In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.
But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.
Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.
Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.
The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.
Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.
The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.
“Undoubtedly the most important study of Canadian Jewish life in a generation.”
Harold Troper
“There should be a book like this for any and all groups that make up Canadian society. Meanwhile, read this one. You will laugh a little, think a lot, and learn why no one will ever write the last word on the Jews of Canada — though Morton Weinfeld comes close.”
Desmond Morton
“An outstanding analysis of Canadian Jewish life today, written with verve and humour and accessible to all.”
Gerald Tulchinski
McClelland & Stewart CAN 2001
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE… BUT DIFFERENT
The Paradoxical Success of Canadian Jews
Canada’s Jews have done more than prevail, despite a troubled history and their continued fears for the future. They are, in fact, on their way to becoming the world’s second most important Diaspora community, and enjoy a quality of life unmatched since the Golden Age of Spain.
In Like Everyone Else … But Different, Morton Weinfeld investigates the complex and fascinating story of Jews in Canada today. In chapters laced with revealing anecdote, the latest research, and classic Jewish humour, he explores their history and diversity, their work lives and family lives, their various communities and religious divisions, their politics and culture.
The Jewish story in Canada is a story based on paradox. Canada’s Jews are a diverse and sometimes fractious group, yet that diversity is their strength and the key to their vitality. They are at the leading edge of many trends in our society, yet their cultural traditions and religious observance remain strong. Anti-Semitism is far from gone, but Jews are increasingly an object of admiration or at least curiosity. As a group, they enjoy high incomes, high levels of education, distinction in business, science, and the arts. They are a multicultural group par excellence, a model of how to do it right.
This absorbing, entertaining, and often controversial study, written by an authority in total command of his subject, is essential reading for every Canadian Jew and for anyone connected to or curious about Jewish life and multiculturalism in Canada.
Dr. Morton Weinfeld is a professor of sociology and holds the chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies at McGill University. He has been teaching a course on the sociology of Canadian Jewry at McGill since 1977. He is the author of numerous works, both academic and popular, on modern Jewish studies, history, ethnicity, immigration, and other topics, and writes a monthly column for the Canadian Jewish News. He lives in Montreal.
