throughout the country privately espoused. Therefore, I was al- br

lowed as many books as I wished, things that I could not have br

done without while writing my commentaries.

And that is the key to the writing of this book. It would have br

been impossible to write the manuscript, with all its facts, dates, br

incidents, quotes, and names, had the prison officials not al- br

lowed me to bring in all my private papers and newspaper clip- br

pings. It is thanks to them that this book was written, a fact they br

knew about and to which they conveniently closed their official br

eyes.

Cell 23 in Wing Nine of Ramle Prison was, thus, the scene br

of many hours each day, many days a week, more than two br

continuous months of writing. I had no typewriter, and so each br

page had to be handwritten. Moreover, never knowing when the br

authorities might change their attitude and confiscate the work, br

I smuggled out each chapter as it was finished and thus never br

had the opportunity to look back at what I had written. Never- br

theless, I gained strength through the encouragement of the oth- br

er prisoners. On the door of my cell I had placed a large Hebrew br

sign that read: “How good it is to be a good Jew.” Every time br

a prisoner passed, he would shout the message out to me and br

smile. Indeed. “How good it is to be a good Jew.”

Meir Kahane