Jacob's Gift

"It is the summer of 2001 and Jonathan Freedland is holding his eight-day-old son. In an ancient ceremony, he is about to enter him 'into the covenant of Abraham', making him part of the Jewish people. He cannot help but wonder: what exactly am I giving my child? What is this identity we will both share?" "Three months later, on 11 September 2001, he realizes this is more than a personal journey: questions of identity are pressing in on the world. What does it mean to belong? Why do people cling so tightly to their nation or religion or culture?" "So begins a search for answers in the roots and branches of his own family tree. We meet Nat, the Edwardian immigrant torn between his ambition to be the model Englishman - serving the British empire in Palestine - and his desperate desire to build a homeland for the Jews. We get to know great-uncle Mick, the 1930s firebrand who preaches revolution on the streets of London's East End - forever caught between the universal cause of workers' liberation and the urgent needs of his own people. And Jonathan's mother, Sara - a child raised in religious devotion yet tested by a life that seems to be the work of a harsh, unforgiving God." "These three people each find their own solutions to the eternal dilemmas of belonging, and each now brings Freedland closer to the answers he is searching for."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.