End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount

One slander undermines the work's credibility

In trying to create a false balance between Jewish and Muslim extremism Gorenberg repeats a slander about the former Chief Rabbi of Israel.He claims that Rabbi Shlomo Goren,of blessed memory, upon the taking of the Temple Mount suggested that the Mosque of Omar be destroyed.Gorenberg in citing this slander did not bother to check the whole background of Rabbi Goren's work in preparing months before the outbreak of the Six - Day War for proper care of the Holy Places.He did not check this story against the whole tenor of Rabbi Goren's thought and writing (Rabbi Goren believed destruction of the Mosque was forbidden in part because it would cause a Pan - Islamic war against Israel.) This may seem a minor point but it is central not only because it tarnishes the name of Rabbi Goren, and too the name of the Jewish people but because it helps present a distorted picture of what is actually going on, and has gone on in relation to the Temple Mount. It goes hand in hand with another major distortion of the work, Gorenberg's underplaying the destructive part of the Muslim Wafq in supervising the site . True his work centers on Christian groups ( whose millenial fervor he too seems to have somewhat exaggerated ) but it is his political bias which prevents him from really going into the tremendous assymetry between the Islamic tendency to wish to make a mosque of the whole plateau , and the Rabbinical restriction which continues to inhibit Jewish activity on the most sacred area to Judaism .

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Disappointing. Needs more in depth study.

Having read all the reviews, most of which heap praise on this book, I picked it up with a sense of eager anticipation. Jerusalem being a city that I know so very well and love more than any other. Only too aware of the immense religious and political significance of the Jerusalem's Temple Mount to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, I expected to read a serious, in-depth, respectful study of the relevance of the Temple Mount to all the parties concerned, particularly in relation to how all faiths view it's place in the end times. Whilst these subjects are touched upon and there is much of merit in this book, I do not feel that the book does justice to this colossal subject. I feel that time and again, the writer's personal opinions are allowed to taint this study. Whilst such should be respected, I fail to find any justification for deviating from essential & pivotal issues to personally attack and insult Christian evangelists for example, over their own personal appearances & histories, or to ridicule the differing personal opinions of others professing some knowledge of the Temple Mount. Accusations of certain beliefs/opinions as being 'myths' without any appropriate elaboration or explanation for such accusations leaves a lot to be desired. Others might accuse me of 'nit-picking', but I feel that this is a subject that needs to be approached with the utmost respect. I consider that there is much destructive criticism within this book, smeared at times with arrogance, whilst constructive criticism and respect is unfortunately sometimes lacking, as is any real in-depth study to the issues concerned. Other reviews quite correctly state the immense signifcance and importance of the matters discussed here, but I am left feeling that this subject needs to be addressed with far more depth and far more respect. There are better books out there on these matters. Might I respectfully suggest that interested persons read 'Secrets Of Jerusalem's Temple Mount' by Leen & Kathleen Ritmeyer, 'The Coming Last Days Temple' and 'Jerusalem In Prophecy' both by Randall Price. Thanks for listening.

An urgent plea for relativism and humility

Deciphering the signs pointing to all-out war in the Middle East is the passionate purpose of this book, which analyzes the motivations of fundamentalist and evangelical Christians who support Israel in its struggles against the Palestinians in general and in its often violent disputes over the Temple Mount in particular because their literal interpretations of Scriptural passages lead them to believe that these current events represent enactments of the ¿Endtime¿ in which the Messiah will reappear and perform the Final Judgment. A decidedly unbenign corollary of such beliefs, of course, is the expectation that the majority of Jews will be killed during the ensuing Armageddon, and that only the few who convert in time will join the ranks of true believers who enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In tracing these volatile beliefs, summarized under the rubric of ¿dispensational premillennialism,¿ along with the parallel convictions of Jewish messianists and the unswerving commitments of Muslims to the defense of the sacred precincts on the Mount, Gershom Gorenberg contrasts the literalism with which a ¿political arrangement over thirty-five acres,¿ the area of the Temple Mount, ¿is described as a cosmological defeat of light by darkness¿ - i.e., an accommodation preventing the destroyed Temple¿s rebuilding, an essential precondition to fulfillment of the Doomsday scripts of both Christian and Jewish fundamentalists - with the moderate evangelicals¿ rejection of the Crusades as a betrayal of Jesus, who ¿saw the image of God in every person he met.¿ The author alternates passages of philosophical reflection with folksy descriptions of meetings with rabbis, ministers, scientists, politicians, and philosophers, and even with an analogy of the current crisis in the Middle East to the 1993 conflagration in Waco, Texas, which he interprets as a salient and pertinent example not only of the importance of understanding symbols in any dialogue or confrontation between adherents of different religions or cultures but also of the inevitable consequences of failing to heed or to speak one¿s interlocutor¿s symbolic language.

A timely plea for relativism and humility

Deciphering the signs pointing to all-out war in the Middle East is the passionate purpose of this book, which analyzes the motivations of fundamentalist and evangelical Christians who support Israel in its struggles against the Palestinians in general and in its often violent disputes over the Temple Mount in particular because their literal interpretations of Scriptural passages lead them to believe that these current events represent enactments of the ¿Endtime¿ in which the Messiah will reappear and perform the Final Judgment. A decidedly unbenign corollary of such beliefs, of course, is the expectation that the majority of Jews will be killed during the ensuing Armageddon, and that only the few who convert in time will join the ranks of true believers who enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In tracing these volatile beliefs, summarized under the rubric of ¿dispensational premillenialism,¿ along with the parallel convictions of Jewish messianists and the unswerving commitments of Muslims to the defense of the sacred precincts on the Mount, Gershom Gorenberg contrasts the literalism with which a ¿political arrangement over thirty-five acres,¿ the area of the Temple Mount, ¿is described as a cosmological defeat of light by darkness¿ - i.e., an accommodation preventing the destroyed Temple¿s rebuilding, an essential precondition to fulfillment of the Doomsday scripts of both Christian and Jewish fundamentalists - with the moderate evangelicals¿ rejection of the Crusades as a betrayal of Jesus, who ¿saw the image of God in every person he met.¿ The author alternates passages of philosophical reflection with folksy descriptions of meetings with rabbis, ministers, scientists, politicians, and philosophers, and even with an analogy of the current crisis in the Middle East to the 1993 conflagration in Waco, Texas, which he interprets as a salient and pertinent example not only of the importance of understanding symbols in any dialogue or confrontation between adherents of different religions or cultures but also of the inevitable consequences of failing to heed or to speak one¿s interlocutor¿s symbolic language.

End of Days

Good book. A little slow in parts, and is definitely better for a reader who is somewhat better read on the subject of religious conflict in the middle east. Overall, there is a lot of good info. packed inside to explain the creation of conflicts between Islamic, Muslim, and Christian fundamentalists and why this particular tract of land is so valuable to all 3.

An extraordinary non-fiction thriller

The End of Days' is probably one of most extraordinary non-fiction thrillers I've ever read. Mr. Gorenberg's timely book is an intelligent, beautifully written revelation of the importance of the Temple Mount in modern politics and religion. The emotionally charged issue of the religious sovernignty of one of the world's most important religious site in the worlds most holy city is a big story with many different players each with a fascinating role. With much grace, humor and painstaking research Gorenberg explains, edifies and ties together all the real-life players in their struggle for power over a small piece of real estate that has the power to change the political climate of the Middle East . I loved this book and have been recommending it to anyone interested in the Middle East, or the religious fundamentalist movements or anyone who loves to read well-written and enlightning works that deal with current world issues. As the turmoil in the Middle East unfolds it 's great to read a book that made sense of the madness and offered insight into the motives of the principals in the present conflict.

This one reads like a novel

In a time of fundamelentalist fervor, Gershom Gorenberg's superb look at what makes them tick is essential reading. A compilation of anecdotes and interviews with the true and extreme believers of the three major faiths brings the reader up close and personal with a world we really know little about. Most important, 'The End of Days' isn't a scholarly book in the conventional (boring) sense. It's storytelling at its best, beautifully written and engrossing from start to finish.

The One Book Everyone Should Read on Religious Violence & the Middle East

Gershom Gorenberg's THE END OF DAYS is a stunning achievement. It concisely depicts how one small landmass in Jerusalem is ground zero for the end-times dreams and fears of three world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. With eerie ease, Gorenberg brings people who think the world is about to end so close they seem like one's next door neighbors. He deftly portrays how American nad Israeli politicians and religious leaders court the support of radical religious subgroups while ignoring how their actions fuel apocalyptic violence. No one has ever presented people awash with apocalyptic fever more credibly. Extremely well-written and absorbing, this book will be keenly appreciated by thoughtful and aware people throughout America and the Middle East. Brenda E. Brasher, PH.D. Co-Chair, New Religious Movements Group of the American Academy of Religion author of Godly Women: Fundamentalism and Female Power and Give Me That Online Religion.

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