1.
Everyone is talking about judicial activism, and rightly so. The legal system has an impact on all areas of our public life, and the High Court judges, as we saw in the new record that was broken a week ago, don't see eye to eye. They don't try to be pretentious or cut corners. Activism will pierce the mountain.
And maybe it's good that the picture is becoming clearer. I remember the days when protesting against the Supreme Court, or even just denying the sanctity of its rulings, made you an extremist Satmar follower. Since then, Israeli society has sobered up.
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In the upcoming Knesset term, God willing, we will even have a Knesset member who will constantly remind us how much we must take care of the rule of the High Court of Justice. No, I don't mean MK Ayelet Shaked, but MK Heba Yazbak, a walking symbol of the distance between the justice system and justice. Every inflammatory speech she makes, every violent demonstration she participates in, every Mavi Marmara she sails aboard - they will remind us by whose grace she is here.
But recently, there has been another dangerous factor that has taken over public life in the country: political correctness.
Unlike the legal system, here there is no exact address. It is difficult to define who exactly this factor is, who determines what is forbidden and what is permitted, what is bad and what is honest. Is it the media, the New Foundation, academics, radical liberal organizations? Maybe all of them together? And if we are already comparing ourselves to the legal system, then here it is impossible to appeal and there is no right to pardon, the accused has no defense attorney and not even the possibility of arguments for the sentence.
The moment his statement, even one, doesn't align with the fashionable worldview, with the trendy and correct discourse, he's gone. No matter what he did before, or what he does after.
2.
Here are three examples from the last few days.
Let's start, of course, with Rabbi Yaakov Ariel. After decades of educational work, of Torah, of rabbinate, of enlightenment, he discovered one day last week two exciting things: A. That he had won the Israel Prize for Torah Literature. B. That the prize should be revoked from him immediately.
Why? Because his ruling is not consistent with the ruling of the Council of Politically Correct Sages. The disagreement of the jurists: on the one hand, the thousands of years of Halacha, on the other, the political correctness of 2020.
Now, let's say these are equal forces. Let's say, just for the sake of discussion, okay? Well, then only someone who rules according to the law like the most liberal view in the world deserves the Israel Prize, and if not, then should the prize be canceled? If there was a category for the Israel Prize for permissive literature, I understand that Rabbi Ariel is not worthy. But what is this about? The Israel Prize for Torah Literature.
Tell me, what do you think all the winners of the Israel Prize for Torah Literature have said and thought since its inception until today? When did this examination begin? Here is a partial list of winners who, in my opinion, can be retroactively denied the prize. Don't ask what gems can be found in their books: Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog, Rabbi Yitzhak Arieli, Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zvin, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Chaim David Halevi.
3.
The second victim of the right discourse was MK Yoaz Hendel. Poor guy, I looked up his number this week to strengthen his hands. Believe me, I'm considering voting Blue and White just to support him. No, just for nothing, don't you think? Hendel himself wasn't supposed to vote Blue and White either.
But the tour they gave him is truly one of the dirtiest seen here. In an interview with Haaretz, he spoke about the cultural differences in Israeli society and said, among other things: "People from all kinds of countries came here, some came with a concert mentality and some came with a darbuka mentality." He apparently forgot for a moment that people with a politically correct mentality have also recently come here.
There are publics that are allowed to be freely offended, such as the Haredim or the settlers (on election night this even brings mandates), and there are publics that if it is somehow possible to understand from your words, between the lines or even in the gematria or the skipping method, that you do not respect them enough – you will become a senior Garboz.
It's amazing. Handel didn't even hint with a word which mentality he values more. He didn't say who votes for which party. He just talked about two musical genres. But that's it, that was enough to open a philharmonic concert of condemnations and insults here. They turned him into a racist, a hater of Mizrahi Jews, an instigator against darbukas.
And what's most amazing is the speed with which his party members, like Ofer Shelah and Yair Lapid, attacked him. The truth is, he got off cheap. With Blue and White's "clean hands," it's a wonder they didn't fire him. What, don't you know, Yoaz, that in our party, incitement is only allowed against Haredim, settlers, and the prime minister?
And again, just for the sake of discussion: let's say he criticized Mizrahi music. He didn't, but let's say (I think, by the way, that the persecuted minority today is not Mizrahi music but classical music). So, so what? What happened? I'm not saying that we should be forgiving of every harsh statement, but what did he say for God's sake? He didn't claim that darbukas are a cancer in the body of the nation, as someone said here just a few weeks ago about religious Zionism.
So why can't we talk here? Why keep our mouths shut? Why stir up storms? What about freedom of speech, or even freedom of chatter?
4.
But all of this is nothing compared to the news that was published a few days ago in Haaretz: "The Chabad movement held an event last night in a hall belonging to Tel Aviv University, with men and women separated - with the central part reserved for men only. Renting the hall for a segregated event sparked criticism among university officials, and a senior official at the institution described the approval given to the event as a 'mistake.'".
And for more news: "Smolersh Hall belongs to Tel Aviv University, and is considered the institution's main event hall - and one of the largest halls in Tel Aviv. The invitation to the event stated that the celebration to 'mark the 70th anniversary of the presidency of the Rebbe Messiah' - the date on which the Lubavitcher Rebbe assumed the role of leader of Chabad - would be held with gender separation. The hall was rented by the 'Association for True and Complete Redemption'. According to one of the organizers, the event was attended by about 900 participants, about a third of whom were women. The latter were directed to two main places: the gallery or the edges of the hall.".
And here Haaretz newspaper moves on to a lesson in Hasidism. Put on the gertel and read: "On one of the Chabad websites, they wrote this morning that 'the event exalted the Hasidic feelings that accompany this special day,' and that the fact that the event was held 'inside the university in Tel Aviv' gives 'special meaning to the words of the article 'I came to my garden' - 'a dwelling in the undergarments' (a concept that expresses the will of God that Jews prepare for Him, in the material world, a suitable dwelling. According to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the role of the current generation is to 'make a dwelling in the undergarments' and thereby bring the Messiah)." Wow. Exciting. When did Kathy Mer? When will they start explaining Hasidic concepts in Haaretz newspaper.
5.
Well, from here the article simply becomes a wonderful humoristic piece that presents enlightened academics as the most jealous and darkest thing in the country. The liberal faction: "According to university officials, by renting the hall to the 'Association for Salvation', the academic institution legitimized segregation between the sexes. 'Universities have an important role in the fight against segregation, not only in academia itself but also in broader contexts,' said one of them.
""A senior university official is involved in the internal audit. According to him, in the agreement to rent the hall, the Haredi association explicitly stated that there would be separation between men and women, but the university noticed the clause shortly before the event began, when it was no longer possible to cancel it. He emphasized that this was a private event, in which the university's part was limited to renting the hall only. 'This is a serious error, which is currently being examined,' said the official. 'The university opposes any gender separation, in studies and in events held within its boundaries.' He pledged that 'such cases will not occur again in the future,' and added that the 'error' led the university to formulate a clause that will prevent similar cases in the future.".
Wait, but the opera, as we know, doesn't end until the lady from the women's lobby gives the last hypocritical scream.
Well, here is the response from Elinor Davidov of the Women's Lobby in Israel: "We congratulate the university for deciding, even if belatedly, not to allow gender-segregated events on its premises, with the understanding that no one can tell women and men where and how to behave in public spaces or at public events.".
Oh, really? So what are you doing now, Mrs. Davidov, if not telling women and men how to behave in a public space? You decided on behalf of all Israeli women that any gender separation is equal to "exclusion," and now everyone must and must align themselves with your pluralistic fanaticism. We really do live in an era where it is impossible to privately rent a hall to hold a musical event where the participants sit according to their free will, and this in the name of liberalism. Read that sentence again. And instead of making a headline out of this scandalous matter, Haaretz is reaching out to receive a response from Tel Aviv University about the "mistake.".
How fortunate that Rabbi Ariel did not participate in the event, God forbid. There was another reason to disqualify him.
It's good that there was at least one moderate and inclusive factor in this story. Organizer Bentzi Frishman of the "Association for Redemption" says in the article that the decision to hold the event at Tel Aviv University "did not stem from any desire to defy, but from the hope of connecting different worlds and connecting the extremes of the Jewish people. This is the best unity." He added that the separation between men and women "was necessary, given the very nature of the event," and that it was not "a malfunction, as the university claims, but a blessed thing.".
6.
So the Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan, a Knesset member from Blue and White and the Messianic faction of Chabad are the weekly victims of the tyranny of political correctness in the State of Israel. Who is next in line? And who is next in line?
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
