Ian Pear writes with the pas­sion of an evan­ge­list seek­ing to con­vince his audi­ence that Jew­ish faith, Jew­ish prac­tice, and the Jew­ish State of Israel have the answers to today’s prob­lems. Pear shares his insights through live­ly anec­dotes and con­nec­tions to tra­di­tion­al Jew­ish texts.

In one of the book’s emblem­at­ic pas­sages, Pear flash­es back to a high school wrestling match against a threat­en­ing com­peti­tor nick­named ​“Chain­saw.” Pear was called to the ring with the unflat­ter­ing nick­name ​“The Matza Ball.” Although he felt proud as a Jew, he won­dered why his coach didn’t choose a more hon­or­able name like ​“King David.” Pear con­cludes that his coach’s unso­phis­ti­cat­ed Judaism is part of a larg­er prob­lem: Judaism has failed to inspire mod­ern Jews to become edu­cat­ed mes­sen­gers of monotheism. 

In the sec­ond half of the book, Pear argues that the State of Israel answers this prob­lem because it rep­re­sents the best hope for Jews to feel part of a win­ning team in the world. He calls upon read­ers to estab­lish a con­nec­tion to the land of Israel because it can nur­ture a deep iden­ti­ty, a deep con­nec­tion to the Jew­ish peo­ple, and a deep con­nec­tion to God.