|
|
- Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister
"I want to congratulate you on a book that through its personal narrative pays tribute to the uniqueness of Jerusalem, the legacy of which has linked and inspired the Jewish people through the ages."
"I am confident your family and your future readers, young and old, will find much pleasure in the experiences you so aptly depict, as they become familiar with the history of this Holy City."
- Rabbi Harold Kushner, author When Bad Things Happen to Good People
"You will learn more about life in Israel by reading Yale Roe's memoir than you will from a year's worth of newspaper stories."
- Thane Rosenbaum, author The Golems of Gotham and Second Hand Smoke
"Yale Roe is a memoirist and travel guide of the highest caliber. You will find yourself transported to Jerusalem, spiritually and geographically, as a place and as a state of mind, and not be too anxious to return home. A wonderfully written and deeply impassioned book."
- Teddy Kollek, former Mayor of Jerusalem "The story of a man who followed his heart. A wonderful read!"
Roe, Yale. I Followed My Heart to Jerusalem. Sept. 2005. 380p. Barricade
In this candid and searching memoir, former television executive Roe recounts the life-transforming impact of his decision to move to Jerusalem, where longsubmerged spiritual longings finally found fulfillment. To be sure, much of Roe's narrative focuses on frustration, not fulfillment, as he and his family try to come to terms with the unfamiliar language, laws, and cultural expectations of modern Israel. The frustration even verges on trauma during the tempestuous events of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, in which many of Roe's new Israeli neighbors and friends lost sons, husbands, and fathers. Still, Roe affirms the inexplicable rightness of a decision that took him to the land where Isaiah and Jeremiah once challenged his ancestors to persevere in faith and where a new generation of Jews - many of them thoroughly secular - now strive to meet the same challenge in different circumstances.
"Because those circumstances profoundly affect hopes for world peace, this disarmingly honest account of one Jew' improbable journey will attract readers of widely varied backgrounds."
- Bryce Christensen, American Library Association
