Monday, eight in the evening, the students from the Hebrew University are waiting. They are all part of the "Tafnit" project, which deals with Israeli outreach abroad, and the speaker who is coming tonight is particularly intriguing. Gideon Sa'ar.
The former education minister and the man who repeatedly came in first place in the Likud primaries, surprisingly resigned a few months ago. But what has he actually been doing since then? How is he doing?
""Once," he begins his lecture, "when I was the government secretary, I heard a story from Ariel Sharon. He said that he was with the Pope, who asked him, what is the difference between the Holy Land and the Promised Land? And the Pope answered this way: The Land is holy to all religions, but the Land is promised only to the Jewish people.
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""This is an important sentence. Without our historical right, we will not be able to stand up to the Palestinian argument and will always be presented as occupiers. We were scattered among more than a hundred countries and spoke more than a hundred languages, but we always prayed in the same direction. We returned here after two thousand years.".
""World history knows no such powerful precedent. The education system also needs to invest more in strengthening our Judaism and Zionism, that's the foundation.".
This was just the first argument with which Saar equipped the young commentators. "It is important to emphasize abroad two more things: the fact that we are such a stable and exceptional democracy in the region, and Israel's territorial concessions in the past.
""It's no wonder that after Oslo and the disengagement, Israelis demand a wide margin of security. Look, today someone who belongs to the liberal left in Europe won't become pro-Zionist, but if we explain it well to him, we can bring him 30-40 percent closer to our side.".
This doesn't sound like a lecture from someone who has retired from public life. The season of Lapid and Kahlon's homeroom classes and lectures during the elections is already over, and it turns out that Sa'ar also lectures quite a bit. He also does consulting and is currently writing a book, and later in the evening he told the students about another area of activity that is important to him: religious and secular relations.
""I don't regret for a moment my decision regarding the supermarkets in Tel Aviv. The law there was violated and the nature of the Sabbath is an important thing. But this is bigger. I think the status quo is not up to date for 2015.".
""He is constantly moving in the secular direction, but the demographics are moving in the other direction, so every two days there is a new affair that creates a new quarrel. Instead of fighting, we need to design a package deal. A social contract. Because every time another side feels frustrated.
""I wanted to establish a public committee on the subject of Shabbat and didn't have time, but it's not just a Shabbat issue. We need to define what a democratic Jewish state is.".
When he asks if there are any questions, they immediately ask about a comeback. With all due respect to the propaganda abroad, it's more interesting if and when he returns, and whether within the Likud or in some kind of new Kahlon party.
""I didn't retire to come back tomorrow," he replies. "It's a time-out to live a more personal life, and gain perspective. I recommend it. I was in public service for 20 years and it's important for anyone who has the courage and ability to take such a step.".
""I'm really enjoying my life today, and I'm also really enjoying the fact that today was my child's first day in kindergarten.".
Then he reveals something that is perhaps the real headline: "Until today, David has not spent a single minute with a nanny since he was born, only with his parents and family members around him.".
As he leaves, he can't avoid requests for a selfie and even a few words of welcome for a film by a military unit. "I'm keeping the picture, bro," says one of the students. Time will tell whether it's a selfie with Geula Even's husband or a selfie with a candidate for prime minister.
On Shabbat, two parashots are read in the synagogue: "Tazria" and "Metzora." They deal with not particularly aesthetic subjects and describe, among other things, spots and lesions on a person's body.
But this leprosy described in the Torah passage is not seen as a skin disease, but as a defect in the soul. Leprosy is considered a punishment for speaking slanderously. It sounds like science fiction: a person speaks foul and inappropriate speech — and suddenly you see it tangibly on their skin. Cosmic law.
Why do we study these things today, if there is no such leprosy in our time? Many commentators explain that the parsha emphasizes the power of speech. Every word thrown into the air does not disappear, but acts in reality and affects it. There is power in speech, and there is responsibility in speech.
The same leper who spoke slanderous language was sent to isolation in the case.
For example, Rashi explains why the Torah sends this man to sit alone: "Since he has separated with slander between a man and his wife and between a man and his neighbor, he too will be separated." In other words, if you have tried to cause conflict between people, to separate the parts of society, you will be separated from us. Go sit quietly for a while and think about it.
And now for a gem sent in by a reader of the section who wishes to remain anonymous.
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin fled to Israel from Poland before the Holocaust and was one of the founders of Haredi Judaism in the country. He is considered a great scholar, and served as chairman of the Council of Torah Scholars.
In his book "Ears for the Torah," he writes about the episode and provides a profound psychological explanation for the leper's isolation. According to him, the man's verbal and cynical complaints indicate that he is fed up with human society and therefore, as a punishment, he is given "a taste of utter loneliness, until he longs for humanity and is forced to kiss the dust of the feet of the first man who wants to sit down and talk to him.".
After this quote, Rabbi Sorotzkin brings a surprising commentator to explain his position - Robinson Crusoe. Yes, yes, the famous literary hero.
And so he writes: "We find the suffering of loneliness in the book 'Robinson Crusoe,' which tells the story of a man who was rescued from a shipwreck at sea to a small, deserted island, and describes how much trouble he had until he found something to eat and drink there, and shelter from predatory animals.".
""And after he had sat in the island for a long time, he began to forget his speech and almost went mad. And the writer describes in bright colors that man's longing for mankind and for speaking with them. Thus, the leper's sitting outside the camp will teach us to love all people and their company and to share with them even his slice of bread.".
Jewish status: ""The State of Israel is not compensation for the Holocaust. It was established by the power of right. By the power of a dream. Not from the fear of failure or from hatred of the other" (Ruven Rivlin in his speech this week at Yad Vashem)
• The column is published in Yedioth Ahronoth.
