Here we are, the night before Yom Kippur, and you can feel the anticipation throughout the nation. No, not for Kol Nidrei or Kapparot—for Kolnoa! The Ophir Awards just started, and Israel's top films are fighting for best picture, actor, actress. Why tonight? I don't know, maybe it's because so many Israelis make the fast pass more quickly by watching DVD's at home; there are, after all, no television broadcasts until that shofar sounds at the end of N'ila.
Well, I'm not expecting our film stars to go to midnight S'lichot (although Joseph Cedar might anyway), so that doesn't upset me. No, it's the way this ceremony is being advertised, over and over and over again: “Who's on his way to Hollywood?” or “Who will make it to the Oscars?” You see, whichever film wins Best Picture is automatically our national submission for Best Foreign Film at the American Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (I think that's the whole title), or the Oscars. Now, the a submission doesn't mean a nomination; in fact, it's been more than two decades since an Israeli film got got that far. It just allows for the possibility.
Still, that seems to be the marketing technique: see what might make it to the Oscars, America, the Goldeneh Medineh! The other awards besides Best Picture are apparently just filler, because only the whiff of an Oscar is what counts. Why are we still playing this game? Why are we still running after foreign accolades? Whether we need an Israeli film industry at all is a separate question, but since we do have one, can't we dedicate one night to celebrating our own accomplishments? Can't we just be proud of our best?
As long as we have this hang-up, films that have something profound to say about Israeli society will be few and far between. For that matter, this pathology will continue to affect everything we do, from art to politics to science. Sure, it would be great to see an Israeli on the red carpet, but if a shofar sounds in the forest and no American hears it, doesn't it still make a sound?
Rosh Hashana's official liturgical name is "Yom Hazikaron," Remembrance Day, so it's quite appropriate to reflect on our recent history this week. The last time we celebrated Rosh Hashana of a sh'mita year, it wasn't a particularly good time for the Jewish people. Yasser Arafat launched a new and much deadlier intifada while most of us were reciting Untaneh Tokef, and we entered 5761 truly wondering "Who will live and who will die?" This was especially true for those of us in the army, as I was.
Well, it seems that the Israel Defense Forces has been thinking about that day as well, because they have finally requested a tape recorded at Gaza's Netzarim Junction on 1 Tishrei, 5761 (30 September, 2000). Trust me, you've seen part of this tape: the edited section that television network France 2 aired and then distributed to the world, the one which supposedly shows 12-year-old Palestinian Muhammad al-Dura being shot dead by IDF gunfire. However, that's less than one (aggregated) minute out of 27; the IDF wants the uncut version. It's a great idea, seven years too late.
You see, in the meantime, our Defense, Justice and Foreign Ministries have allowed this tape to be seen all over the globe unchallenged. It's lone wolves like independent journalist Philippe Karsenty who have been doing the heavy lifting, challenging the tape as it was presented by France-2's Charles Enderlin (who happens to be Jewish and Israeli), arguing that it was staged by cameraman Talal abu-Rahma. Based on the Israeli soldiers' position, it would have been impossible for them to hit the boy. Nevertheless, Karsenty was sued for libel by Enderlin and France-2 and lost, the court noting that "no Israeli authority, neither the army - which is nonetheless most affected, nor the Justice [Ministry] has ever accorded the slightest credit to [Karsenty's] allegations."
Karsenty is now appealing, and he's demanded that the IDF respond. Col. Shlomi Am-Shalom is now maintaining that the IDF was always on Karsenty's side, despite the fact that his previous boss, Brig. Gen. Miri Regev, who did such a fantastic job of ignoring the foreign press in the midst of last summer's war, stated in June of last year that "I cannot determine whether the IDF is or is not responsible for the killing of al-Dura." I guess it must be a relief for all of Israel's fighters to know that if they are ever globally defamed, the Spokesman's Office will do its utmost to defend everyone over the rank of major.
This Shabbat, on Yom Kippur, we will ask God to silence our prosecutors; it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to do that when, as a nation, it takes a lawsuit to force us to defend those who fight on our behalf. Maybe next sh'mita...
Click here for the Jerusalem Post article.
The headline is shocking: “Neo-Nazis in Israel!” Eight immigrants from the former Soviet Union, none of whom is halachically Jewish, have been arrested in Petah Tikva for spreading Nazi propaganda and are suspected of vicious attacks on haredim and gays. Trade Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) offered this pearl of wisdom: “These people aren't fit to be called humans.” The problem is that Yishai got it precisely wrong: only humans could do this.
According to tradition, Rosh Hashana actually marks the sixth day of creation, the birth of man. Today, the 27th of Elul, would therefore be the third day, which has its own claim to fame: the first rebellion against God. Rashi (Gen. 1:11) quotes Bereishit Rabba (5:11) that the ground was commanded, on day three, to produce trees which were wholly edible, not only in their fruit, but it refused; consequently, when Adam and Chava (Eve) were punished, the ground was cursed as well.
Presumably, the Midrash is not trying to tell us that the earth can't be trusted: it's teaching us a lesson about human nature, the effect that Adam has on the ground (adama) from which and for which he was created—three days before he opens his eyes! We humans are contrary; having free will means that we have the capacity to choose to disobey God for arbitrary reasons. Animals are logical; they pursue pleasure and avoid pain. They can be trained; humans cannot. You never know what a man will do; you can never underestimate the power of resentment. A human being might choose to recognize his true friends and foes, or he might trust a serpent's word over the Creator's. These neo-Nazis epitomize the latter. They should love Jews and the Jewish state; their tangential genealogical connection is what brought them from a cold, bitter, authoritarian society to a warm, open and free land. But they resent us. The more we give them, the more they hate us. Some talking heads may attribute this to the difficulties of absorption, but this simply shifts the blame to the victims. Most people will appreciate the good that they receive, but there is always that lurking, churlish feeling: we don't like being vulnerable.
For the past two years, we've wondered why our disengagement from Gaza has brought us nothing but vicious attacks. Maybe we haven't done enough, we muse; maybe we have to rebuild their airport, give them more arms, release more prisoners, throw open the border crossings. Then we do that, but Islamic Jihad, supported by Hamas, fires more Kassams at our schoolchildren, and we say: Those bastards, they aren't human.
Yes, they are. Only humans could do this; only Adam could resent Paradise; only men could take their newfound freedom and turn it into a weapon.
Such people deserve no pity; we can only confront them, and put our faith in those who embrace humanity's potential for greatness, not its propensity for pettiness.
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