1.
For the Haredim, it seems, opposition creates a peaceful mood. And when they are in a coalition, the shootings from the street battles never stop for a moment.
It's enough to open the political columns in the weeklies (the faction dailies won't write about conflicts, of course) to understand how bad the state of relations between the ultra-Orthodox factions is. Very bad.
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As if the Haredi public didn't have enough of the Eli Yishai-Aryeh Deri battles, the Meir Porush-Degel HaTorah battles jumped on him, and in recent days, direct battles between Yaakov Litzman and Moshe Gafni.
Here are some tastings:
Yaakov Rivlin tells Bekhilya how Gafni read the newspaper (Bekhilya's, a joint article by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Yaakov Litzman) on "Thursday morning... all the lights on his dashboard turned red. A year after the formation of the government, the veteran warrior finds himself in a position he did not recognize even during his turbulent opposition days in the previous term... Precisely at what was supposed to be the peak of the coalition's prosperity, he finds himself in a series of difficult gun battles within the APC, within the coalition against some of its components and against Agudat Yisrael for most of its parts.".
The 'Family' section of Enak's Gospel: "Breaking the rules. The tension between 'Degel HaTorah' and 'Agudat Yisrael' reached a point of no return this week, threatening the continuation of the partnership.".
""In a conversation that is published in full in the 'Buffet' section, Gafni slams the entire world," writes Shimon Breitkoff.
Those around Gafni didn't really like the publications, and sent "insider" to provide rather stammering clarifications about things that were taken out of context and about "off-the-record" conversations that became "on," contrary to the preliminary summaries.
But Gafni himself, as well as his official spokesmen, have been quiet. Which, of course, plays into the owner's favor.
""My feeling is that our partnership with Agudat Israel is over, there is a younger generation in Degel HaTorah that is no longer willing to accept this distorted and unequal partnership," said Gafni, who also took aim at Litzman personally. "I don't understand how this can be. Three months ago I transferred money to ensure income for the Abrahim. Bennett is sticking it in. How can he get legitimacy from Litzman? I don't trust Litzman..."'
Litzman, by the way, was not left unsatisfied. "We must regret the phenomenon of belligerence and the doctrine of fighting that has become a literal milestone in the hands of senior Torah officials...""
In such a state of affairs, should we pray that we will be granted the right to go into opposition?
2.
Speaking of family: A two-page article by Sara Pardes is a bit surprising, containing special news "backed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett.".
Did you write a PR for the minister? - Who knows.
Please note: "The administrators of Haredi educational institutions can already begin to breathe a sigh of relief. The Ministry of Education estimates that most institutions will be able to open the 2017 school year if they have permits. The easing of licensing is not the only news coming out of Education Minister Bennett's office. The fresh wind of spring..""
...and so on.
3.
I really liked the juicy description in Yossi Elitov's column in The Family about civil servants and their conditions and their extravagant perks.
He opens with the story closest to him, a family system. It turns out that a government finance office has come to occupy the building. "The building representatives informed us that from now on we will have to move our cars to the lower and forgotten floors of the parking lot," just so that the 'respectable' can park upstairs and with respect.
These dignitaries leave work very early in the afternoon, eating their lunch for over an hour. "Delegations from the workers' committee arrived well in advance, went up and down the area's restaurants, and examined culinary menus to make sure that it wasn't just Israeli food, God forbid, but an offering that also included a Japanese menu, Asian cuisine, European flavors, and a host of other flavors that would satisfy the palates of the dedicated workers...""
But the icing on the cake was the following story:
""There is another type of gift, which employees of a government office used to arrange for themselves in the 1980s. Back then, it was customary that whenever someone came to ask for some arrangement, they would encounter piles of stories from the mouth of the employee they met with...
""The citizen would raise a bureaucratic problem in the institution he manages, while the official would cry about the toothache he suffers from.
""'Dental treatments are very expensive,' the clerk would blurt out.... The stupid ones among the managers did not understand that this was a clear hint at giving a bonus without a commitment to pay, and they would soon find themselves talking to the wall, with the toothache clerk no longer bothering to answer their calls.".
Years passed, and the stories about teeth were replaced by other tales. Stories about orphans who had come into their lives and were sitting on their desks ("And orphans, as we know, cost money").
The column, which presents the State of Israel in its ills, is excellent.
4.
I found the best story this week in the day to day.
The story of educator and author Rabbi Moshe Hinman, born in Haifa, who recounts the fascinating story of the Red City, on the eve of the establishment of the state and during the War of Independence.
His memories as a child ("I followed with eyes burning with helpless rage what was happening on the road," he says, and describes how he carried an English soldier's clothes after the latter did exactly the same thing to an unfortunate Jew...) are spiced up with descriptions from the book of the rabbi of Chalisa, Rabbi Yaakov Ben Zion Rottner zt"l.
I loved the descriptions of the miracles that led most of Haifa's Arabs to leave their homes. "At night, they climbed a hill overlooking the Arab neighborhood of Halisa, where they knocked on tin oil tankers with axes and rolled empty tin barrels down the hill... The Arab residents, terrified by the noise, were already certain that Jews armed with the most deadly weapons were coming to attack them, and they fled for their lives.".
In the daring night operation, they also rescued a child from the mission, and when the plot got complicated and it became clear that they had rescued the 'wrong' child and carried away the son of the head of the mission, they enlisted the help of Rabbi Yaakov Katz, a mythological figure in Haifa in the past and deputy mayor. Today, the police would probably have intervened, but then things were settled with a phone call - Rabbi Katz told the head of the mission that he had learned about violations of the law on his part and the kidnapping of children...
|He will not be handed over to the police on condition that he returns the Jewish child to his parents. 'Because in my house is your son, whom our people mistakenly took when they paid a courtesy call on your house'..."'
As someone whose father grew up in the hustle and bustle of those days, and as someone who knew the people involved (Rabbi Rothner zt"l and the rest of the neighborhood), I couldn't help but read every word with eagerness.
exciting.
5.
Remember the criticism of an article in the Passover issue that was disguised as a content article, but contained a distinct advertising flavor?
Well, this is an article by Yaakov B. Friedman in the holiday issue of Bekhilah, under the title 'A Journey with the People of the Gemara to the Land of the Gemara'.
In "Between the Lines" after the holiday, I noted that the article was written by a master. It described stations in Kaunas, Zizmar, Telz, Memel, Vilna, and more, "with the 'cart owner,' the cradle of the moral movement, with the cloth merchant, and other colorful sights from 'once upon a time.'".
Where's the problem? Well, the article brings together the Lithuanian past and...the people of 'Oz ve Hadar'. Thus, it becomes an advertising article for all intents and purposes.
""I told them with emotion - the heirs and continuers of the work of Shas and Vilnius, which illuminated the Jewish world for hundreds of years," Friedman wrote, turning the stage to the pinnacles of the work that the article came to publicize.
This week, about three weeks later, the awl came out of the wallet: in a prominent fold-out, a colorful and clear advertisement for Oz Vehadar appeared.
That's all well and good. But where is the full disclosure, where?
6.
And we'll end with the devil's dance of "Here comes Booji into the coalition.".
It seems that most journalists fell into the trap and announced the news in a timely manner. What's more, for weeks these sounds have been heard, which faded with the outbreak of the police investigation, but returned and broke out with every ounce with the announcement that the case against him is apparently closed.
This week I found pompom in several places:
Here, for example, is Tricky's day-to-day life:
""Next month, the Netanyahu government will celebrate its one-year anniversary. The minority government, which relies on the strength of a voice, has so far weathered the best crises from the budget to the military draft, and it seems that it is not going anywhere. On the contrary, the chances of its expansion now and the establishment of a unity government are greater, and both parties, Likud and Labor, are no longer afraid to talk about it openly. Gone are the vigorous denials of Bozi Herzog, and the resolute assertiveness of Shelly Yachimovich, who according to the publications may serve as a minister in Netanyahu's government.".
The family went too far and came out with a headline on the front page of the newspaper: "On the verge of signing" - "Herzog and Netanyahu have reached an understanding on the entry of the 'Zionist Camp' into the coalition." It never happened, of course.
That's why I loved the writing style of Aryeh Zisman, a faithful follower.
Please note the caution: "These lines are being written on Tuesday afternoon (due to the shortened work week) and writing now about the progressing negotiations to expand the government is a gamble. Many things can happen in the political system by the time these lines are read and make what is written here irrelevant.".
Definitely smart.
And also most accurately: "The situation (in the middle of the week) is that Herzog really wants to enter the government, but he only has the agreement of half of his colleagues." And that's all. No negotiations have reached an end, not even to a point approaching the end point.
You probably have to be a grandfather to several grandchildren to learn that in political reporting, you just have to be careful.
