BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

buddybickford OK firstly I am not religious I could believe in Spider man as quick as any other being, anyway so maybe I understood incorrectly, but I thought this was an exercise to understand who and what Jewish people are, and what shaped them, their identities, and the consequent perception by Jews non Jews on what Jewish people are. So to do that quite correctly we turn to history. We investigate all episodes they may have affected, shaped or changed the Jewish identity and culture. At a certain point Simon Schama says " and then there lived and died a man called Jesus of Nazareth", so I though OK now finally we will hear all about this, this should be good, but no, that was it. I thought I had sat on the remote control.The most damaging to the Jewish faith of all the alleged messiahs that came and went, Jesus, the Jewish man who created the largest religion on the Earth, the man who split the Jewish faith, the man who's first followers were Jewish, the man who was allegedly brought to his death in the hands of the Romans but at the bequest of the Jews , got less than a bleeting moment, just 12 words. Ironically, this served perfectly to answer the question Simon Schama had been searching for, this very omission itself spoke louder than anything else on the documentary. So it's not what you include that can help analyse what you are, it's what you choose not to include that is just, if not more revealing.What on Earth was the point of a documentary that cherry picks what it feels comfortable to discuss, and what a futile quest to try and find answers without doing so. Imagine if psychiatrists did the same thing. ? Here's how it would go:Patient "So I think the self harming is because of an event that happened when I was 10" Psychiatrist "Ahhh, we don't need to talk about that, do you like puppies?"

Innsmouth_Apprentice There is a lot of information here. Interestingly, Mr. Schama skips the Holocaust almost entirely - I assume because that topic is already familiar enough to most potential viewers. "The Story of Jews" covers the multiple ordeals that the "People of the Book" who created the original Abrahamic religion - Judaism - had had to endure during the 1st millennium BCE while still in their homeland. We then follow the Jews who had departed from the Levant to seek better life elsewhere on their dramatic journeys around Europe, Africa, and the New World.Coupled with own Googling, the series' viewing has provided me with a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding the Jewish people.My short summary would be that the story of the Jews shows how much nonsense has historically been floating around in the collective human psyche. I am not excluding the Jews from this critique. I am not even excluding myself.8/10.

edwagreen Though the first two chapters of this documentary were rather dry in taste, the documentary itself got far better as we began to approach modern times.Even Simon Scharma, the narrator, seemed to come more alive as the film went on.This was extremely informative to watch. Let us remember that for example, Jews were expelled from England circa 1270.The Jewish people have always used assimilate to integrate themselves into society. Sadly, we saw that this certainly hasn't succeeded and we saw the obvious examples of the Nazi era with its resulting holocaust, and even the Dreyfuss Affair in France as an anti- semitic adventure on the part of the French people.We saw how our Jewish people have attempted to use music and culture in the assimilation process. Interesting to learn how the song Over the Rainbow is based on a Yiddish lullaby.

huguespt This is a very interesting Mocmentry of the Jewish history over the years as per Mr Schama. I enjoyed the history of this series however by the third episode I found Mr. Schama to be the, well "everyone in history has beaten up Jews", if Mr. Schama could be a little more reportive rather then, it seems asking anyone watching this program for an apologie. I do not condone war, genocide of any race or religion however I think a TV series should report the facts and not make the viewer want to switch off because it is a world that beats Jews. The first 2 episodes were not like the third as in they were factual and good reporting were as by the third episode, I found it more of a political/religious statement rather than an unbiased reporter giving the facts with passion rather someone that realistically wants to petition people to aplogise for the horrors of the past. Mr Schama needs to stay a reporter or a protester and reflect this in his Mocumentaries. Worth watching. It was informative. I say Mocumetrey rather than Documentary as to me a reporter of a Documentary is un- biased, Mr, Schama is far from unbiased but to me asks for an apologie from the viewer. There is so much horror in human past and even present of many peoples but for a documentary this needs to be unbiased. As I have said worth watching if by the time you get to the third episode, I wont watch anymore from Mr. Schama unless he can be a reporter rather than a person too close to the subject matter.