RESTAURANT

figures or surprising findings. And,
Oren's approach sheds much light on
current events.
"The idea of restored Jewish sover-
eignty in the Holy Land is embedded
in the idea of America, going back to
colonial days:' says Oren, 51, and a
senior fellow at the Shalem Center in
Jerusalem, where he lives.
He explains that the Puritans, imag-
ining themselves in a new Promised
Land, gave their American towns
biblical names and "that identification
created a sense of kinship between
them and the Jews of the old Promised
Land. They took God's promise to the
Jews to restore them to the Holy Land
as incumbent on themselves to help
Jews to form a state."
"I had no idea this was so big," he
says. "This was not a peripheral move-
ment. It was attached to the idea of
America."
While aspects of the relationship
also have been characterized by power
and fantasy, as the title implies, he
was surprised to find the dimensions
of the impact of faith on government
leaders, including contemporary fig-
ures.
Oren began thinking about this
topic 25 years ago, while a graduate
student at Princeton. He learned that
in the 1870s a group of former Civil
War officers went to Egypt to help
modernize the Egyptian army and
ultimately built a school system there,
and he realized that little had been
written about that time.
A few years ago, when his editor
asked him to name the one book
about the Middle East that hadn't yet
been written, he came up with this
idea — the first one-volume, compre-
hensive history of a long relationship.
He wanted to provide a different
conceptual framework than that estab-
lished by Edward Said in his widely
read book Orientalism, in which,
according to Oren, "he asserts that all
of America's dealings in the Middle
East are determined by imperialism,
racism and intolerance. This is histori-
cally not true. I wanted to show that
the reality is much more nuanced."

Israeli Life Rewarding
Traveling frequently between the U.S.
and Israel, Oren is a regular lecturer
at Harvard and Yale. That he is also a
novelist is evident in his prose; he's
skillful in making characters come
alive and keeping readers engaged.
"This book is an attempt on a vis-
ceral psychological level to reunite
my two halves. I have lived my entire

life with one foot in each world," says
Oren, who has "equal allegiance"
to both countries, having learned
American patriotism from his father,
a career officer in the U.S. Army who
landed at Normandy in World War II.
The author, who has been writing
since he was a teenager, grew up in
West Orange, N.J. He has spent much
time in Israel since 1970, when he set
off for a kibbutz, determined to be a
farmer. He quips, "I did what all failed
farmers do. I went off to study history."
In 1979, he made aliyah. Oren and
his wife have three children; the two
eldest finished their Israeli army ser-
vice and the youngest attends high
school. Still an active IDF officer, Oren
served in the August war.
Moving to Israel was the "best
decision I ever made. As hard as it is
— and it can be very hard — it's so
rewarding."
He has been touched closely by vio-
lence, with his sister-in-law killed in
a bus bombing and his son wounded
two years ago in the army.
Oren served as adviser to Prime
Minister Yitzchak Rabin until his
assassination and says that he would
serve again "under the right leader."
He plans to begin work on a book
on the 1948 war and is also pitching a
project to Hollywood that he describes
as an "Israeli Jewish Roots," an eight-
part miniseries following a Jewish
family from Germany in the 1930s
through three generations in Israel.
His optimism is tempered with real-
ism. He testified in Congress against
the war in Iraq, arguing that America
could not exert the kind of savagery
that would be necessary in such a war.
He writes: "The history of U.S.-
Middle East relations was not one of
unqualified kindness and altruism,
yet, for all its demerits, the record of
American interaction with the Middle
East is rife with acts of decency and
graced with good intentions.
"The United States was unrivaled
in introducing modern education and
health care to the area, in extending
emergency relief and building infra-
structure, in obtaining the freedom of
colonized nations and attempting to
achieve security and peace.
"On balance, Americans historically
brought far more beneficence than
avarice to the Middle East and caused
significantly less harm than good." Li

The Destination for Epicurean Cuisine
and Services in an Atmosphere of
Elegance Refinement

or
teteidem

Every Friday & Saturday

Hours by reservation only

Tue — Thurs 5 pm — I 0 pm
Fri — Sat 5 pm 11 pm

A Non-Snwking

Establishment

248.592.1500

5586 Drake Road West Bloomfield

• Catering available at all locations

s 'ivcE

:9 1 1'

• Coupons are for all locations
including Hercules Family Restaurant
at 12 Mile & Farmington

Visit us at www-leosconeyisland.com

Receive

Receive

Receive

$100 off

$200 Off

Total Bill
Over $10

Total Bill
Over $20

Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 3/15/07

Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 3/15/07

10% Off

Total
Bill

Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 3/15/07

OPEN FOR LUNCH FRIDAYS!

i I

RISTORANTE

Fine Ita
min
Casual Atmosphere

TOIL 1.011 1111.

PLEASE PUKE THIS COUPON TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT!
ONE COUPON PER CUSTOMER • EIIP: 3/311117
(NOT VALID U MONS)

Alea-Thars: 4pta-111po • Fri:
Sat: Apm-11pm • Sun: 3pm-9px

33211111 file Rd
imsbury Plaza. just east of Fermin on Rd.
West Bloomfield

February 22 • 2007

51

