Listen as Rabbi Cosgrove prepares to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel's Independence Day – by speaking to Rick Richman, author of And None Shall Make Them Afraid: Eight Stories of the Modern State of Israel, which presents individuals who played a pivotal role in the history of the State of Israel.
The recording is here and here. The following is from Minute 4 of the recording:
Rabbi Cosgrove: Here’s my thesis about your book … I think that each one of these figures are figures who did not grow up with the trajectory of their ultimate Zionism being self-evident. Herzl, Brandeis, Golda, Ben Hecht, Abba Eban, right -- each one of them had a -- whatever you want to call it -- an “aha” moment, where they took a turn and entered into the stream of Jewish history.
And not so much their geography; [their side] to the left, to the right; male, female; but rather -- my take on your book is that you are exploring a dimension of the human soul, that our stories are not written until they are written.
Rick Richman: That’s a wonderful reading of it, Rabbi -- I appreciate it. And I believe it is true, in the sense that – and these people illustrate it – history is not impersonal, economic, political, diplomatic forces. It is what individuals do, when they decide to do it.
And very few people grow up and know what they want to do, much less become a historic figure, but when they are exposed to ideas and ideals and the history of their people, which goes back 3500 years, they get inspired at some point, and they look around and they say, ‘there is something I can do.’ And even then, they don’t intend to become a historic figure. They simply intend to do something. And with these eight people … they should inspire us, I think. We’re not all historic figures, but we can all contribute something, every individual can, and that is the most inspiring lesson of all.
Rabbi Cosgrove: Amen, amen -- right. They are all these sort of Rabbi Akiva stories who midstream in life were able to deeply impact -- for the better -- the condition of the Jewish people, and that is the message that, as you say, could and should inspire us all. A fabulous book. I got to say -- this book would make a great gift, I mean it’s a great book to have on your shelf, but I think, readable, learning, it represents everything a great book should be.