1.
I've been debating for a while whether to tell this here. The truth is that my close friends know about it, and my family sees it. But writing it in a newspaper, even the most right-wing newspaper, is a bit of a farce. It would take me out of being a bibist. And it would also take me out of being an enthusiast.
Well, I'll explain in a moment, and even prove, that I'm not a bibist. But as for the enthusiastic one - well, that's a bit hard for me to deny. Yes, I'm enthusiastic. And you know what? I don't mind paying a price for it. It burns in me. And besides, who knows, maybe a few more readers will join my custom, and then I'll become a little less strange.
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So like this: Recently, let's say since the previous elections, every time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives an impressive performance - it could be at a press conference, at a briefing in his office, in an interview, at a vaccination, at another vaccination, in his TikTok video - I sing in front of the screen. Out loud.
What am I singing? The song by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach on the verse "For many days I will swear to him, and I will show him in my salvation." At first quietly, to myself. Then out loud, with enthusiasm: "Oh, how soft, O waters, I will swear to him, and I will show him in my salvation! Oh, how soft, O waters, I will swear to him, and I will show him in my salvation!"'
2.
Why, of all the songs, do I sing this old song?
First of all, I don't know how to explain it exactly. It's not a mental decision, it's simply what I feel every time. This song bursts out of me. And the truth? Until this moment, I didn't even bother to look at the Nach commentary to understand in depth what the words I sing with enthusiasm actually mean, under what circumstances they were written. It's worth doing.
But in the meantime I sing in a simple way, in a way that conveys emotion in the verse. Interpretation of the fortress of friends. There is in this song, in melody, in words, on the one hand a prayer and hope for something great that will happen, that we will yet be able to see. On the other hand, there is in it the joy of salvation and confidence right now. Even thanksgiving. Like any good song by Carlebach, it can be sung mournfully, pleadingly, and it can be sung with the greatest joy in the world.
Five words in total, repeated over and over again. The verse that concludes Psalm 11 in Tehillim is, "Yoshuv Besit Elyon," a psalm that the sages call "a song of harm," as I learned in Daf Yomi.
Why? Because this entire chapter speaks of protection and deliverance from harm: "For He will deliver you from the snare of the snare," "You will not be afraid of the fear of night, the arrow that flies by day," "No evil will befall you," "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways," and many other reassuring promises in the face of all dangers and worries. Until the last verse of the encouraging chapter: "I will praise Him for the length of days, and I will show Him my salvation.".
When did I first hear this song by Carlebach? I don't remember. A long time ago. Years ago. When did I first understand it? I remember it well, how could I forget: at Rosh Hashanah services in Uman two or so years ago. It's a kind of anthem there. They sing it and dance to it (without words) during the recitation of Musaf's Shatz, right after the scariest moments of "And Natana Tokef." And do you know how long they sing it? More than half an hour.
I know there are those who think I'm exaggerating now. No problem, come with me, God willing, on Rosh Hashanah next year to Uman (after you've been vaccinated, of course), to the legendary Shiner minyan, and we'll see if I've exaggerated. I have a feeling that this year the thousands will sing and dance it not for half an hour but for an hour, also for last year when there was no Uman.
3.
Well, what am I starting to fantasize about now about Oman? We were at Netanyahu's. Why have I been singing this song to him all the time lately? So that's it, I'm not exactly singing it to him. Or more accurately: not just to him. I'm singing it to Netanyahu and to all of us. May he be worthy to guide us through the days. May he be worthy to see with him, to continue to see with him, salvations and consolations.
And here I come to the point: I am not a BIBist. I have never voted for Netanyahu (except in elections where there were two ballots, one for the party and one for the prime minister). I also do not intend to vote for him in the upcoming elections. I hope, of course, that he will continue to be prime minister, but to help him move Israel forward in the right direction, I vote for the party I vote for. I do not trust him 100 percent. After all, he was already in government with Yesh Atid. He has already abandoned handling the justice system. And in general, he is far from perfect.
And after all this, I admit: In the past year, I have had difficulty looking at Netanyahu only through political lenses. I am not a Bibbist, I am an Alokist. In my eyes, he is the messenger of the Supreme Providence to steer the State of Israel, a state on which the eyes of God our God are from the beginning of the year to the end, in the historic and challenging period in which we live.
I have no other explanation for his successes, his strengths, his abilities, his freshness, his survival.
4.
And most of all, I have no other explanation for the powerful forces fighting against him. I really can't fathom how he inspires such pathological hatred. And again, I'm not being stupid. I know everything, hear and see everything, including his son's outrageous tweets, including what good people who worked with him and no longer work with him say about him. And yet, even if everything his persecutors accuse him of is 100 percent true - and the vast majority of it is false - that doesn't explain the sickly hostility. The severe symptoms suffered by so many people infected with the incurable Balfour variant.
Take for example the interview that aired this week. Can anyone give me a plausible explanation for Yonit Levy's behavior? I'm not even talking about this or that question. Who could have even focused on the questions (except Netanyahu)?
After all, she gave a living demonstration of behavior that is usually only read about in stories of righteous people from previous generations. Saints of the Most High, disciples of the holy Baal Shem Tov, who were careful to avoid looking evil in the face. Did you see throughout the long interview how, according to Yonit, you can ask Netanyahu questions, you can interview him, you can even laugh, but actually look him in the eye? No, no. That's it. Stay away from ugliness and what resembles it.
Where did this come from, Lord of the Universe? After all, she's just a polite girl. I'm telling you, I would interview Abu Mazen with the utmost respect. Even Arik Sharon. So a prime minister who just brought you four peace agreements and two vaccines? Thanks to him, your seven-year-old child can meet his grandparents?
And again, for the third time: Not that there is no criticism, not that there are no shortcomings in dealing with the Corona, not that there are no difficult questions to ask. You definitely don't have to vote for him. Okay, he's not from your camp. But why is that? What is this attitude?
5.
There are those, extremists from both camps, who speak of Netanyahu in biblical terms. There's no need to exaggerate. Netanyahu is not Moses, and for that matter, he's not Pharaoh, God forbid. But you know what? The people are the same people. The Israelites, at least in part, haven't changed much since the wilderness era. For years I read the passages from the Book of Exodus and didn't understand how such a thing could happen. You see visible miracles, you came out of the jaws of Egypt into eternal freedom, the sea parted for you, you eat from what comes down from the sky, you're about to receive the Land of Israel on a silver platter. How can you be so ungrateful? How can you complain like that all day long? There's no limit to the lack of gratitude to God Almighty and to Moses, His servant? It's inconceivable.
Today I can imagine it. Still can't understand it, but I can imagine it.
This week I thought that maybe we should do a national campaign like this, where fifteen minutes after the vaccination, the period of time during which nothing is allowed to be done and one has to sit and wait, each vaccinated person will think of three people they need to show a favor to during these difficult days. It doesn't matter from which circle or how big the favor is. It could be a thank you to parents, teachers, children, medical teams. And who knows, maybe in the end it will also come down to a thank you to those who ensured that amidst all this despair of all humanity, we, of all the millions suffering in the world, are the first to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not talking about thanking Bibi now. I'm talking about its direct operator, the Lord of the Universe.
Well, of course, Bibi also deserves a lot of thanks. A right is being passed on to the rightful. As I said, I don't know why it is like this, but this is what the supreme providence decided: that the hero of Israel, Yoni Netanyahu, will save the lives of 105 Israelis in Entebbe with dedication and supreme bravery, and that his younger brother, Binyamin Yavdala, will save the lives of tens of thousands of Israelis with miraculous talent and a few Zoom conversations with the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna.
By the way, in my opinion, what was so exciting about this week's interview wasn't Netanyahu's media skills. Lapid also knows how to give excellent interviews. Bennett too. Gantz too (just kidding. Where is Gantz's yo-yo, compared to the concert Netanyahu gave this week in the studio). The point is the action, the initiative, the wisdom, the far-sightedness. In short: the Shi'ata Dashmiya. Who wants to oust a leader with tons of Shi'ata Dashmiya?
6.
On Tuesday of this week, I was lucky enough to take our 16-year-old son for his second vaccination. On the way home from Maccabi, I turned on the radio and heard a foreign report that Australia, a country of 25 million residents, managed to obtain, with great effort, 80,000 first vaccine doses today. I told my son with a smile that if any Australian stopped in front of us at a traffic light, he should quickly get his head down. I don't like it when he sees that while he can only dream of a vaccination, 16-year-olds are being vaccinated in Israel.
Then, the next news item on the radio was about the new scandal. Here it is: Netanyahu actually admitted in that interview with Channel 12 that he called prosecution witness Arnon Milchan to wish him a happy holiday. This was discussed in depth and breadth for long minutes. Who knows, maybe another one will soon join the ranks of the precedent-setting indictments filed against the prime minister: bribery, fraud, breach of trust, and obstruction of investigation procedures. If not for the indictments, then certainly to the incitement screams of the demonstrators in Balfour and Betlah a-Din. Those who stood in front of the district court last week, at the opening of the hearing, with a repulsive representation of Netanyahu in a prisoner's uniform, handcuffed him. After all, they have long since sealed his fate. As far as they are concerned, he is already in prison. As long as they don't deduct a third for good behavior. Let him rot.
I heard the legal commentary on the radio, and at first I wanted to yell at the reporter that if he happened to be around an Australian – to do him a favor and shut up. But in the end I preferred to sing out loud.
You already know which song.
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
