Walking the Bible SP: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses

Feeling disconnected from the religious community he had known as a child, Bruce Feiler set out on a perilous, 10,000-mile journey across the Middle East to discover the roots of the Bible. Traveling through three continents, five countries, and four war zones, Feiler is the first person ever to complete such a journey. Camping in the desert, crossing the Red Sea, climbing Mt. Sinai, and interviewing bedouin and pilgrims alike, Feiler attempts to answer the question: Is the Bible just an abstraction, some book gathering dust, or is it a living, breathing entity with relevance to contemporary life? Along with prominent Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren, Feiler treks though Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, the Sinai, and Jordan visiting the actual places where some of history-s most famous events took place, from the mountain where Noah-s ark landed (Feiler meets a man who claims to have found the ark) to the site of the legendary burning bush. He visits the desert outpost in Turkey where Abraham first heard the words of God and sleeps (illegally) on the summit where Moses overlooked the Promised Land. In each place, he gathers the latest archaeological research about the site and sits down to read the stories in their natural surroundings. With vivid, lively prose, he explores how geography affects the larger narrative of the Bible and ultimately realizes how much these places--and his experience--have affected his faith.

Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses is the story of Bruce Feiler's 10,000-mile trek from Mount Ararat to Mount Nebo, undertaken for reasons he did not understand at the outset and accompanied by a companion who was very nearly a stranger. In the book's first chapter, in characteristically understated style, Feiler suggests a viable parallel to his journey:

Abraham was not originally the man he became. He was not an Israelite, he was not a Jew. He was not even a believer in God--at least initially. He was a traveler, called by some voice not entirely clear that said: Go, head to this land, walk along this route, and trust what you will find.

Feiler, a fifth-generation American Jew from the South, had felt no particular attachment to the Holy Land. Yet during his journey, Feiler's previously abstract faith grew more grounded. ("I began to feel a certain pull from the landscape.... It was a feeling of gravity. A feeling that I wanted to take off all my clothes and lie facedown in the soil.") Feiler's attentiveness, intelligence, and adventurousness enliven every page of this book. And the lessons he learned about the relationship between place and the spirit will be useful for readers of every religious tradition that finds its origins in the Bible. --Michael Joseph Gross