Book Club Discussion Guide for

Father, Son, Stone

by Allan H. Goodman

I want to thank you for choosing Father, Son, Stone as your book club selection. I offer these discussion topics, as well as questions and topics that readers have raised and discussed at their book clubs.
Please note that on my website, www.solomonpublications.com, there are character charts by time period and order of appearance and a geographic glossary with descriptions and photographs of the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary, the Dome of the Rock, al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Silwan.  There is also a map of the Old City of Jerusalem showing the location of these sites.
I would be glad to participate in your book club discussion by video conference via Zoom or other platforms.  I can discuss any topic, answer the readers' questions below and/or any questions you have. Some book clubs prefer to have their own discussion, and then have the author participate to answer questions. I can also participate by having a book club member ask me questions on the phone before the meeting, and share my answers with the book club without my participation during the meeting.
Again, thank you for choosing Father, Son, Stone as your book club's selection. The ultimate reward for me as an author is to know that readers enjoy my story and recommend it to others. Please feel free to send your comments or questions about my book to me at book@solomonpublications.com.
Sincerely,
Allan H. Goodman
 
Press Release before Publication
I would first like to offer information about Father, Son, Stone from the initial publications press release, which will help the reader understand my motivation for writing the story.
FATHER, SON, STONE: Challenging Assumptions & Stereotypes:  A Historical Mystery that Delves Into the Secret of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary
Allan H. Goodman's intriguing blend of history and mystery, Father, Son, Stone, delves into the secret of Jerusalem's most controversial religious site: the Temple Mount, the site of the destroyed Jewish Temple, sacred to the Jewish people and known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, where now stand two sacred Muslim structures, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. Inspired by Goodman's desire to learn why Moshe Dayan returned the Temple Mount to the Muslim authority at the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, the book spans various periods in the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, while engaging the reader in a page-turning tale that includes personal loss, religious and legal conflict, political ambition, and long-hidden family secrets.
The story opens in the year 2035, as a grandfather and his grandson enter the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. Speaking Arabic, the grandfather explains why Jews no longer pray at the Western Wall. His narrative begins in 1967 during the Six-Day War, with three Israeli paratroopers fighting in the battle for Jerusalem. The story continues in 2017, when the Western Wall collapses from excavations by the Muslim Authority to enlarge al-Aqsa Mosque. One of the former paratroopers, Meir Bar-Aben, is now a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, who presides over a secret hearing, initiated by the Israeli Prime Minister, to take back control of the Temple Mount from the Muslim Authority. What is revealed during the hearing changes Jerusalem, and the people who live there, forever.
Goodman is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the University of Toledo College of Law. Having spent time in Israel and having studied Hebrew and Arabic as well as Middle Eastern history and politics, Goodman conducted extensive research for the book. His personal experiences and research inspired him to write a story that challenges historical assumptions and stereotypes, and deals with the timely controversy over the rights to and the control of the Temple Mount.
 "I wrote this story of conflict as a legal dispute, with a judge as the main character, because I am a resolver of conflict," explains Goodman, who has been a judge, mediator, and arbitrator for more than thirty years. "I've found that conflict resolution takes unexpected twists and turns.  Father, Son, Stone expresses my hope and belief that people can live together in peace, despite their differences."
Some themes explored in Father, Son, Stone include:
• History is a mixture of what is remembered, forgotten, hidden and confused.
• When one seeks to confirm a historical assumption, that assumption may be upset unexpectedly.
• Diverse extremist groups may have the same agenda.
• We often judge individuals based upon inaccurate stereotypes created by our lack of understanding, our prejudice, our fears, and/or the media.
• The most successful resolution to a conflict occurs when those in dispute ultimately understand each other's reality.
 
ADDITIONAL TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
Theme 1 Father, Son, Stone
The theme "father, son, stone" occurs in many forms throughout the book. The first reference is in the epigraph that paraphrases God's command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Explain the theme with regard to Meir's father and Meir (their family name, Bar-Aben); Meir and Ori; Musa ben Abraham and Ka'ab; Hiram Aitza and his son.
 
Theme 2 The Nature of History
We develop our understanding of history based on our nationality, family origins, religion, education, and other factors. Our history often excludes the history of those who live in close proximity to us.
As Nuri's grandfather says in Chapter 62, "Everyone's history is intertwined. To ignore the history of others is to deny your own."
As Rabbi Avidan says in Chapter 58, "History is a mixture of what is remembered, forgotten, hidden, and confused."
At the end of the book, a chronology, bibliography, and discussion of the historical and fictional characters describe the historical framework of the story. If you read this information, did any of it surprise you? Was any of the information contrary to your understanding of the history of Jerusalem? Were you familiar with the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, Caliph Umar, the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock? If you have visited Israel, did you realize that Islamic culture has existed there since the first century of Islam, the seventh century C.E.? Did you know that many were distressed by Moshe Dayan's returning the Temple Mount to the Muslim Authority after the Six-Day War?


Theme 3 - Assumptions
What were your assumptions as to the following characters or situations?
Zara – did you assume she was a terrorist and intended to do harm?
The grandfather – did you assume he was a Muslim or of Arabic descent?
Channah – did you assume she was ill and going to the hospital for treatment?
The stone that Aaron Kragen delivered from the Freer Gallery – did you assume it would be a significant item of evidence in the hearing?
The Temple – did you assume you knew the history of the Temple Mount?
The resolution of the story – Did you assume there would be a peaceful or violent resolution?
 
Theme 4 – Rebuilding the Temple on the Temple Mount and Extremism
When I published Father, Son, Stone in 2014, the new Sanhedrin, the Temple Mount Faithful, the Temple Institute, Atarat Cohanim, and others were advocating rebuilding the Temple on the Temple Mount and the reinstitution of animal sacrifice.  Since that time, these thoughts have become more prevalent and mainstream in Israeli religious society.
As Reverend Crosby explained to the Zion Baptist Temple group, many Christians also look to the day when the Temple will be rebuilt, as this will be the precursor of the End Time and a devastating war before the Second Coming of Jesus.
Is it realistic to expect that the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount—the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque—will either be removed or co-exist with a rebuilt Jewish Temple?  What might cause this to occur, and what might be the consequences?
Is this book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
I have been asked this question by potential readers. While the status of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem are issues in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the origins of the Temple Mount and the Noble Sanctuary pre-date this conflict by many centuries. The story focuses on the rights to the Temple Mount and Noble Sanctuary, and not the status of Jerusalem or the issue of the creation of a Palestinian state.
Did you realize the Identity of Nuri's grandfather?
After reading the book, some readers did not realize the identity of the grandfather who is telling the story to his grandson, Nuri. Did you finally realize who the grandfather was? If not, read Chapter 61, Chapter 62, and the Epilogue very carefully.
How did you wish the story to end?
Ultimately, this story is one of peace, reconciliation, and coexistence. As you read the story, were you hoping for a resolution with or without conflict? I have received different answers, based upon the personalities and religious/political views of the individual reader.
Reader Comments
Since the framework for telling the story was a secret legal proceeding, one reader viewed it as legal thriller, but without lawyers.
One reader saw the book as an anthology of family stories – Rabbi Simon (Rabbi Avidan), Ka'ab (Fatima al-Fawzi), and Caliph Umar (Samir) woven together by unique, fortuitous circumstances that finally revealed the resolution of the story.
 
Several readers have told me that the story would make a good movie or TV miniseries. I am not sure that the story could be told in a movie. I believe a 6-hour (3 episode) miniseries would work, but I am not a screen writer. Some book clubs have discussed who would be cast for the various characters!
 
Questions I can answer during a book club session.
 
How did you develop the concept for the story?
 
What life experiences did you incorporate into the story?
 
Why did you include the "Aaron Kragen" story line?
 
Why did you have the Zion Baptist Temple Church Group in the book?
 
Is any of the characters, possibly Prime Minister Zadok, the antagonist?
 
Do any of the characters' names have significance? Meir Bar-Aben, Ori, Nuri, Hassan ibn Sadik, Ezer Zadok, Sarah, Zara, Rabbi Avidan, Samir, Fatima al-Fawzi, Amos Eitan, Channah, Hiram Aitza, Esther (the cat).
 
Some of the characters have similar names—Zara and Sarah, Sadik and Zadok. Was that intentional?
 
Why did you choose to make Meir Bar-Aben a non-religious person?
 
Do you believe that the ending of the story has basis in fact, or is it conjecture? (This question is answered in the Afterword of the book).
 The grandfather-grandson storyline is only 12 pages throughout the book, but lends some mystery by not clearly identifying these individuals. When in the writing of the book did you have the idea to have a grandfather tell his grandson the story?  Did you expect the reader to wonder who the grandfather and the grandson were?  Where in the story is there enough information that might hint at the identities of the grandfather and grandson?
Other Topics of Interest
About the cover – When my sister-in-law visited Israel in November 2013, I asked her to take photos of the Western Wall for my cover. When I saw her photo of the two doves in the nook, I found it representational of peace, as well as Nuri and his grandfather.
When my cousin visited Israel in December 2013, I asked him to take photos. The back cover of the paperback version of Father, Son, Stone is his photo of the moon over the kotel. In that photo, you can see the empty nook in the left bottom corner where the doves sit on the front cover.
Did you notice the title in Hebrew repeated across the bottom of the front cover in very small red letters? – aleph bet (father) – bet nun (son) – aleph bet nun (stone).  This is also the epigraph of the book, from which the title comes.
About myself – I am an independent, or "indie," author – the term used for authors who self-publish their books. I am the owner of Solomon Publications, the company that publishes Father, Son, Stone and my other titles – two nonfiction books on conflict resolution.
In my Afterword I share my background and the origins of the story. I was an attorney for seventeen years and have been a judge for more than thirty years. I wrote Father, Son, Stone in my spare time over a period of more than ten years. During the 18 months before the book's publication in the summer of 2014, I worked with my editor on seven major revisions. I then finalized the manuscript for publication as a paperback and e-book.  In 2024 the audio version was created using Amazon’s virtual voice platform, which uses an AI program to narrate.
I hope you enjoy my story of peace, hope, and reconciliation.