Eva
escapes wartime Vienna and crosses the Mediterranean on a refugee ship only to
be interned in the Atlit detention camp, before rebuilding her life as Rivkah
in Gush Etzion. Hugo lingers between living and dying in Buchenwald, where he
is rescued by an American reporter named Vince. Upon their arrival in
Palestine, Vince discovers it is more important to play a role in the historic
events occurring around him than to report their story.
Told
from the perspective of Irgun fighters, this is a candid account of bombings
and hangings, of sitting on death row in a British prison, and navigating one’s
way through minefields. The events are portrayed with careful adherence to
historical accuracy, a sign of the author’s meticulous research.
While
the bombing of the King David Hotel is well known, not everyone is familiar
with the failed attempt to blow up British military headquarters at Citrus
House in Tel Aviv. The sinking of the Patria refugee ship was a real, tragic event,
as were the fierce attacks on convoys supplying the settlements of Gush Etzion.
It will surprise readers to learn that American conductor and composer Leonard
Bernstein performed with the Palestine Philharmonic at Ein Harod; this concert
took place in May 1947.
Most
troubling to read are the pages depicting the events at Deir Yassin in April
1948. Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi killed at least 100 Palestinian Arabs in
what can be rightfully be called a massacre. The horror of what transpired in
that village is described in precise, painful detail.
The
title of the book is a bit strange. The Gush Etzion kibbutz where Rivkah makes
her home, where Vince takes up arms in defense of the Jewish cause, and where
Hugo finds refuge from Irgun violence, is Masu'ot Yitzhak, an actual kibbutz
destroyed in the War of Independence (and later established as a moshav shitufi
near Ashkelon). The name’s literal translation is Isaac’s Beacon, but that
hardly sounds like something that would appear on a map of Israel.
“There
is going to be a Jewish state,” says one of the Irgun leaders in the last days
of the British Mandate. “It will be born in bitterness and battle.” The novel Isaac’s Beacon relates the tale of Israel’s birth in bitterness and battle without
sparing the reader any of the blood, sweat, and tears of the brave fighters who
made it possible.
New
York Times best-selling author David L. Robbins is the author of 15 novels and
four professionally produced plays. Many of his books are historical, depicting
the battles and conflicts of World War Two. In 2018, Robbins was named one of
two most influential literary artists in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Originally published on The Times of Israel.
