From Jerusalem to Prague

A Journey for the Truth about Jews, Israel, and the World Today

It’s hard to be a Jew, and it always has been. But after 7 October 2023, it’s even harder. Americans and Europeans are competing to see who hates Israel more. Deluded progressives are joining hands with Hamas, and Arabs are laughing. Jews don’t have it easy, but because they are Jews, they make it even harder for themselves. As if it weren't enough that the whole world hates them, they often hate themselves too. Why are the Jews, such a small nation, and why is Israel, an even smaller country, constantly at the centre of attention? Tuvia Tenenbom tries to get to the bottom of this. And as is his custom, he travels from place to place. Along the way, he also tackles a host of other issues: political correctness, migrants, Trump, the Germans…
He meets protestors, Muslims, politicians, café owners, showbiz tycoons, activists, artists, prostitutes, businesspeople, settlers, and Orthodox zealots, both open and hidden anti-Semites, and of course, Jews—lots of Jews! He asks all of them clever and seemingly naive questions to provoke them—which he often succeeds in doing—and to find out what they really think. He then pieces together a picture that is an extraordinarily witty and, at the same time, alarming report on the world today.
If there’s one thing Tuvia Tenenbom is not, it’s politically correct. His book is full of entertaining dialogues and sharp observations. But behind all the wit, there are often surprising and cruel truths we would rather not know. Tenenbom is neither a leftist nor a rightist; he simply wants to know the truth. And so he irritates absolutely everyone.
And he feels very much at home in Prague.

Tuvia Tenenbom

Born in Israel to a rabbi's family, he moved to the USA at a young age and settled in New York. There, he began writing plays. He is a theatre director, playwright, author, journalist, essayist, and the founding artistic director of the Jewish Theater of New York. The French newspaper Le Monde has called him the founder of a new form of Jewish theatre. He holds several academic degrees in mathematics, computer science, and drama. He also completed rabbinical studies in Jerusalem. In addition, he is active as a journalist, contributing to the German weekly Die Zeit, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, and the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Read by David Novotný

After graduating from the Prague Conservatory, he worked at the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice. His longest engagement to date has been at the Dejvice Theatre under the direction of Miroslav Krobot. David Novotný also has many film and television roles to his name, including Jarda Kužel in the series (and film) Okresní přebor, Karel Holec in the series Kukačky, Jirka Švec in Jiří Havelka's film Vlastníci, and he also played himself in the series Zkáza Dejvického divadla. He is extensively involved in voice-over work and is also a popular audiobook narrator.