1.
The thing that scares me most about the hostage deal is the discussion about the hostage deal. I mean, it's clear that what's scariest about the deal is the heavy prices we might pay for it in human lives, God forbid. But that's exactly the point, that there's no way to talk about it and the other concerns and implications of the deal. Why? Because prices, concerns, and implications are matters that concern the future. For the near future, to be sure, but not for the now-now.
Moreover, to talk about what is dangerous in the kidnapping deal, you also need a little imagination. I'm not talking about a vision, I'm just talking about a forward-looking view. But here, you see, we've come to that annoying word again, "future." In the discourse on the kidnappings, we only refer to the present, to the kidnappings whose names we know, their faces, their freckles, so why are you coming to us with future murdered or kidnapped people whose hair color we have no idea about?
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And above all: talking about the implications of the deal requires intelligence, brains, and coolness, and these have long been excluded from the discourse.
2.
""The mind rules the heart," it says in the Tanya. And this statement comes to mind every time the abductees are talked about. And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying, nor do I want to, nor can I, deny the feelings that the story of the abductees arouses in us. And I completely understand the anxiety and the tension and the urgency and urgency. Yes, the now-now. But I think that if we also introduce a little reason into this national emotional storm, we will bring this now closer to all the abductees, and we will also not cause more abductions in the future. Oops, I insensitively mentioned the word "future" again. Sorry.
It's hard not to get confused these days. We are under an aggressive campaign. Under a heart-washing (why is there really no such expression?) that makes us feel uncomfortable if we don't shout, or at least sing, for the kidnapped. While the only thing we, the little people, can do, without raising the price and pushing the release away and without causing kidnappings and harm to souls in the future - is to cry out to God. Just like in this week's Torah. And that too should be done without too much noise. Yes, to cry out quietly. Lest the daughters of the Philistines be enraged, lest they raise prices.
3.
Speaking of singers: On Tuesday evening, at a rally in Tel Aviv's Hatufim Square, Omer Adam and Aviv Geffen appeared together under the title "Singing Together for Their Return." During the moving duet of the song "There Is Love in Me and It Will Conquer," right between the bars of the song, Geffen said this: "We are here today, Omer and I, to say that tonight, this night, there is no opposition and coalition, no Ashkenazim and Mizrahi, no secular and religious, no frills and rock. There is a united people of Israel. Everyone demands that the abductees be returned to their last one, safe and sound!".
The keyboardist continued to accompany Gefen by playing the piano against the backdrop of the words: "This is the order of the hour, this is the Jewish, Israeli people. Thank you very much for your efforts, for the daily struggle. To all the families who struggle every day, your beautiful time has come to welcome your sons back. This is our prayer.".
It's amazing how such a dangerous message can be said, in such beautiful words, with a piano melody in the background. And I don't just mean the danger of the deal, that's clear. I mean the danger of silencing those who don't accept the line of the unifying campaign. There is no right and left, no opposition and coalition. Only those who think like me exist and are counted. Aviv Geffen essentially excludes from Israeliness anyone who thinks differently. At the end of this monologue, Geffen and Adam continued to the next line in the song: "Between confusion and disaster"...
The next day, someone sent me a story from Aviv Gefen's Instagram. Right at the same time as the "Singing Together for Their Return" rally, he posted a photo of Minister Bezalel Smotrich and wrote: "How opaque and pathetic it is to try to win seats at the cost of human life. Start representing the sanctity of life and stop representing death." Wow. After all, if only they had listened to Smotrich and his voters, during the Oslo days and later during the disengagement days, we wouldn't have reached the terrible disaster that happened in Gaza.
They cried out but were not listened to. Then they paid the heaviest prices in attacks and intifadas, but they were called "victims of peace." And here we are, and now Smotrich is the political representative of 14 seats, including tens of thousands of fighters who are literally risking their lives to save kidnapped people, and many of them paid with their lives for their return.
But in the discussion about the kidnapped - their opinion is not legitimate. I have hatred and it will win.
4.
And more than these words from Aviv Gefen, it pains me to hear the voices in the right-wing camp, especially in religious Zionism, who say that we must make a deal despite all the costs, and despite the fact that our opposition is justified. These are people who do look to the future, and are well aware of the dangers of a surrender deal, but they tell us that there is no choice, we must make a deal now. Why? For national cohesion. If we don't make a deal at all costs, there will be a rift in the people.
Well, I can perhaps understand those who surrender to Hamas in order to save those who can be saved now, but what is the logic of those who surrender, to the tune of a thousand and thousand differences, to the most cynical campaigners of the left? After all, for them, "a split in the people" is a work plan. They are masters at creating a sense of a split in the people.
Wasn't there a rift in the nation before the abductions? Touch any section on the grounds of plausibility - you will get a rift in the nation. Perform the Yom Kippur prayer with separation - a rift in the nation. Fire Galant - a rift in the nation. Dare to hold a ceremony on behalf of the state on the anniversary of the massacre - a rift in the nation. Vote for Netanyahu - a rift in the nation. Do you really think that after the last of the abductees returns soon in our day, they will let the nation unite and live in peace and brotherhood?
And in general, if you buy the threats of a split in the nation and a civil war, why not give up once and for all on the essential issue that has truly torn the nation apart for more than fifty years: the settlement in Judea and Samaria. So go ahead, evacuate settlements (now!) and we will achieve unity and healing. Isn't it a shame about all this hatred that tears us apart from within? Instead of leaving Ofra for reconciliation meetings with 'brothers in arms' thugs who threaten a split - just leave Ofra.
5.
Fateful days lie ahead. Let us pray that the decision-makers, and also those who influence them, will rise to the consciousness of "the mind ruling over the heart." By the way, how symbolic that in this very short sentence of the author of the Tanya, the word "ruler" also appears. A kind of implicit reminder, to all of us, of what happens when we follow our hearts and release 1,027 terrorists in exchange for the child of all of us.
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1.
Sometimes the greatest privilege I have over someone is the fact that they don't keep Shabbat. I hear things people say about current affairs, or about life itself, and I'm amazed, and then I think to myself: If I, God forbid, weren't keeping Shabbat, maybe I too would be unbalanced? If there weren't this divine gift in my life, which resets, gives strength, which makes me disconnect from my cell phone and connect with my children and family and myself, to the rest of my soul - where would I be?
Think about what public discourse would look like if we all kept Shabbat. We could, well, talk. Just talk.
So why are we actually unable to instill this lovely idea of a holy Sabbath? Why did circumcision and Yom Kippur and several other important and difficult-to-perform mitzvot catch on so much, and it was precisely the gospel of the Sabbath that we failed to spread? Where did we go wrong? What did we do wrong?
This failure frustrates me every time I think about it, and I think about it a lot. Also on a personal level, do we invite enough people to the Shabbat table? And also on a national level, why hasn't the crazy person yet found a campaign song, an initiative, that will connect more Jews to the source of blessing and sanity?
2.
Here is a thought-provoking monologue from someone who discovered the magic of Shabbat, and is trying to make it a reality: author and screenwriter Ilan Heitner.
Pay attention to what he said in a fascinating interview for the author Omri Peled podcast: "This move of Judaism is a move that protects us, you understand? And not only protects us but develops us, advances us, enriches us and sweetens our lives. Totally cool, bro. Do you know how we started keeping Shabbat? It's a must, bro. We founded a brilliant startup, my wife and I. The startup is called 'One for Four.' How can you suddenly start keeping Shabbat now, bro? You can't, you have your life, there are constraints, affairs. You have a desire to keep Shabbat, but it's a decision you can't make. You understand the logic around this thing, but you can't.".
And this is where the startup "One for Four" comes into the picture: "My wife and I were 45 and 47 years old, how to keep Shabbat? We didn't know what to do. We went to some store in Hod Hasharon, bought a plate, a timer, bought a heater, everything, and said: We'll keep a complete Shabbat. One in four Shabbats - but complete. We did it and it was a dream, it was sweet, it was fun, pleasant, gentle, magical. We called the Shabbat that we kept, one in four Shabbats, 'Holy Shabbat.' Then, what happened was that the children asked when the next 'Holy Shabbat' would be. Otherwise, the child is thrown away, bro. He's on the devices, you tell him, go to your friends, go play with that guy's child...".
""And the children agree to give up their devices on Shabbat?" asks interviewer Omri Peled, rather astonished.
""Of course, that doesn't occur to them," Hytner replies firmly. And Peled tries to understand exactly how such a thing works in reality: "Is the child sitting in the room?""
And Hytner replies: "He's not sitting in the room, we're the whole family together. We're just going to rest at noon. You start at one in four and the kids ask for more and more, give us more 'Shabbat Kodesh'! Mom, we want 'Shabbat Kodesh'!".
I hear Heitner's words and amuse myself with the slogan for the Shabbat observance project: "Mom, you promised us a Shabbat to keep!".
3.
Today, the Heitner family already observes Shabbat as it is every Shabbat. I recently met them on Shabbat at a synagogue in Ra'anana.
And how did it happen? "We did 'Holy Shabbat' once every three, once every two, and then we already felt a creak in the system. You drive in the car to some barbecue, and you're all itchy from what you're doing, you feel that it's not right for you. Not right at all. Not right. I don't know how to define it, bro, it's the wrong move. It doesn't fit with how this universe is built into your soul, it doesn't sit right, this trip doesn't sit right. Until one time we got a flat tire, bro. I know exactly where, because to this day we honk when we pass there, a short honk of remembrance on the coastal road... I'm like this in Shabbat clothes on the way to a barbecue at my parents' or something, bending down and starting to fix the flat tire. True story. And I feel the system, bro, the nerves, this is not the place, this is not right. And since then, that's it, we went from one to four to one to one.".
