A Bridge across the Jordan: The Friendship between a Jewish Carpenter and the King of Jordan »

Theirs was an unlikely but inspiring friendship. One was born of humble origins in Jerusalem, the other of royal lineage in Mecca. One was a craftsman, the other a king. One was Jewish, the other a devout Muslim. One was born imbued with the ideals of Zionism, the other embodied the rising hopes of Arab nationalism. Yet Mendel Cohen and King Abdullah ibn Hussein of Jordan found common ground in a part of the world where life is so often sacrificed for land. In 1937 Cohen was working as a carpenter in Jerusalem when his skill and reputation for honesty came to the attention of Abdullah, who invited him to cross the Jordan River and work at his palace in Amman. Based on Cohen's memoirs of his years at the Jordanian royal court, A Bridge Across the Jordan is a fascinating account of a region on the brink of dramatic change. It is also an unforgettable portrait of King Abdullah, grandfather and predecessor of King Hussein, and a complex man of enormous wisdom and charm. To Cohen and many others, Abdullah represented the greatest hope for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Jordan - despite the fact that he fought for the Arab cause in the 1948 war. Abdullah's willingness to negotiate sometimes made him a lonely figure in a world where compromise is deemed worse than death. His assassination in 1951 at the hands of an extremist seemed to sound the death knell for peace. Yet in the end peace has prevailed. In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty. And in 1995 King Hussein invited authors Adaia and Abraham Shumsky, Mendel Cohen's daughter and her husband, to the royal palace in Amman so that they might retrace Cohen's and Abdullah's footsteps. What the Shumskys found was that the friendship between their father and King Hussein's grandfather had established a pattern for peace, and that a bridge across the Jordan still stood.

Publishers Weekly

This is the engrossing memoir of the experiences of a Palestinian Jewish carpenter, Mendel Cohen, working at the Jordanian royal court. His diaries have been translated and edited by the Shumskys, who are both psychologists (Adaia is Cohen's daughter). They have done an excellent job of bringing to life an era of Middle Eastern history. In 1937, Cohen was recruited from Jerusalem by Emir Abdullah, ruler of Jordan, to install a parquet floor in his palace. Abdullah was so impressed by Cohen's work that he retained him as chief carpenter until the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The two became friendly over many conversations and chess games. A born storyteller, Cohen offers reminiscences of palace life that are dramatic and perceptive. Included are descriptions of encounters with harem women, tales of political intrigue and Bedouin customs, plus a sharply etched portrait of Abdullah. Despite their cultural differences both men, according to Cohen, believed strongly in peace between Arabs and Jews. Abdullah was assassinated in 1951 and King Hussein, his successor, signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)