The eve of the Torah Festival.
God, the Blessed One, passes through all the nations of the world and woos the nation that will take the Holy Torah (and meanwhile, Avraham Fried sings in my head, "The angel flies swiftly and arrives in Paris..."), until he meets us, the Jews, and the people of Israel say to him, without thinking twice: "We will do and be heard.".
And the rest is history.
Literally.
Because we abandoned the history subject a long time ago, and before everyone jumps in and thinks I'm in favor of the liberal arts subjects, I'll explain what I mean.
We are so immersed in the present and so busy trying to plan for the future that we have somewhat muddled the past.
They reduced our budget for doubling the seminars - robbery and destruction.
They cut our income guarantee - the country was shocked, one kopeck piece after another.
Abolish the National Insurance budgets for children - let them be heard and let them be heard.
From a quick look at the (instructive) columns of the members of the website's "team", one can understand that this is what we have in the holy nation: cuts, cancellations and decrees.
I don't want to tell you my personal opinion, everything possible has already been written about this (and still, my personal opinion is that the cuts are very painful and I wish they would be repealed), but let's stop for a moment, take a deep breath and go back a few moments.
A chick and a turtle for 450 NIS
I'm not talking about those preachers who call for a return to getting married in old garages; I don't side with the moralists who shout about eating slices of stale bread (stale bread and bottled water). Our generation has changed. We need "a little" more to survive. And right now it doesn't matter what the reason is. This is the reality. Any other cry is a decree that the public cannot abide.
but.
And here is a great sorrow.
We have somewhat forgotten our history, of "love your neighbor as yourself" and "being content with little" and "on three things the world stands...""
And I'm talking about things we do consciously and sinfully to ourselves. Not to anyone else.
It is possible and appropriate to cry about the cuts. But it is possible and appropriate to make cuts at home.
I have no idea who determined that my children's kindergarten fund (in Haydar's kindergarten!) would cost 450 NIS each. (True, they bring them a chick and a turtle to kindergarten once a week and the child returns happy, but why every week)?
I have a hard time understanding why for my daughter's class party I had to pay 500 NIS (at Beit Yaakov!) for a huge production of dancing, costumes, and lots of digital cameras from mothers who are bleary-eyed from financial stress.
Oh. And a luxurious leather arrangement with the gold ring, like Gaydamak received when he purchased Bikur Holim.
I am shocked when my son returns with a stylish note announcing a trip (fourth grade, in Haidar, fourth grade, may God have mercy on him) that firmly states that I must bring (by tomorrow morning, whatever) 180 NIS to finance a cruise, a trip - and God knows what else.
I don't have seminary-age children yet, but I hear from good friends who are older than me that the situation there is even worse.
Savings of 25 million per year
And little me asks, the question the child asked in the well-known story (The King is Naked), Mom, why is the king walking without clothes?
Let's do a little economic exercise:
There are 100,000 students in Haidar. If we decide together to voluntarily cut 15% from the excessive prices charged to parents for trips to Haidar (as a result of social pressure and laxity on the part of parents), we will save over 2 million NIS per year.
Our children will go on trips, but less glamorous ones.
If we halve the parents' payment for a Bat Mitzvah party - which would leave more than enough room to hold a beautiful and respectable Bat Mitzvah party, although not flashy and eye-catching - we would save 25 million NIS a year (incidentally, twice what the government cut in income support for avrechims).
I promise you that I would personally be happy to donate the money saved from the cut in my daughter's class bat mitzvah party to the avrechims whose government cut back on bread and milk for their hungry children.
Just think about the astronomical numbers that would be received if we brought up the end-of-year parties, the class gifts, and then it would be complete nonsense.
On the eve of the Torah Festival, let us receive the Torah with love.
Let us look (and remember) our history as a nation, and help each other from within.
And one last thing: This doesn't contradict the fact that we need to cry about the cuts, but that can be done at the same time.
Happy Holidays.
andA personal point to conclude:
I want to thank all the commenters, and all those who stop me on the street, and all those who wholeheartedly support the topics and the writing. I also want to thank all those who send me personal messages, and all those who try to send me personal messages, but don't know my mobile number. And as one of the readers of the column said to me: "Stop crying every time in your column, you have a lot more than three readers...." So true. You're right, my friend.
The exposure this site has is huge by any measure. I pray that I can continue to entertain you and provide you with as good and excellent materials as possible.
That's the only reward I get from this. So, you better keep going.
That's how I will continue to write.
Yours, Micha Sholem
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