Here are three numbers and data that are worth throwing, for the sake of proportion and context, into the heated public debate these days:
• Who did the residents of the Gaza Strip kibbutzim vote for, known as the "Gaza hijacker"? The Central Elections Committee website reveals interesting data.
In Kibbutz Nirim, for example, Meretz received 471% of the votes and is the strongest party in the kibbutz. Next is Labor with 281%. Likud received only 7 votes. And what is happening in Kibbutz Nir Am? The largest party is Labor, 371% of the kibbutz members there voted for it, followed by Meretz with 191%. The same is true in Kibbutz Erez (Labor 381%, Meretz 141%), in Kibbutz Be'eri (Labor 531%, Meretz 201%), and in Nahal Oz (Labor 361%, Meretz 151%).
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The picture is clear. Netanyahu, who is now receiving praise there, did not win any votes there.
A month ago, they asked why the three boys Naftali, Gil-Ad, and Eyal hitchhiked at the Gush Etzion intersection. No one now asks why the residents of Nirim settled in the Negev.
But precisely because of their distinct political identification, it is fascinating to hear from the mouths of these kibbutzniks such basic Zionist texts that we are used to hearing from settlers: "We are here, this is our home, this is our land, we are not going anywhere and we want security," they say over and over again, simply.
• Second statistic: Hamas is trying to convince the world that the blood of the Gazans is pure, but here is a statistic that has received much less attention: In Syria, 1,700 people were killed in the last week alone. In the past two weeks, more than 2,300 people have been killed. In total, about 170,000 people have been killed in the civil war that began there three years ago.
In Iraq, by the way, in parallel with Operation Protective Edge, 275 people were killed in a series of battles between the Iraqi army and ISIS terrorists. When Muslims kill Muslims, it is less interesting and scandalous.
• How did Muhammad Daf state this week? "Our fighters want to die just as your fighters want to live." The Israeli pain over the soldiers and civilians killed in the country is great. But is this sensitivity to human life expressed primarily during combat? There is another long list of Israelis, with names and faces and smiles and families, who have left us in these days, without us stopping for a moment.
According to data from the National Road Safety Authority, 27 people were killed on the roads here, just during the month of the operation.
When Av enters, there is little joy, and this week it entered. Last Monday, the month of Av began, and this coming Monday, in the evening, the fast of Tisha B'Av.
There is usually a contradiction between the Jewish pulse and the Israeli pulse at this time of year. Israeliness radiates the heat of July-August, and the Jewish calendar calls us to wrap ourselves in mourning and sorrow. As if on a split screen, these days there are those who are already deep in summer fun and there are those who are still lamenting, sitting on the floor and fasting.
This year, unfortunately, the synchronization is complete. No one needs reminders from the calendar to get into a more thoughtful and quieter mood. The mournful melody of the Book of Lamentations will be heard in synagogues only on Monday, but in fact it has been accompanying us for several weeks.
But the full name of this month, we almost forgot, is not Av, but: Menachem-Av. For generations, the word "consolation" has also been added to its sad name.
Rachel Frankel is accustomed to giving many thanks. Immediately after the kidnapping of her son Naftali, she thanked not only the police and the army, but also the media personnel who stood in the sun and heat outside her house to bring her words to the whole world.
This week, on Tuesday evening, at a large memorial held in Jerusalem to mark the thirtieth anniversary, she thanked everyone in detail, from "the soldiers, some of whom went directly from searching for our sons to the front in Gaza" to "the Iron Dome operators, who just a short time ago intercepted a missile sent in our direction here this evening over the skies of Jerusalem.".
In front of President-elect Rivlin, in front of Sara Netanyahu, in front of ministers and rabbis, and especially in front of thousands and thousands who also watched her on the street, through video screens, Racheli Frankel connected the "Lol group" with the prayer book and her own son.
""A memorial to a child in the midst of war is the most private moment in the most general time," she said. "And on days like these, in fact, the private is general and the general is private. A lot of teenagers come up to me and say: Tell me something about your son, what a quality he has, so that we can continue his path even when he's gone. At first I was embarrassed. I didn't know what gift to give them, Naftali.
But during the shiva, we recognized a motif that recurred in all the stories about him: first-graders who looked up to him when Naftali was in eighth grade, or fifth-graders when Naftali was in seventh grade, all told us: Naftali brightened our faces. He always looked at us at eye level. In boyish language, they said: 'He tore my face off with the Frisbee, but he always made me feel comfortable.'.
Over and over again, someone came up to me and said that when he was in a new and vulnerable stage in his life, Naftali paid attention to him, studied with him, played with him, got him involved in things.
It occurred to me that this feature is a kind of correction to a very Israeli scene in the 'Lol' sketch. Arik Einstein, may his memory be blessed and may he live long, and Rabbi Uri Zohar show us there how two minutes after each wave of immigration, the excitement and joy of the immigrants turns into complaining cynicism. This cynicism is directed with condescension towards the newer one, the one who arrived a minute ago.
At the Mekor Chaim yeshiva where Naftali studied, every seventh-grader gets a fifth-grader to study with him, but if the numbers are not equal, then some seventh-graders are also asked to join. Last year, Naftali, a seventh-grader, received an offer to study with a fifth-grader, and wondered whether he would have time to do it seriously.
I'm glad he took it upon himself, because we know he won't be able to be an eighth-grade student anymore. Every year when a new class arrives at the yeshiva, the entire yeshiva gathers for a class called 'Everyone Receives.'.
This is a situation where the Seminists receive the five with a hug, a song, and a listening ear. This name, "All receive," is based on the piyyut from the prayer: "And all receive the yoke of the kingdom of heaven from one another, and in love give permission to one another to dedicate to their Creator with peace of mind, in clear and pleasant language.".
What do these words mean? They describe a situation where everyone accepts from each other, and lovingly gives permission to each other, and all in pleasant language. We ourselves admit that we need each other, for each other's special poetry. Everyone accepts each other without cynicism, with a bright face.
And all of this is also related to this word, which is so cliché and so wonderful, unity.".
Jewish status:""May the Lord our God comfort the mourners of Zion and the mourners of Jerusalem" (from the prayer for Tisha B'Av)
• The column is published in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
