Yadin Roman, Publisher and Editor in Chief of the ERETZ Group, was born in Israel in 1948. He grew up in Givatayim outside Tel Aviv, also spending long periods in England and Africa.
After completing four years of service in the Israel Defense Forces, as a career officer with the rank of Lt. Col., he earned a B.A. in historical geography and economics at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. For 10 years he headed the Israel Ministry of Tourism Guide School, before commencing his publishing career with the production of a tour guides’ magazine that would develop into ERETZ Magazine, the geographic magazine of Israel.
Roman has written extensively on history and geography of Israel and the Jewish people, among others a guide to Israel and Jerusalem, and five books including a book on Masada, and a book on Herod the Great. He is in great demand as a speaker on Israel lore.
Queens and Princesses, Consorts, and HarlotsFamous women in Jewish history
“Men wrote history. Women played a secondary role in the narrative”, writes Yadin Roman in his latest book about ten female figures in Jewish history. From the Asherah, the ancient mother goddess of the Israelites, to the unnamed Witch of Endor, Queen Salome, Sarah the wife of Shabbatai Zvi, to Lilith the Queen of the Night, the book tries to shine a new light on these outstanding Jewish women, which the historical narrative has tried to belittle. Understanding how the historians belittled women’s role in history gives us the insight needed for a better understanding of the historical narrative, then and today.
The Mystical History of Tikkun OlamThe birth of a unique concept
Tikkun Olam, Mending the World, had become a modern concept dealing in such widespread issues as saving the planet to helping the needy. This mystical concept, conceived in thirteenth century kabbalists circles in Spain, had originally a completely different meaning. Following the expulsion from Spain, it would be central in the healing of a distraught nation, and then lead to the mystical advent of the apostate messiah Shabbatai Zvi. In his book Shabbatai Zvi – A Messianic Tale, Yadin Roman follows the development of this complicated Jewish concept, and its perception over time.
