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The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid From Chicago Fights Hezbollah--A Memoir (2010)

by Joel Chasnoff(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1416549323 (ISBN13: 9781416549321)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Free Press

review 1: What's a nice Jewish boy from Chicago doing in the Israel Defence Forces? Read the book and find out. Through the author's eyes, we experience basic training and then armnor training in a Merkava tank. It's hilarious in many ways, but chilling as well. The author served in Lebanon.According to the author, there are four social classes in modern [Chasnoff served in the late 1990s] Israel: from richest to poorest, they are Ashkenazi (descendants of Jews from Europe) from wealthy neighborhoods, Ashkenazi from not such wealthy neighborhoods, Sephardim (from the Middle East and North Africa), and finally Russians. Here's the bad part: there are 4 men in a Merkava crew. The tank commanders are all Ashkenazim from wealthy backgrounds; the gunners, including the author, are all A... moreshkenazim from modest circumstances; the loaders are all Sephardim; and finally the drivers who are all Russians. It's a quick and entertaining read.
review 2: I read this for a book club meeting, and had the fortune of Joel Chasnoff at the meeting. The book is highly readable and entertaining - but ultimately does have a serious core. As one person pointed out, the key phrase in the book is (paraphrasing) that Chasnoff knows what his identity is, but Israel does not, and needs to find it.On one level this is an entertaining story about being in the military and going through basic and advanced training, with surprises about how remarkably unorganized a lot of it is, which one would not expect from the Israelis. On another level it is about being part of an army that is supporting political positions that may not be tenable, or at least warrant discussion. While the author clearly throughout perceives himself as Jewish, both ethnically and religiously, a small minority that controls a lot of power in Israel does not see things that way. Yes, Israel needs to decide what it is and is not.I did enjoy the book and enjoyed the discussion with the author, and will look for more things that he will write. less

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