Pistols. In one of her lectures, Dr. Sasson Levy defined the nation-state in the following words: "A political mechanism separate from both the rulers and the ruled, with supreme jurisdiction over a defined and limited territory, with recognized borders, backed by exclusive control with coercive power.".
What does Sasson Levy mean by the words "exclusive control with coercive power"? A standard state is one that holds a monopoly on legitimate means of violence in society: only the state is allowed to use force. Citizens are prohibited. A state that lacks this mechanism is a weak state – Lebanon, for example. In Lebanon, the state does not have exclusive coercive power. Everyone has it: the SDA, Hezbollah, the Lebanese army, private militias, and so on.
Three days ago, on Tuesday, a suicide bomber was caught in the city of Gombe in northern Nigeria, which is suffering from terrorist attacks by an organization called Boko Haram. The idiot arrived at Gombe's central bus station and was unable to set off the bomb. The crowd, realizing that he was in front of a suicide bomber, began to chase him, and near the station they captured him. The young men put him in a tire, piled several more tires on top of the tire, poured gasoline on them, and burned him alive.
Can we blame the young people who burned alive the terrorist who wanted to murder dozens of people, women and children, in the middle of the crowded station?
Would it have been more correct to try to prevent the boys from carrying out an act of revenge, perhaps barbaric, against the man, and wait for the official Nigerian forces to arrest the terrorist and hold him on formal trial?
On that exact day, in the neighborhood where I grew up – Har Nof, two terrorists committed an inhuman massacre at the 'Kehilat Bnei Torah' synagogue.
After the initial shock, the terrible grief, and the frantic pursuit of bloody images from a more favorable angle, the difficult questions arise: The security authorities are apparently failing to protect the citizens. 'There is no magic solution,' even declared Commissioner Danino at the scene of the murder.
Should we all carry weapons somewhere, to defend ourselves against the murderers who roam among us? What would our country look like when every young man has a gun tucked into the back of his pants? Wouldn't every argument on the road quickly escalate into a Clint Eastwood-style shootout from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?
And what will happen here, on our home turf? Will the bricks thrown once a week between the 'terrorists' and the 'haters' be replaced by threats of weapons? We all carry guns, and there are times when using them is only natural. After all, the war on the wall in the library is ultimately a symbolic struggle for the honor of the Torah and its transmission in its purity from generation to generation. And that is 'worth' fighting for.
Exaggerated? We called the attackers of the Grail Steinman, the Gra Deutsch, and Nati Grossman.
Who will pay? A talented and successful media person does not necessarily constitute a causal correlate of discretion, intelligence, and minimal sensitivity, as becomes clear after every disaster.
A few hours after Gil-Ad Shaar, Naftali Frankel, and Eyal Yifrach were kidnapped and later murdered, Yedioth Ahronoth columnist Raanan Shaked posted the following status: "At moments like these, the heart of every parent in Israel tells him the same thing. These lunatics are taking their children with them to live in the territories.".
Five months passed, and this time it was Amit Segal, a Channel 2 newsman, who was also quick to express what he thought of the sector on the day four of his sons were slaughtered with a butcher knife: "I'm not sure it's legitimate to hear criticism of the functioning of the army and the police from representatives of a sector that encourages active evasion.".
The two geniuses were quick to delete their bizarre statements after they were almost lynched by the media [unlike Mashked, to Segal's credit, he even apologized], but this unnecessary action raises one question: Wasn't it appropriate for journalists active in major networks to demand that their opinions be published first in the media outlet they work for?
In other words: Why won't Yedioth Ahronoth pay the high price that Haaretz paid following Gideon Levy's article "The Evil Ones" in the newspaper's opinion section, following Shaked's comments on Facebook?
Maran on the greats of Germany. His Eminence runs an Ulpana for religious girls, and from time to time he stays with his family on Shabbat at the religious boarding school, and even eats Shabbat with the girls, which contributes to the spiritual and family atmosphere of the girls. However, his older sons who study in large yeshivas come with him, and he and they are exposed to the singing of the girls, and it has already been said that the voice of a naked woman.
On the other hand, if he avoids dining in the dining room – the wonderful atmosphere he described will disappear, how will he behave?
This question was addressed to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef about 35 years ago, and it appears for the first time in the new issue of HaMa'ayan. The rabbi relies on the words of Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, who describes the custom of the Ashkenazi rabbis, Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer and Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, who permitted the singing of sacred songs by women and men together, although he makes a reservation and suggests - only if possible - that the older boys refrain from attending.
The answer is innovative and important, but what is wonderful is Maran's quote about the great rabbis of Germany: "And one must rely on this from the great rabbis of Ashkenazi who were well-versed in the wisdom of education, and knew the spirit of the girls of the generation who have a sense of self-respect, and see an insult in the prohibition of participation in sacred songs, and can cause them to distance themselves from religion... And truly, our eyes see that the great rabbis of Ashkenazi succeeded in educating girls and young women to bring them closer to Torah and to the fear of God more than the great ones of other places... because the Spirit of God spoke in them and His word was on their tongues.".
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