1.
It's hard for me to write against the writer Haim Beer. Maybe I need to overcome this difficulty. I don't know. But after hearing his words about religious Zionism this week, and after I was about to respond, I remembered Moses our Lord, who only a week ago, in the previous parasha, did not strike the river with his staff with a plague of blood and a plague of frogs, nor the earth with a plague of lice. Why? Because the river protected him when he was thrown into it as a baby, and the earth protected him when he buried the Egyptian he killed in it.
It is amazing. Gratitude - but not to a person who feels or has a choice, but to an inanimate object. "A great and comprehensive foundation in the powers of the human soul is revealed to us in this," writes Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, "all the qualities of the soul are influenced and operated by emotion, and not only by reason. Therefore, if we do not recognize a favor for an inanimate object that we have enjoyed, and even more so if we despise it, we hurt the emotion, which does not react only in accordance with the laws of logic.".
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That is, the mind understands that it is all water or a lump of dirt and there is no problem hitting them. They don't feel anything. But the issue is not the river or the dirt, but Moses, who may be negatively affected, even slightly, when he does an act that contradicts the noble feeling of gratitude. "And after all, this measure is an important tool for serving God," he continues. "Therefore, a person should make every effort to acquire this measure in its entirety, because through it he will learn to recognize the greatness of His grace, blessed be He, with all of creation.".
Well, I'm not claiming now that I'm Moses. And I'm also not claiming that Haim Be'er is Yaor or Ofer. But I have some personal account of gratitude, which extends over years and generations, some of which are already in the real world, that makes me leave, for now, the act of bashing other writers. And they do it quite well, by the way.
2.
But for some reason, the person who hasn't been written about enough this week is Haim Beer's audience. Those who sat in the hall and heard the words.
""In an interview that Roni did with me three or four years ago," Beer told them, "I attacked religious Zionism and said that they were a cancer in the nation. They had gone from a benign growth to a malignant growth. And when I said that, I got carried away. I called you in a panic, I said: 'Roni, what do we do?' How do you say? An arrow that has gone out cannot be brought back. I then apologized because people were terribly hurt, and Emunah Alon said to me, do you know what cancer is? How do you compare, how do you do that? People were terribly hurt. They took it personally. But look today and see what is happening to us and you will understand that I was right. To my great regret, and the great pain in my heart, I was right." End quote.
And Ronnie Cuban, the sensitive interviewer, listened and remained silent. And the audience remained silent.
Sometimes recordings of difficult things people say are released and you have to do some research, figure out where and when they were said and to whom. This time it took no effort. Throughout the shocking segment, a familiar logo appears at the bottom of the screen: a picture of a red apple with the Open University symbol on it, and next to it the surreal caption "Schools of Thought. When curiosity and inspiration meet.".
So I went to the website of Escholot, a brand that has been around for years. It's hard to miss their advertisements for lectures and meetings. But I wanted to delve a little deeper: "The vision underlying our activity is to create cultural and intellectual meetings for the general public, with an emphasis on the values of quality learning, in-depth study, multidisciplinary approach, and critical thinking.".
Wow, emphasis on critical thinking? I wasn't too impressed with the audience's critical thinking. They have more to learn in this segment.
3.
Roni Koban's conversation with Ba'er is part of the winter semester held these weeks at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, which is full of in-depth meetings with writers and creators. The previous meeting was with illustrator Daniela London Dekel, and the next meeting will be with Rebbetzin Malka Piotrkowski.
""In his unique way," the website states, "Roni Koban makes his way into the hearts and minds of writers who have given us works of prose, poetry, journalism and non-fiction, and have influenced us as Israelis and as human beings." Oh, what lofty and beautiful words. Creativity, poetry, prose. An atmosphere of quality in the air. And then these words come. When curiosity and inspiration meet? When hatred and incitement meet.
And it drives me crazy that they are silent. Silent as a fish. Silent as a cub. Look, I don't expect you to throw tomatoes or red apples at Well, but tell me, don't you have any questions? Don't you have any doubts about his diagnosis? No one stood up and asked: What makes you, a master of words, choose this image? And actually, what do you mean when you say, "Look today and see what is happening to us and you will understand that I was right." What do you see today about religious Zionism, Lord of the Universe? And in general, is it possible that you are simply used to hearing such talk? That this is always spoken in your multidisciplinary halls of enlightenment?
4.
And then, two days later, the same people are so shocked by what is being said about Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
I heard attorney Talia Sasson being interviewed passionately about the outrageous discussions in The Hague and attacking, quite rightly of course, what was said there about Israel: how South Africa's lawsuit skipped over the entire beginning of the war, and how they don't talk about the fact that Hamas people literally built a city underground and therefore have no choice but to evacuate the population there to deal with terrorism, and how this very discussion, no matter what is decided, severely damages Israel's legitimacy.
Words of encouragement. But hey, how did you talk about the Israeli occupation when you were head of the department for special duties at the attorney general's office (this title "head of the department for special duties" always sounded to me like a parody of the Bolshevik rule of the judicial system), and later as chairwoman of the public council of the New Israel Fund? What do you think today about the settlers in Judea and Samaria and the way they have to deal with the enemy there?
It was so symbolic that the Supreme Providence summoned Aharon Barak there (when I say "Supreme Providence," I don't mean Bibi). The person who represents us on the panel of judges is the man whose decisions and those of his friends have tied the hands of the security establishment in so many cases - in expelling terrorists, demolishing houses, opening fire procedures - and now he is supposed to be an actor in this miserable and ridiculous show and listen closely to the unfounded claims. To look at them through the white of the foreign wig. To see up close an extremist caricature of himself and his friends (and this caricature of the High Court cannot be censored. The International Court of Justice in The Hague is not 'the seventh').
5.
By the way, after hearing a little about the level of the allegations, I think it was unnecessary to send such a senior legal authority to the hearings in The Hague. I would have been satisfied with a golem from Prague.
Remember the stories about him? For some reason, it was common in my time to let young children read the horror stories from the era of the blood libels. I would read the descriptions of horror about Ivan, the little blond boy, who disappeared in the town and whose body was found in a sack in the basement of the synagogue on Passover Eve - and not fall asleep at night. It's not that I'm competing with the suffering of the Jews of the time, right? But just so you know, I too suffered quite a bit from all these blood libels (it's a good thing that at least there weren't videos documenting the horror on Telegram). And I always thought to myself: How, how can Jews be accused of using the blood of Christian children in Passover matzos? After all, anyone who knows a little about Jewish law understands that this is a fundamentally unfounded claim. But hey, we're talking about primitive Gentiles in primitive regions, so the blood libel is primitive too.
And now 400 years have passed, the world has progressed in so many areas, but the area of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews remains the same. Enlightened Gentiles stand in a magnificent hall and tell stories on the level of the stories of the Golem of Prague. Only this time it is broadcast live to millions of viewers around the world.
And Yonit Levy sits in the studio, sighs and says after the report that watching the broadcast from The Hague is "blood-boiling." Take a breath, Yonit. If you want, we'll teach you how to deal with vile plots on live broadcast. We have decades of experience in this.
From the "enemies of peace" of the Oslo Accords and the accusation of Rabin's murder, through "religion," "exclusion," "settler violence," "money between Yitzhar and Itamar," the sukkah in Huwara that diverted the forces, to the winter semester of schools.
6.
Bini Landau's new song "Shake It Off" has received only 160,000 views in the two weeks since it was released. After deducting the number of views I've had - over and over and over again - we're left with a relatively small number of people who have been exposed to the song. Probably small relative to the size of the song. And I just want to ask, without a hint of condescension, everyone who hasn't had the chance to listen to it yet: What actually keeps you going in these challenging days? What keeps you alive? What gives you strength? Rather, tell me, so that I too can be strengthened.
And so writes Bini Landau: "Between performances at convention grounds and bases, singing in homes of mourning and hospitals, and nights at guard posts until dawn, it was as if this cry arose from within me in a thin silence. Dedicated with great love to the people of Israel in prayer for the strengthening of all the warriors, healing for all the wounded, and the release of all the kidnapped. Complete redemption through mercy.".
Wait, that's not the poem, is it? Just the background to its writing. And here are the lyrics of the poem, which in the Akum are written by five writers: Isaiah the prophet, Jeremiah the prophet, Yehezkel the prophet, Rabbi Shlomo Elkabetz and Benny Landau the prophet:
""Shake off the dust / Arise, for the light has already dawned / How much longer can you go? / And again you wallow in your blood, in your blood / And he says: / Awake / for your light has come / Arise, my light / Put on your beautiful garments / And how will you restrain your voice / When you weep for your sons and daughters? / And he says: / Let your enemies be your enemies / And let all your devourers be far away / May your God be gracious to you / May he be gracious to you.".
""For a moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," says your Redeemer, the Lord. "No more shall violence be heard in your land, robbery and destruction within your borders, and the cry of salvation shall be in your walls and your gates. The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor shall the moon shine for you, but the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and your God your glory." "The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor shall the moon be your light by night, but the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be fulfilled." "And all your people shall be righteous forever; they shall inherit the land, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, to be glorified.".
Amen. And not one word of your words will return void.
