Jewish Journeys

By Jeremy Leigh

Following in the footsteps of famous Jewish travel-writers, from the Biblical to Modern, Jeremy Leigh has assembled this beautiful and personal collection of ‘travel writing’.

Drawing on travel chronicles, biographies, modern literary reflections and Biblical sources, Leigh explains why the ‘journey’, from Abraham journeying from one land and culture in search of another to the creation of Israel, is at the heart of the Jewish experience. Inviting the contemporary reader to consider the vastness of the Jewish journey, to enjoy the reflections of those who recorded their experiences, and to place themselves somewhere in the continuum. 

Jewish Journeys is organized around Leigh’s thoughts after years ofteaching and guiding tours. He occasionally muses on contemporary Jewish travel: Do Jews visit Masada to consider whether the zealotry of its holdouts is an inspirational example or to see the sun rise over Jordan? Does a satirical sketch on Israeli television about Holocaust package tours reflect the ambiguity of a trip to Poland. . . . Pointed observations and excellent selected passages.’

Jewish Book World

Jeremy Leigh was born in London but has been living in Israel since the early 1990s. He has been working in the field of Jewish education and travel for the past eighteen years: guiding groups and writing books for others guides (Holocaust Education Trust 2000; UIA Canada Education 2003; UJIA Education 2005). These travels have taken him across Europe and to North America. When not travelling he teaches Jewish History and Israeli Studies to visiting students in Jerusalem.