, only a longing for a normal life of peace. “How Isn’t It Going?” offers some solace to readers, while forcing them to look squarely at the difficulties of being Jewish in today’s world.