Walking the Bible

by Bruce Feiler

  But at the end, his tragedy is ameliorated by his ability to see what no one else sees. Denied entry, Moses actually gets more: He gets prophetic vision, personally granted to him by God. The Israelites will get the land, but they will continue to struggle with God. Their leader, however, has fulfillment. And he reaches this pinnacle not by looking out from the mountain. For looking out will not show him what he sees. The only way for Moses to see the complete dimensions—the full glory—of the Promised Land is by looking inward, toward his own internal geography, the true reflection of divine glory. Moses may not get the land, but he gets the promise. This is the lesson of Mount Nebo and the poetic twist at the end of the Five Books that help make them such a hymn:The land alone is not the destination; the destination is the place where human beings live in consort with the divine. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter that what the Bible describes is impossible to see. It doesn’t matter because Moses wasn’t seeing as we do. At the end, he wasn’t even looking at the land. He was looking where we should look. He was looking at God.

  A Study and Reading Group Guide to Walking the Bible

  INTRODUCTION

  Bruce Feiler’s 10,000-mile journey and archaeological odyssey—by foot, jeep, rowboat, and camel—through the Holy Land was his means by which to reconnect with the Bible. Feiler—a fifth-generation Jew from Savannah, Georgia—cites the original seeker, Abraham, as his inspiration: “Abraham was not originally the man he became. He was not an Israelite; he was not a Jew. He was not even a believer in God—at least initially. He was a traveler, called by some voice not entirely clear that said: ‘Go ahead to this land, walk along this route, and trust what you will find.’”

  Along with noted Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren, who is Feiler’s trusted guide, partner, mentor, and sidekick, Feiler embarks in Walking the Bible on painstakingly retracing through the desert the route of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. Traveling through three continents and four war zones—in Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, and Jordan—Feiler converses freely with Bedouins and religious pilgrims alike. He visits actual places referenced in the Bible, including Mount Ararat, where it is believed that Noah’s Ark landed after the flood; Saint Catherine’s Monastery, the site of the burning bush where Moses first heard the words of God; and Mount Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Promised Land.

  Feiler continually reflects on how the geography of the land affects the narrative of the Bible, and pointedly wonders whether the Bible is just an abstraction, or a living, breathing entity. Ultimately, Feiler concludes in Walking the Bible that the Bible is “forever applicable, it’s always now. . . . It lives because it never dies.”

  Whether you’ve journeyed to the Middle East yourself or are content to remain an “armchair traveler,” the material below will deepen your experience and understanding of the region. This guide is also designed to help book groups explore and reflect on Walking the Bible through discussion. Using it, readers may trace the large themes Feiler touches upon in his travels—feelings about the land, its people, their history, the Bible—and consider Feiler’s own experiences on his journey.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Feiler traveled to many places as he journeyed through the sites found in the five books of Moses. Which one did you find the most interesting or inspiring? Why?

  2. Of the many facts, stories, and history Feiler tells about the Bible and its geography, what did you find the most surprising? In other words, what did you learn about the Bible you didn’t know before?

  3. In the chapter, “Wall of Water,” Feiler writes, “As much as [Avner] knew about the Bible, he seemed to know more about the nature of travel, about how to go to places, leave a bit of yourself behind, take a bit of the place with you, and in the process emerge with something bigger—an experience, a connection, a story.” What do you think was Feiler’s most significant “experience” or “connection” in his walk through the Bible? Why?

  4. Describe Avner’s connection to and feelings for Sinai.

  5. What is Feiler’s purpose in Walking the Bible? Does he accomplish that purpose? How?

  6. Describe how the desert figures in Feiler’s travels—what he found there, its influence on the lives of those who live in the desert now and on those who lived in biblical times.

  7. Who do you think was the most fascinating person Feiler met in his travels? Why?

  8. In “Sunrise in the Palm of God,” Feiler writes, “[The] more profound change the journey brought about in me . . . allowed me to turn off my mind occasionally and open myself up to feelings—spiritual, emotional, divine, even imaginary—that might innately connect me to the world. . . . [A]fter months of traveling around the Middle East, I felt newly aware of the emotional power of certain places, the essential meridians of history that exist just underneath the topsoil. . . .” Have you ever traveled to a place that connected you emotionally to that place in the way Feiler describes? If so, describe your experience. If not, where do you imagine such a place might be for you?

  9. Describe Avner and how Feiler relies on him.

  10. Describe some of the contrasts Feiler experiences between the ancient biblical world and the modern world of the Middle East.

  11. In “Go Forth,” Feiler writes, “Some journeys we choose to go on, I realized; some journeys choose us.” Talk about a time when you felt compelled to begin a journey—a time when you felt the journey chose you.

  12. In “In the Land of Canaan,” Feiler writes about meeting Fern Dobuler, an Israeli who was originally from New York. Fern says, “When my kids used to go on field trips in America, they went to a museum, to the Empire State Building. Here when you go on a field trip they drop you off in the middle of the nowhere and you walk, for hours and hours and hours.” Discuss the difference between how Americans and Middle Easterners feel about or experience the land.

  13. Contrast the differences Feiler experiences in Israel with his experiences in Egypt.

  14. Discuss the similarities and differences between St. Catherine’s monastery in the chapter “On Holy Ground” and Kibbutz Sdeh Borer in the chapter “The Land of Milk and Honey.”

  15. How did Feiler’s travels change your mind about the Middle East, the people who live there and their history? Or how did Feiler’s travels support what you already think about the Middle East?

  FOR FURTHER READING

  The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter

  God: A Biography by Jack Miles

  The Bible As it Was by James L. Kugel

  REFERENCE

  The HarperCollins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version

  HarperCollins Bible Commentary, Revised Edition, James L. Mays, General Editor, With the Society of Biblical Literature

  HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition, Paul J. Achtemeier, General Editor, With the Society of Biblical Literature

  HarperCollins Concise Atlas of the Bible, James B. Pritchard

  And the People Believed

  Fred Benjamin gave the tour that inspired this project and was a source of wisdom throughout its completion. Laura Benjamin was a loyal, enthusiastic companion—and a good friend. Thank you also to Yael and Noah Benjamin.

  This book, obviously, is a tribute to the wisdom, experience, and good humor of Avner Goren. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to Edith Sabbagh, who sent us off with best wishes and welcomed us home with open arms. I am indebted to the dozens of people who appear by name in this book, many of whom discussed extremely private matters with openness and insight. Thanks also to Ahmed Ali, Avi Armoni, Zvika Bar-or, Bezalel Cohen, Trude Dhotan, Ilan Stein, Jane Taylor, and Linda and Donald Zisquit.

  David Black is my friend and agent, and the most devoted of partners. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by such warm, supportive colleagues: Susan Raihofer, Gary Morris, Joy Tutela.

  Trish Grader believed passionately in this project from the moment she heard of it, and escorted it gracefully thro
ugh every stage, improving it greatly along the way. At Morrow/HarperCollins, I am deeply thankful for the support of Cathy Hemming, Michael Morrison, Lisa Gallagher, and Dee Dee DeBartlo. Thanks to Sarah Durand for all her hard work, and a special word of appreciation to Lou Aronica for his commitment.

  I am blessed with good friends and tough, generous editors. Everlasting thanks to Karen Essex, Karen Lehrman, and Joe Weisberg. Amy Stevens read several versions of this book, improving each one—and me—along the way. Max Stier accompanied me on an early, exploratory mission, and made the idea seem worthwhile. Doug Frantz gave me a push when I needed it. Linda Rottenberg provided daily, inspirational support. Beth Middleworth is a talented and extremely accommodating designer. Lynn Goldberg and Camille McDuffie are old friends and true professionals. For their love, patience, and occasional prodding, thanks to Andy Cowan and Deena Margolis, Justin Castillo, Susan Chumsky, Jane von Mehren and Ken Diamond, Jan and Gordon Franz, James Hunter, Beverly Keel, Jessica Korn, Dana Sade, Lauren Schneider, David Shenk, Ben Sherwood, Jeff Shumlin, Devon Spurgeon, Rob Tannenbaum, and Teresa Tritch.

  My parents read early drafts of this book and gave valuable comments and even more valuable heartfelt enthusiasm. My brother, Andrew, continues to be my most acute critic and trusted collaborator. A few days after I returned from Mount Nebo, my sister, Cari, gave birth to her first son, Max. May this book stand as a tribute to her and to the hope that her descendants—and his descendants—will be as numerous as the stars.

  Take These Words

  One of the many pleasures of spending so much time around the Bible was sampling the extensive literature on life in the biblical world. My research, while comprehensive, was in no way definitive. Instead, I tried to read as widely as possible and seek out experts who might further guide me. In lieu of footnotes I have decided to include detailed source notes, with particular attention to books that I found most helpful or that might be of interest to those curious about further study.

  First a few words on fundamentals. English translations of the Bible vary in style, substance, and purpose. For the sake of consistency, all quotations in the text come from The Torah: A Modern Commentary (New York, 1981), edited by W. Gunther Plaut. Another superb translation is The Five Books of Moses (New York, 1995) by Everett Fox. I also consulted the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, the King James Version, and one by the Jewish Publication Society. Robert Alter, author of The Art of Biblical Narrative, has made an artful translation of his own, called Genesis.

  In keeping with long-standing academic custom and recent trends in popular writing, the nonsectarian terms B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) are used throughout the book in lieu of the terms B.C. and A.D.

  The most authoritative guide to understanding the Bible is the Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York, 1992), a six-volume reference book that was never out of arm’s reach. Other thorough reference books I consulted frequently include The Oxford Companion to the Bible, The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, and the Lutterworth Dictionary of the Bible. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s Biblical Literacy is a delightful—and highly readable—one-volume resource.

  INTRODUCTION

  The early history of the Fertile Crescent is discussed in many places, including, most recently, Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and Robert Wright’s Nonzero. The relations between the stories of Genesis and Mesopotamia are examined in Thorkild Jacobsen’s The Treasures of Darkness, O. R. Gurney’s The Hittites, Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sumerians, and Nahum Sarna’s Understanding Genesis. The history of Noah’s ark is the subject of The Incredible Discovery of Noah’s Ark by Charles Sellier and David Balsiger and Noah’s Flood by William Ryan and Walter Pitman.

  BOOK I

  The historical roots of the patriarchal narratives are discussed in E. A. Speiser’s Genesis, John Bright’s A History of Israel, and Susan Niditch’s Ancient Israelite Religion. Many of the extrabiblical legends of the patriarchs are gathered in Louis Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Jews (the first three of seven volumes), Angelo Rappoport’s Ancient Israel (two volumes), and the writings of Josephus, gathered in The Works of Josephus, translated by William Whiston. Popular retellings of the stories appear in Chaim Potok’s Wanderings and Thomas Cahill’s The Gifts of the Jews.

  Two extraordinary books of contemporary commentary on the Bible stand out as exemplary works of popular scholarship: The first is Jack Miles’s breathtakingly original God:A Biography; the second is James Kugel’s monumental The Bible as It Was. I have benefited immensely from both, and highly recommend them.

  The question of the Bible’s authorship is examined in Harold Bloom’s The Book of J and Richard Elliott Friedman’s highly accessible Who Wrote the Bible? The history of biblical archaeology is told thoroughly in P. R. S. Moorey’s A Century of Biblical Archaeology, Moshe Pearlman’s Digging up the Bible, and Neil Asher Silberman’s masterly Digging for God & Country. Silberman is also the author of A Prophet from Amongst You:The Life of Yigael Yadin; Leona Glidden Running and David Noel Freedman are authors of William Foxwell Albright: A Twentieth-Century Genius. Other scholarly books on archaeology I consulted include Archaeology of the Land of the Bible by Amihai Mazar and The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, edited by Brian Fagan. Easily the most popular book ever on biblical archaeology is Werner Keller’s The Bible as History, which is still in print today in English. It has a companion, The Bible as History in Pictures (New York, 1963).

  BOOK II

  T. G. H. James has written several landmark histories of ancient Egypt, including An Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Ancient Egypt. I also consulted Barbara Mertz’s Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs and Emil Ludwig’s magisterial The Nile, the kind of ornate history that is rarely written today. I also highly recommend Alan Moorehead’s The White Nile and The Blue Nile.

  The subject of Egypt’s relationship with the Bible is addressed in Donald Redford’s powerful and comprehensive Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, as well as in his biography Akhenaten:The Heretic King. Other books that explore the relationship between Egypt and the Bible include James Hoffmeier’s Israel in Egypt, David Rohl’s Pharaoh’s and Kings, Ian Wilson’s Exodus:The True Story, and Sigmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism.

  The story of Joseph in Egypt is retold in Thomas Mann’s four novels, Joseph and His Brothers, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider. Though these books are hard to find, they are, to my mind, unrivaled acts of imagination and prose.

  BOOK III

  The best single book I found on the Sinai, Saint Catherine’s, and Jebel Musa is Mount Sinai by Joseph Hobbs. Exploring Exodus continues the tradition of detailed examination of history, the natural world, and the text that Nahum Sarna initiated with Genesis. Jonathan Kirsch’s biography Moses follows a similar pattern, with thoughtful literary analysis as well.

  Other books I consulted include Sinai by Burton Bernstein, Guide to Exploration of the Sinai by Alberto Siliotti, and Sinai:The Exodus Trip by Mario Vinei. On the subject of early monasticism, I highly recommend The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton, an elegant and inspiring book.

  BOOK IV

  There are many contemporary histories of Israel. Two I have enjoyed and consulted frequently are The Siege by Conor Cruise O’Brien and A History of Israel by Howard Sachar. A broader history of the entire region is The Middle East by Bernard Lewis. The relationship between Israel and Britain, with particular focus on the Bible, is treated in Barbara Tuchman’s graceful Bible and Sword.

  BOOK V

  The defining piece of adventure writing about the Middle East remains The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence. Other masterworks in this field include Sir Richard Francis Burton’s Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, Charles Doughty’s Travels in Arabia Deserta, and John Lloyd Stephen’s Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia, Petraea, and the Holy Land, each of which is fascinating, if only in pieces. The collective impact of these writings is brilliantly illuminated
in the opening chapters of Robert Kaplan’s The Arabists.

  Two pieces of contemporary travel writing, William Dalrymple’s From the Holy Mountain and Bruce Chatwin’s Songlines, are sterling examples of how to mix the sacred and the profane into compelling personal narratives.

  I benefited from a number of books on Petra and contemporary Jordan, including The Art of Jordan, edited by Piotr Beinkowsky, Petra by Iain Browning, and Petra by Jane Taylor. The same applies to The JPS Commentary on Numbers by Jacob Milgrom and Moses and the Deuteronomist by Robert Polzin.

  I would also like to recommend a number of novels I read that relate directly, or in part, to life in the Middle East, or the desert: The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, Damascus Gate by Robert Stone, and the incomparable Quarantine by Jim Crace.

  The Internet has proved to be fertile territory for information about the Bible. There are newsgroups available for Bible research at alt.christ-net.bible and soc.culture.jewish. Recent archives for the extraordinary magazine Biblical Archaeology Review, the international standard-bearer of the field, can be found at www.bib-arch.org. The online search Bible I used most frequently contains the King James translation as well as the Revised Standard Version. It can be found at http://etext.virginia.edu/ frames/bibleframe.html.

  In the spirit of keeping this ongoing conversation about the Bible alive, and in an effort to provide further help for those interested in visiting some (or all) of the sites described in this book, I have a started an online site of my own, www.walkingthebible.com. E-mail inquiries to me, or to Avner, are welcome at that site. The forum for discussing the biblical stories may have changed dramatically over time, but, as I believe our journey made clear, the desire of people around the world to connect themselves to these stories remains as strong—and as passionate—as ever.