Yigal Allon

My Father´s House

Pioneers in the Promised Land before 1948

The story of a great man, a founder of a nation, a Jewish immigrant from a Baltic state who established himself in the Promised Land in 1918, had to leave for America to earn enough money to buy his land, returned and finally settled. His youngest son, another great Israeli would grow to become a great commander and statesman, tells this moving story. It envolves the love of this pioneer for the land on which he worked so hard, and where he raised his family. Yigal, the narrator, makes this story a great read through the passion with which he writes. His love and respect for his father is really touching. On a first impression it seems that the old man is the protagonist, but what shines through is the land, his love for the land: "Sometimes we were so exhilarated by the cultivated soil that we would flatten ourselves on the earth, take a handful of soil and chew it. The earth was clean. And the possibly unexplainable fact is that I considered it tasty." Truly this Land is special.

As I said, there's passion and tenderness in the telling of the story of this family. It is specially interesting for those who want to have an impression of what was life like for the Jews of Palestine before the War of Liberation, and also their relations with the Arabs.