A graduate of the École normale supérieure and the École nationale d'administration, Armand Laferrère is a member of the editorial board of the journal Commentaire. He is the author of Lecture politique de la Bible (A Political Reading of the Bible) (Odile Jacob, 2013).

Trained as an engineer, currently the rabbi of the Synagogue de la Victoire in Paris, this is Moshe Sebbag’s first book.

The survival of the Jewish people, in spite of the countless tribulations they have endured throughout history, is an enigma for anyone who studies the destiny of civilizations. In this clearly-written book whose tone is that of an investigation, Armand Laferrère and Rabbi Moshe Sebbag attempt to shed light on the mystery.

If “particular forces… deep within the culture” in part explain this “collective eternity” promised to Jews, not as individuals, but as a people, mightn’t our Western civilizations, increasingly obsessed with the prospect of their decline, find reasons to be inspired by it?

Aren’t civilizations mortal? Probably, but the Jewish people endure; in this world where everything passes on, their endurance best resembles eternity.