Summary

Chapter One 

When they arrive in Palestine, Kitty is surprised by how modern the city is. As Ari and Kitty have lunch, the British rush into the restaurant and do a random search of papers. Ari tells Kitty that it’s routine. The British officers walk out with two Jewish people who don’t have their papers in order. Then the Maccabees set a nearby oil refinery on fire. Aris says this is the Maccabees’ way of welcoming Exodus.  

Ari leaves Kitty and visits Avidan at the Haganah headquarters. Avidan is on edge because the Haganah has to answer the British for the Maccabees’ raids. Avidan is quietly trying to build a formal army and wants Ari to assess all the strength of all the kibbutzes.  

Chapter Two 

The kibbutz that the Exodus children go to was founded by Dr. Lieberman, a man who left Germany in 1934. It is called Gan Dafna and has a statue honoring the late Dafna. Dov is not happy to be there and says he has other plans. Karen is thrilled with her new home. 

  Kitty meets with Harriet Saltzman in Jerusalem. Harriet has organized Zionist money in Palestine since after WWI, using it to open a modern medical center. She is kind but wants to know what Kitty is doing in Palestine. She’s relieved when Kitty tells her she is not interested in Ari, saying Ari needs a sabra, or someone born in Israel. Harriet offers Kitty a job at Gan Dafna but warns her that Karen will likely form a strong bond with Palestine and is unlikely to ever leave. Then David takes her sightseeing, and she sees men keeping the Sabbath. Kitty feels like an outsider.  

While in Jerusalem, Bar Israel, a contact for the Maccabees, catches Ari and tells him to visit headquarters. Ari visits with his uncle Akiva who has been living underground for years. Akiva misses his land and his brother. He is convinced that the Haganah is tipping the British off about the activities of the Maccabees, which Ari discredits. Ari tells his uncle the Haganah and the Palmach want to fight, but they are retrained. They cannot destroy everything that has been built. Akiva wants badly to be forgiven by Barak and asks Ari to help.  

Chapter Three 

Ari’s sister Jordana runs Gadna, the military training for children over fourteen at Gan Dafna. As each new class begins training, Jordana gives them a stirring speech about how their homeland needs them. She tells them being in Palestine means not having to lower their heads in shame for being Jewish.  

Ari shows Kitty the farm of his parents’ home and seems calm and peaceful there. Jordana arrives and warmly greets Ari but seems distant and cold to Kitty. Kitty joins the Ben Canaan family for dinner and then the family has guests who come to visit Ari and to see the American girl he has brought to Palestine. Kitty will live in a simple but beautiful cottage prepared for her by the Exodus children. 

After dinner Barak confides in Ari there is a coldness between the Yishuv and Taha and their other Arab neighbors. He asks Ari to fix this problem. Ari makes a case for Barak to forgive Akiva, but Barak does not want to hear it because he feels Akiva has turned Jewish people against each other.  

Ari goes to see Taha in Abu Yesha. Taha says that fighting is inevitable, and Ari cannot believe it. Taha is being told by his people to pick a side, but Ari and Barak are like his family. Still, among the Jewish people, Taha feels like he’s tolerated but not an equal. Taha confesses his love for Jordana, and Ari unwillingly confirms Taha’s feelings by saying he can never be Jordana’s husband.   

Chapter Four 

The children of Gan Dafna are smart, proud, and well-behaved. Dr. Lieberman says they are good because they’re finally loved. There is little religious education at the kibbutz, which increases Kitty’s comfort level. Her efficiency is welcome by the staff of the hospital, and she is very warm with the children who still struggle with their mental demons from the concentration camps. Karen works with Kitty and Kitty tries the plant the idea of the two of them eventually moving to America together. Dov is a problem for Kitty because he divides Karen’s attention, but she decides to leave the situation alone for now.  

Kitty and Jordana argue when Jordana turns up in her cottage. Kitty does not back down from the argument and shares that she refuses to get involved with anything having to do with the Palmach. Jordana finds this odd considering Kitty is now living in Palestine. Kitty rejects Jordana’s accusation that she wants to be with Ari and tells her that she is here for Karen. 

Chapter Five 

Ari reappears after being away for a time and he and Kitty climb Mt. Tabor together. Eventually, many people gather at the summit, and it becomes a Palmach reunion. This is the area where the soldiers are trained.  They start a fire, sing songs, and eat late into the night. It occurs to Kitty that these people are not an army of mortals but of ancient Hebrews who have the power of God in them. She’s starting to see them in a new way.  

Analysis

In this section of the book, Kitty settles into her new life in Palestine, and she comes to see it as a place filled with contradictions. She is surprised by the inexplicable pull she feels to Jerusalem. A Protestant girl from Indiana, Kitty wonders why this city has such an effect on her. She will wrangle with this question for years to come. The walking contradiction of Kitty Freemont entranced in Jerusalem puzzles even Kitty herself. Not far from the cities, Kitty sees the simple and agricultural life of the people who live in the country and observes the orthodox Jewish people praying. She marvels at how old and new stand side by side in Jewish Palestine, and how major religions and groups from all over the world try to stake a claim of this place, in spite of its dusty and barren hills. As Kitty observes the many different kinds of Jewish people in Palestine, she begins to understand that what unites them is that they all share the same fierce pride and love of their land. But though they love the land, their presence there is plagued by constant disruptions. Jewish people are never truly at ease in Palestine and are accustomed to always looking over their shoulder, no matter where they live. Kitty has embarked on a journey of discovery about herself and the Jewish people in these chapters, and her initial interaction with this foreign place leaves her with more questions than answers.  

Akiva becomes emotional when Ari arrives for the visit that Akiva requested in Jerusalem. The men have not seen each other in two years, and Akiva is overcome by how much he misses his family. Although he chose to leave his life in the kibbutz to follow his convictions and carry on what he believes is a noble mission, he still feels the pang of being away from his family and his land. He asks wistfully about Ein Or, the kibbutz that he helped establish with his late wife Ruth. All Akiva has ever wanted is to tend his land and like his brother and his nephew, he has had to set that dream aside to fight for freedom. However, he has gone about it in a much different way, a way that disgusts Barak. As a result of his choice to put the freedom of the Jewish people over his family, Akiva lives an isolated life. He is paranoid and defensive, picking an argument with Ari that he quickly regrets. As usual, Ari is able to restrain himself and keeps the argument from getting out of hand. Akiva still holds the stubborn convictions he had when he left Ein Or, in spite of his solitary and lonely life. It is being separated from Barak that brings him true sorrow.   

Taha and Ari’s meeting illustrates how their lifelong friendship is at risk due to the rising tensions between the Jewish and Arab people. Ari feels betrayed by Taha’s passivity and willingness to throw his hands up as if violence between their people is inevitable. An incredulous Ari points out that Taha’s village exists, and its children are educated, because of the Jewish people. But Taha knows that as an Arab he has no security. The rogue Maccabees could attack Abu Yesha at any time. Ari feels helpless about not being able to argue this point. This is the kind of issue that Barak feared when Akiva left to form his offensive army. Aside from the threat of violence, Taha feels the same way as many other non-Jewish people, including Kitty. He feels inferior, like an outsider looking in, never quite understanding what drives the Jewish people. Throughout the novel, many of the Arab villages are described as run down and old. The land is not cultivated in the same was as it is in Jewish villages. It is not just their beliefs that differ, but the fundamental motivations of the two groups are different. It is only Kammal who strayed from the typical Arab mindset portrayed by Uris. Taha does not share his father’s convictions. Rather, he feels as though he needs to protect himself from the Jewish people. This interaction between the two old friends raises the question of how Barak’s old friend Kammal would have handled the tensions between the Jewish and Arab people, and if old patterns will repeat themselves.   

The beautiful Jordana, at only nineteen years old, is already a well-trained warrior in charge of training new young warriors. Everything that Jordana does is for Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel. She takes great pride in her land as well as her family. She is also suspicious of anyone who is not Jewish, which includes Kitty. Jordana tries to intimidate Kitty by walking into her cottage one night before Kitty returns from work. Kitty has received a warm welcome from everyone since arriving in Palestine, but Jordana does not hide the fact that she dislikes Kitty because she is not a sabra. Although Jordana tries to act as though all of Kitty’s feminine qualities are weaknesses, she secretly envies that Kitty can wear beautiful dresses and express her feelings. Kitty understands this and uses it against Jordana, letting her know that she works closely with Karen as a way of protecting the girl’s feminine qualities. Kitty exploits this one vulnerability she finds in the strong Jordana, telling Jordana she does not agree with how women are militarized in Palestine.