Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

buddybickford OK firstly I am not religious I could believe in Spider man as quick as any other being, anyway so maybe I understood incorrectly, but I thought this was an exercise to understand who and what Jewish people are, and what shaped them, their identities, and the consequent perception by Jews non Jews on what Jewish people are. So to do that quite correctly we turn to history. We investigate all episodes they may have affected, shaped or changed the Jewish identity and culture. At a certain point Simon Schama says " and then there lived and died a man called Jesus of Nazareth", so I though OK now finally we will hear all about this, this should be good, but no, that was it. I thought I had sat on the remote control.The most damaging to the Jewish faith of all the alleged messiahs that came and went, Jesus, the Jewish man who created the largest religion on the Earth, the man who split the Jewish faith, the man who's first followers were Jewish, the man who was allegedly brought to his death in the hands of the Romans but at the bequest of the Jews , got less than a bleeting moment, just 12 words. Ironically, this served perfectly to answer the question Simon Schama had been searching for, this very omission itself spoke louder than anything else on the documentary. So it's not what you include that can help analyse what you are, it's what you choose not to include that is just, if not more revealing.What on Earth was the point of a documentary that cherry picks what it feels comfortable to discuss, and what a futile quest to try and find answers without doing so. Imagine if psychiatrists did the same thing. ? Here's how it would go:Patient "So I think the self harming is because of an event that happened when I was 10" Psychiatrist "Ahhh, we don't need to talk about that, do you like puppies?"

Justin Denson I am an "uneducated" godless "gentile" I guess. For me, this was purely an attempt to learn why people through history have hated the Jews. I did not grown up in an anti-Semitic home and never understood why the Jews were generally hated so much in History considering all the great cultural and intellectual contributions they have made. I do remember my Grandparents having some snide remarks about Jews and not wanting them to move into their neighborhood, but that always confused me because my Grandfathers fought in WWII and liberated the Jews from annihilation. BUT, I figured it out pretty quickly. The Jews were great creditors, which by default causes envy and animosity. I "hate" my credit card company, my mortgage lender, medical bills etc...You don't need 5 hours to figure out why the Jews have suffered the way they have. And this is not an endorsement or acceptance of those injustices. This is my interim opinion from the story told in this series, until I have more information. This series has given me a better appreciation of the Jewish faith and cultures. I found myself cheering for the Jews as History's great underdog story. I do agree with other reviews that this is very much a biased telling and felt at times the narrator was not being completely transparent concerning any historical missteps of the Jews. Surely they were not always simply the victim, there must have been times they were the aggressors and a more unbiased narrator may have been able to give a better telling of that. One of the other reviewers peaked my interest about the Jews involvement in Communism and I look forward to researching that history. All in all, this was a great series if you are completely in the dark, as I was, on Jewish History.

enginquiry **spoiler alert**I found it to be an excellent overview of the story of the Jews. I agree with some of the other reviewers that the scope was rather limited -- it did not include many of the Jewish groups that are scattered throughout the world. If it did, I think it would have to be a much, much longer series, because there is truly a lot to be said.Having said that, where I disagree with some reviews, is that I think he explains very well why the Jews have survived as a people, alluding not only to the adaptation of its religion to the nomadic lifestyle (i.e. the memory of the spoken word, the work of Moses Mendelsohnn, the ghettos (for example, in Venice); the Talmud and its portable and philosophically-malleable nature; and the openness with which certain countries and communities allowed Jews to enter, collaborate and prosper. I think a reviewer mentioned that it felt as though the host wanted the viewer to feel guilt. I did not get that feeling at all. I think he wanted the viewer to understand that, unfortunately, the sad state of the Jewish story, "paranoia confirmed by history", cannot be denied. I also strongly agree that Herzl's notion of Zionism and its true meaning has been well defined and brought into more proper context by the host and by what Herzl saw happen in Europe, including France (e.g. Dreyfus). Namely, that Jews were still being treated like vermin for being Jews, in spite of assimilation. The idea of Jews needing a nation makes a lot of sense -- at least it *made* a lot of sense in the world of Herzl -- and this Zionism made even *more* sense to Jews during WW2. So, as defined by Jews needing this home, like any nation, it is in that sense a noble endeavor that, had it happened earlier, may have saved Jews from prosecution. Though I have yet to find a Jew who wouldn't trade the lives lost for Israel.While there is debate about Israel/Palestine and origins and land, I think it would be fair to say though, that if we all came back to where we came from originally, Saudi Arabia would have to give part of Medina to the Jews, which of course will never happen. So, because we don't necessarily come back to where we originated. It has to be, as they say, a world of adaptation. But that's where this stops being a review and becomes a personal opinion. Anyway, great introduction but definitely, DEFINITELY begs for further research. And I'm sure it was not meant to be the end-all-be-all of historic series. I would like to see one on Russian Jews sometime, as well as Mountain Jews.

huguespt This is a very interesting Mocmentry of the Jewish history over the years as per Mr Schama. I enjoyed the history of this series however by the third episode I found Mr. Schama to be the, well "everyone in history has beaten up Jews", if Mr. Schama could be a little more reportive rather then, it seems asking anyone watching this program for an apologie. I do not condone war, genocide of any race or religion however I think a TV series should report the facts and not make the viewer want to switch off because it is a world that beats Jews. The first 2 episodes were not like the third as in they were factual and good reporting were as by the third episode, I found it more of a political/religious statement rather than an unbiased reporter giving the facts with passion rather someone that realistically wants to petition people to aplogise for the horrors of the past. Mr Schama needs to stay a reporter or a protester and reflect this in his Mocumentaries. Worth watching. It was informative. I say Mocumetrey rather than Documentary as to me a reporter of a Documentary is un- biased, Mr, Schama is far from unbiased but to me asks for an apologie from the viewer. There is so much horror in human past and even present of many peoples but for a documentary this needs to be unbiased. As I have said worth watching if by the time you get to the third episode, I wont watch anymore from Mr. Schama unless he can be a reporter rather than a person too close to the subject matter.