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.