Jerusalem, City of Mirrors: City of Mirrors

Modern Jerusalem, in Elon's words, is ``a breeding ground of ghettos.'' Israelis and Palestinians continue to work and live apart from one another; the city fissures into four rough quadrangles--Moslem, Jewish, Christian, Armenian--each with its own religion, its distinctive tongue or tongues. In a rich, beautifully written, impartial meditation that is also a healing act, Elon, noted Israeli author and journalist ( Herzl ; The Israelis: Founders and Sons ), measures the clarity of Jerusalem's biblical landscape against a past and present choked with religious and political strife. For a host of pilgrims from Dominican friar Felix Fabri to Mark Twain, Chateaubriand and Gogol, Jerusalem has served as a mirror of faith, despair, hope or disbelief. Elon, a contemporary wanderer through Jerusalem, as well as a long-time resident, sadly finds that the modern city ``has almost always been intolerant and exclusivist.'' (Sept.)