So in the summer of 1982, Halevi decided that a different approach was needed. Rather than plunging head long into the debate, Halevi said that he decided to put the nation of Israel through a klitah (absorption program), just like he and other recent immigrants were expected to do. While undertaking his own immersion into the country, Halevi began to slowly absorb all the different, and often antagonistic, voices that encompassed the people of Israel. For Halevi, this was the truest manifestation of ahavat Yisrael; it is very easy to say I love all Jews who agree with me, he explained, but the real test is whether I can consider the views of those Jews with whom I bitterly and existentially disagree.
Eleven years ago, Halevi’s dissertation in love and listening evolved into a personal quest to find the men of the 55th, the men whose bravery and heroism inspired his love for the country and fueled his desire to make aliyah. By then they were well ensconced as the leaders of deeply oppositional socio-political movements. Each believed that the future of the state, and indeed the Jewish people, was at stake, and each maintained that they held the objective, ethical high ground. For years Halevi listened to these men, painstakingly collecting and organizing the voices of the heroes who had sacrificed to enable Israel’s greatest victory and its fundamental existence.
It seemed, initially, that effectively writing about the men of the 55th, and the movements they went on to lead, would require the author to take sides. This, however, was an approach that Halevi was not willing to accept. Each of these men was a hero; each deserved to have his voice heard. Like Gur, Halevi would not choose, and ultimately would go as far as to sublimate his own, even expert, opinions in order to present the views of his diverse array of characters in their purest form. What emerged was a narrative that was a little like a work of history, and a lot like no other history you have ever read. Instead of a traditional thesis, Halevi presents this challenge to his readers: in place of an ordinary historical narrative, Halevi weaves in and out of a novel-like account of the lives of seven extraordinary Israeli heroes who fought together to give the nation its life and battled each other to shape its future destiny.
When Halevi first arrived in Israel, he challenged himself to listen to all of the country’s many voices. In rising to that challenge, he enabled himself to gain as broad a view of Israel as any had ever done before. His gift to the reader is that same challenge: I will present you with the arguments; you now summon the courage to listen to them. Half the time the reader will want to jump up and cheer, the rest of the time he will struggle through every page while trying to reconcile views that are fundamentally different from his own. But once emerging from the “orchard,” he will find himself cleaving to a new appreciation for the entirety of the Jewish people, and develop a true love for those Jews that sacrificed to give the people of Israel everything – whether he agrees with their views or not.
On one page you meet Avital Geva, a captain in the 55th, who went on to lead the Peace Now movement; on the next, Yoel Bin-Nun, a corporal and yeshiva scholar who would emerge as one of the principal leaders of the settlement bloc. You will not be surprised to find that they were bitter political rivals, but you may find it reassuring to know that in private they were the closest of friends, the most loyal of compatriots and the truest of brothers. In all, Halevi introduces us to seven soldiers of the 55th, each a hero, a leader, and a role model in their own right. Their words are virtually untouched by the author’s personal views. He instead honors the men who gave him his love for Israel by leaving his characters’ views and words intact. Halevi is the master behind the curtain. His presence is always palpable – but never interferes with voices of the 55th.
