This is quite an interesting subject. Where did you get the idea to write about the "end of the world."
Is it "the end of the world?" Maybe that's the point. It may seem as if the book is describing the end of the world, but then you realize that you can live through it! So maybe it's not the end of the world after all!
Granted, 2020 VISION tells a story of earth-shaking events that shatter the existence we are used to. So why did I write about them?
I believe that thinking people today are worried about precisely this scenario, or one like it. After all, we have lived through 9/11; we have seen chaos and insanity. Is the 2020 scenario so outlandish or beyond our ability to imagine? Look at the security measures currently in place: our airports, our borders, our attempts to control terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Our current world situation actually presupposes such a dangerous future.
So the question is: how do you respond to such events? Do you indulge in fantasies and avoid thinking about reality? Or do you confront reality and look for a realistic way to get through it?
What we need is realistic hope that we are going to survive and that the world can be healed. People are looking for strength and faith to get through whatever this seemingly crazy world may throw at us.
How can we REALISTICALLY reach a bright future?
That's what 2020 VISION is about.
I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting the book to focus on religion at all. Upon first glance it seems as if it'll be a thriller about escaping all the bad that comes when the world is crashing down. Your story actually does this but in such an unexpected way - using faith in God to pull the characters through. How did you decide to focus on religion as the heart of the story?
Focusing on religion wasn't really a "decision." It reflects my own life. Your question is one I would have put to myself thirty five years ago!
I grew up not only un-religious but anti-religious! I was raised in New York City with two Jewish parents in a wonderful home, but our upbringing was based on the assumption that a classic Biblical, religious outlook is totally antiquated, false and useless!
Very early on, however, I began to feel a tremendous vacuum inside me. Life was simply not working. I felt totally lost in the universe, like Noah's dove, "who could not find a resting place for the sole of its foot." I felt unable to control my own life. Thus began a passionate search which consumed me (and still does, because the journey to come closer to G-d is never complete; there is always more to accomplish).
At the age of thirty one, my wife and I, after having literally tried every lifestyle we could think of, were finally willing to explore our own roots. At that precise moment (please see Question 8 for more on this) we met a woman named Rebbetzin1 Esther Jungreis, who was destined to be our spiritual guide and we started to learn about the eternal, Biblical Jewish lifestyle whose seed is in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and whose fruit sprouted at Mount Sinai.
2020 VISION reflects our own personal story. I cannot help being personal in what I write. It is not a scientific treatise; it is a story from the heart. It is a big adventure, but so is life! It is personal and honest, and it represents the way we have approached all our challenges. The Jewish experience is the way we approach our personal life is also the way we approach our national life. The values are the same, and all solutions and directions come from G-d, otherwise, we believe, they wouldn’t work!
In other words, if the world is falling apart, there's only one Address that will be eternally stable and secure, that represents a Fixed Point to which one can cling no matter what happens on this beleaguered planet. We learned through personal experience that G-d is there to help and guide us, so where else should we turn in a time of trouble and danger?
Side note question, why do you write G-d instead of God in the book?
Writing G-d’s Name with a dash between "G" and "D" is a Jewish practice which reflects the sanctity of G-d's Name Itself. If you write out the Name completely, that word and the page and book on which you write it becomes an object of sanctity, which means you cannot treat it lightly: you cannot put it on the floor or in the garbage, step on it, bring it into a bathroom or other unclean place. We avoid the possibility that someone might accidently treat it inappropriately by "indicating" the Name as opposed to writing it out completely. Everyone realizes what we're referring to, but we don't write the Name itself.
A similar practice is to refer to G-d's by using the word "Ha-Shem," which literally means "the Name" in Hebrew, but does not state the Name Itself.
Is the story of Yisroel's transformation from lost soul to a faithful Jewish disciple true to your own life? In what ways?
The one-word answer is "yes!" The story of our spiritual search and transformation is told in my first book, FROM CENTRAL PARK TO SINAI: How I Found My Jewish Soul (Jonathan David Publishers, 2000).
My given name as a child was "Roy," but when my wife and I became observant Jews, we were given Hebrew names. Roy became "Yisroel," Linda became "Leah" and our children Susan and Juliet were given the names "Sarah" and "Yaffa." It is traditional for Jews to be given a Hebrew name based on Biblical sources. Later on, thank G-d, we merited to have more children who were given only Hebrew names.
As I have said, 2020 VISION is not just fiction, not just what one could call a "novel," but rather a trip into what could be future reality. How would I react if, G-d forbid, the world tumbled into chaos? That's the question. So you have the real me, and the real Leah, and we are plunged into a possible future scenario. We are going to respond the way we have learned in our lives to respond to past challenges.
I believe that the spiritual transformation from a person who rejects G-d to a person who embraces G-d is a natural and reasonable response to the events of life. If one is honest with oneself, he or she will realize that our problems are too big to comprehend, let alone solve, by the abilities of the human mind. Granted, mankind has devised brilliant solutions and apparent "improvements" in life, but they seem to lead us only into more confusion, chaos, unhappiness and danger. I remember as children we always used to love the "maze" in the gardens of elegant old-fashioned estates. We would get lost in those mazes and it was difficult to find your way out. Mankind's brilliance has led us into a maze from which we do not know how to extricate ourselves, and we must realize that the only wisdom which will save us is the wisdom from a Higher Source than ourselves. Our own arrogance is leading us down a path from which there is no escape. The question is: will we realize this before it is too late? The characters in 2020 VISION are relying on the wisdom which G-d imparted to mankind at Mount Sinai to save us as we wander in confusion along the intricate paths of that maze!
So that's how we came to believe in G-d ourselves, and we are the characters in the book! It's a real story!
We are all hoping that mankind will come to our senses and avert all these troubles! We are hoping that mankind will enter a universal era of peace and justice without going through worldwide catastrophe, G-d forbid. Anyway, that's how we have lived, and in this ultimately challenging world of 2020 VISION, where else would we turn?
How many of these characters are either real people in your life or based on real people you know?
2020 VISION is a mixture of fact, fiction, dreams, reality, hope and prophesy. Many characters are based on real people; many are completely fictional.
Yisroel and Leah are real!
Our children are real, but their names and where they live have been changed. They are modest people and they didn't want their real names used, but I tried to portray them as they are, with their wonderful hearts and the intelligence with which they approach life.
Uncle Phil and Aunt Bessie are definitely real people, my wife's relatives, although their names and the name of their community were slightly altered. They are no longer in this world, but I remember them fondly. They really did lose a daughter as a child. Uncle Phil was really as I portray him, tough on the outside and a teddy bear on the inside, he owned a candy factory in an industrial section of metropolitan New Jersey. He had a big place in his heart for Israel, and I wouldn't be surprised if he really did carry a gun in his glove compartment or jacket pocket.
Our neighbors are real!
The Ellmans are real, but the name is changed.
The Blooms in Staten Island are real.
The places are real and the route is real. Every mile marker all the way to Portland, Maine is actual; we traveled every inch of the route. Ocean Prince is real; we sailed on it!
Do you think this is the direction our country is headed? What can we do to stop it?
I hope this is NOT the direction the country is headed! All decent people want a peaceful world in which we treat each other with respect and dignity. But there are many vicious, violent egotistical and irrational people in the world. Some of them have become very powerful, with access to dangerous weapons.
What is the answer?
You will not be surprised to hear that I think the answer is to be found in the attitude of the book's characters, and your questions actually hint at the answer.
When mankind was created in the Garden of Eden, it was a perfect world. Our contemporary, cynical world rejects that idea as hopelessly naïve, but that is only because our contemporary world is itself hopelessly jaded and lost in the maze! In the Garden of Eden there was no jealousy, competition, sickness, pain or death. It was only after mankind (only Adam and Eve then!) rebelled against G-d that trouble was introduced into the world. And do we ever have trouble!
The answer – in our experience – is very practical. We will only return to that perfect world when we return to G-d and undo the rebellion which caused us to be expelled. I do not believe that half-measures work. We are past the time when we must find the right political solutions or political candidates, past the time when government intervention or social legislation or volunteer organizations can save us. We've got to go back to the beginning and fix the problem from its very roots.
G-d has given all mankind Seven Biblical Laws, known as the Seven Laws given to the children of Noah, which are: Do not 1) worship idols, 2) murder, 3) steal, 4) eat the limbs of animals which are still alive, 5) curse G-d, 6) commit adultery and do 7) appoint judges and set up courts of justice.
When all mankind returns to the service of G-d we will undo the sin of Adam and Eve and see a perfect world again. This is not a game or a naïve fantasy, in our experience, but rather is the one absolutely necessary survival tactic.
There is much reliance on tradition to save Yisroel and Leah's group. At first I was almost annoyed that they would stop in the middle of an escape for their lives to hold Shabbos, but the lines "this was how the Children of Israel had survived over the ages. Others may have worried about their powerful enemies, but we focused on adhering to our G-d-given commandments" made me realize that sometimes that believing in something more powerful is one of the smartest ways to get through a rough time. Do you practice this ideology in your daily life?
Sure we do! That is the classic Jewish lifestyle. As I mention frequently in 2020 VISION, G-d has given the Children of Israel 613 Commandments (which include the Seven Laws given to all children of Noah) and those laws govern every aspect of our lives. Adherence to these laws is how the Jewish People have survived since the time of our Father Abraham. There is a saying, "the Jewish People keep the Sabbath and the Sabbath keeps the Jewish People." As you see, we learned this from our own personal search in which we responded to the cries of our soul after the emptiness of our secular upbringing.
We also see this in the last two thousand years of Jewish history, in which the Jewish People survived miraculously as a tiny minority among many nations, in most cases hated and vilified, often subjected to brutal and vicious attacks and pogroms, forced to live in ghettos and subjected to arbitrary restrictions designed to keep us downtrodden, depressed and hopeless. This culminated in the Nazi Holocaust, in which many "civilized" nations attempted to bring about the "final solution" of the "Jewish problem."
The real final solution will be, however, when we return to our ancient Biblical glory and our Holy Land of Israel and lead the world on a religious pilgrimage back to the worship of G-d. This is reflected, of course, in the story of 2020 VISION.
So, halting our trek to keep the Sabbath, rather than being a quirk, is the key to the success of the entire venture!
Did Yisroel and Leah "get lucky" or is it their faith in God that sees them through and provides them with the means to an end (for example the traveler who pointed them in the direction of their children or their ability to get to Uncle Phil's candy factory)?
People who believe in G-d understand that there are no coincidences in life. Was it an accident that, precisely at the moment when my wife and I were ready to accept a Jewish lifestyle, the one person (Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis) whom we were ready to listen to, and who became our spiritual mentor, was speaking in our small town?
Was it a coincidence that, at precisely the moment in high school when I was ready to overcome my verbal paralysis and speak to my future wife, I found myself sitting next to her at a track meet?
Was it a coincidence that Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the Nile River at the precise moment and place when Baby Moses floated by?
Was it a coincidence that, at the precise moment Pharaoh needed interpretation of his dream, the Chief Butler recalled that Joseph had interpreted HIS dream? And was it a coincidence that Joseph had interpreted the Butler's dream shortly before Pharaoh needed his own dream interpreted?
Life is one "coincidence" after another.
Do you think that there are many people who suffer from an unexplainable restlessness and unease in life which could be healed by finding their faith?
You have described this suffering well with those words. As I recount in FROM CENTRAL PARK TO SINAI: How I Found My Jewish Soul, I am sure the cause of anxiety and trouble in the world today is lack of connection to G-d.
Adam and Eve lived a perfect life in the Garden of Eden until they rebelled against G-d. There was so sickness – mental or physical – death, stress, anxiety, competition, worry about earning a livelihood or any of the infinite number of tortures and burdens we have today. If people say the Garden of Eden is just a myth, that simply shows how distant they are from reality.
I spent my first thirty years trying to understand and resolve my "unexplainable restlessness and unease in life." In the end, people tend to resist "coming home to G-d" because we know in our heart that allegiance to G-d involves putting His will before ours, and we resist giving up our freedom. That's why, for example, I tried just about every other lifestyle I could think of before I "gave up" and realized that nothing else worked! So, after thirty years of searching, opening every door and finding hundreds of rooms empty, so to speak, I finally realized there was nothing left except G-d! By that time, I was blessed to have my wife with me on the search, and we searched together.
People (I certainly include myself!) are stubborn, but -- if we want to live -- we really have to come to terms with the One Who made us and the universe we live in! As they say, the Bible is the "User’s Guide to Life!" How do we expect it to work if we don't read the instructions?
There is so much unnecessary suffering in the world today! We should be good to ourselves and live a life of happiness. It's not so hard. It takes work and commitment, but it's the most important thing we can do with our lives. That's really what 2020 VISION is all about. There is NO problem that cannot be solved by connecting to G-d! Just think how good this world could be!
How do you expect readers that aren't religious to interpret your book?
I have taken pains to make 2020 VISION a very real scenario. It begins with our contemporary, dangerous world. Where does a person get the strength and wisdom to deal with it? I believe we cannot deal with it unless we understand that there is a G-d running the world. If we hook up with G-d, then we will be able to surmount our problems, because He is above the problems.
So a "non-religious" person reading 2020 VISION says, "Yes, this is accurate. The world is actually like this. I am not happy to think about it, but I must have the courage to confront it if I want to deal with it. If I try to ignore it, indulging in entertainment or fantasy and trying to run away from reality, it won't help me. Reality isn't going to disappear simply because I ignore it."
So what is that "non-religious" person going to do? I think that he or she will respect 2020 VISION, and see that I am not naïve or stupid, but in fact realistic about life. My personal story, FROM CENTRAL PARK TO SINAI, is a realistic approach to a sensitive young man's attempt to deal with a society which seems to have lost its moorings. He seeks and eventually finds, after a thorough and unbiased search, a way of life which deals effectively with reality.
The same with 2020 VISION, but now the subject matter is global in nature, rather than personal. Here is a rational search for a way to deal with life-and-death issues. I don't ask people to accept my point of view, but I explain and demonstrate it as it works in the reality of life. Nobody is forced to swallow anything. But the question is raised: what else works? What other effective way is there to get through a universal, all-encompassing crisis than a response which reaches above and beyond the crisis?
You don't believe it? OK, that's your option, but it's worth considering.
That's why I take pains to make clear that I came to this belief against my own predilections, desires and beliefs. Nobody told me to believe in G-d, just the opposite! I didn't want to believe in G-d, but I found out, in order to survive, that I had no other choice.
So I present this scenario to whoever would like to contemplate it. I am offering others what I myself experienced. It's my sincere wish that all of us should be able to enjoy a tranquil life in a peaceful and unspoiled world.
Let those who agree, agree! No one is being force-fed anything here. But, to quote Psalm 34, "Taste it." If you like it, then enjoy it! If not, nothing has been lost! And you had a good read!
Author Interview: Roy Neuberger
