What a contradiction there was this week between reading the Torah and reading it in the newspaper: On Simchat Torah, we parted ways with a number of things, in which Moses sees Israel from the other side — but does not get to enter its gates.
This Shabbat, we will begin with Genesis, in the parsha "Genesis." Already in his commentary on the first verse in the Torah, "In Genesis, God created the heavens and the earth," Rashi mentions the close connection between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel. But the public agenda, at the same time, was concerned with those who see Germany as a threat — and are dying to enter it. This is a real campaign to emigrate from here, and specifically to a land of bloodshed and milk.
It is important to have a discussion about the cost of living in Israel, but in the past two weeks we have not agreed to let the facts confuse us. According to all data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the trend is completely opposite to that described: the decline from Israel is at a historic low, while the increase from Europe to Israel is at a peak.
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And the Israelis who are already emigrating — are generally moving to the English-speaking United States and Canada, and not to foreign Berlin. And here's another fact in this context (a fact, not an organized trend): the number of immigrants from Europe, mainly from France, is expected to double this year. Thousands of them are moving to Israel, and this is considered a young, educated, and well-established immigration. The majority, it turns out, identify with that ancient feeling of Moses, that it is a right to live here.
And here's a protest no less important than the one against the cost of living: one that deals with the quality of culture. The new parents' petition against Festigal 2014 reminded us this week that we can also fight against the garbage that advertisers and big companies feed us.
"The silly "selfie song" that was introduced as this year's festival anthem, featuring the refrain "I'm dying for myself, I'm dying for myself, Walk bro, I'm dying for myself" was probably the climax that prompted many to call for a boycott of the event. If we care about the quality of the food that goes into our children's bodies, they explained, we should also care about the quality of the cultural food that goes into their minds. This is even more important than another shekel on cottage cheese or milkshake.
Sukkot and Passover are prime time for the Haredi written press. In a sector where the printed word still has primacy, each newspaper boasts hundreds of pages, and usually includes a CD with holiday songs in the package. This is an opportunity to check the pulse of this sector, through the holiday newspapers.
At the top, of course, are the rabbis. The newspaper "Mishpacha" peeks into the daily routine of Rabbi Aharon Steinman, the Shas newspaper "Yom Liom" indulges in a variety of extras about Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and in "Yated Ne'eman" they describe the ascetic homes of the great men of Israel from the inside. And there are also rabbis: the newspaper "Kol Yisrael" dedicates an extensive article to Yehudit Yosef, the daughter-in-law of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who became an influential figure this year and, since his death, has toured the country and the world with lectures.
Two in importance — the politicians. Incoming President Reuven Rivlin gives an interview to "Family," outgoing President Shimon Peres chooses "Community." Rivlin wears a kippah and takes it off no less than five times during the interview, as he quotes texts from the sources to the interviewers. The title of the interview with Rivlin: "Hatred of the Haredi is internal anti-Semitism within us." Peres, in his new office in Tel Aviv, misses Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and reveals: "He also gave me a promise in his last years that if there is a decision on a full peace agreement between us and the Arabs, he will support it.".
What else is on the menu? Entire supplements on raising children, the year of sabbath and prayer, alongside a series of journalistic achievements and scoops: The son of the Muslim who murdered Rabbi Meir Kahane attacks radical Islam and calls for moderation between religions. Five foreign media reporters write about ultra-Orthodox-secular relations in Israel from their perspective. A supplement on individual Jews living in dangerous Muslim countries (for example: on the few Jews in Egypt and a few dozen Jews in Damascus, Syria).
Former Mossad head Ephraim Halevi talks for the first time about his lineage, a fifth-generation descendant of the famous Volozhin yeshiva, and his deep connection to Judaism. And in the women's section: interviews with ultra-Orthodox career women who decided to give up their senior positions outside the workplace and return to being housewives, as well as a panel of ultra-Orthodox stand-up comedians.
The advertisements are no less instructive than the articles. Alongside ads about Shtreimel or the four sexes, there is a sense of a real hunger for professional training and consumerism: countless advertisements for educational institutions, employment, academia, real estate, investments, vehicles, food products and restaurants.
In conclusion, what the ultra-Orthodox media tells about its readers is much more diverse and complex than what the secular media tells about them.
This week marks the 204th anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. The rabbi, whose followers were called "dead followers" because they did not crown him with an heir, is more alive than ever. A scholarly edition of all of Rabbi Nachman's stories, edited by Prof. Zvi Mark, was recently published for the first time. It's too late to recommend books as holiday gifts, but this book is a gift for anyone interested in the field.
Rabbi Nachman claimed that stories are usually told before bed, to put you to sleep, but he tells stories to awaken you. Each of his stories—even the most adventurous and daring—is essentially a parable about the human soul and the constant search we are all in. Prof. Mark tries to be as precise as possible, without adding miracles and wonders, but his discoveries are perhaps more astonishing than many Hasidic legends: in the comprehensive introduction to the book, he claims that modern Hebrew literature actually began with these stories.
In other words, it was the Hasidic rabbi who began telling stories who persuaded educated Jews of the time to respond to him and present counter-stories. He also reveals how Rabbi Nachman was the one who returned the assimilated Zalman Schocken to his Judaism. The man who founded Schocken Publishing, owned the Haaretz newspaper and became a patron of Shay Agnon — he would not have connected to Hebrew culture in this way if he had not encountered Rabbi Nachman's stories. Many intellectuals, Prof. Mark describes, did not find themselves in institutionalized Judaism, but rather in the thorny and anarchist option that Rabbi Nachman offered.
Mark reveals many stories that were hidden and secret, but of the 162 tales in the book, in this brief frame we will only quote the famous story "The Treasure Under the Bridge": Once a man dreamed that there was a treasure under a bridge in Vienna. He went to look for it, met a guard there who asked him about his actions, and told him about the dream. The guard replied: Foolish Jew, I also dreamed that in such and such a warehouse, in such and such a city, a treasure was waiting for me. Should I go there? The Jew was amazed. It was his own exact address. He went to his house, dug in the warehouse and found a treasure.
The parable: Each and every one, if they search carefully, will find that a great treasure is within them.
Jewish status:
""The Sabbath on which Parashat Bereishit is read is called 'Shabbat Bereishit.' It is customary to add more to matters of joy and mitzvot on it than on other Sabbaths, and the way one behaves on this Sabbath affects the entire year." (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
• A column by Sivan Rahav Meir is published in Yedioth Ahronoth
