Here we are. Day 40 of the teachers' strike. A day just like any other, except that since this is the Jewish State, this is a milestone you can't ignore. Moshe (Moses) spends forty days on Mt. Sinai learning the entire Torah; then after the Sin of the Golden Calf, he has do it all over again. Centuries later, Eliyahu (Elijah) reenacts this process. Granted, this is about the best classroom situation you can imagine: no food, drink or bathroom breaks, and a teacher-student ratio of Infinite to one. Still, it shows what you can accomplish in forty days.
It's not only at Sinai that this magic number comes up. Forty days and nights of rain remake the world in Noach's time, and the Midrash notes that it's forty days after conception that an embryo becomes more than “mere water,” and forty days before birth that a heavenly voice announces its soul mate.
This seems to be a point lost on Ran Erez, head of the Secondary Schools Teachers Organization. Possibly, as a gym teacher, he never taught those sources, although you'd think that a guy who wears a kippa would have picked it up somewhere. The number he was aiming for was much more impressive: one hundred thousand. Supposedly, that's how many supporters he got to come out on Saturday night, Motza'ei Shabbat, to Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. It's an admirable achievement, no doubt. But did it slip Mr. Erez's mind what was scheduled for Erev Shabbat, Friday afternoon? The director-general of the Finance Ministry was waiting for him to discuss a possible agreement, but Ran skipped the meeting. He was busy, you see, having a very important demonstration to organize.
I'm not letting the government off the hook here. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has refused to intervene, and he seems miffed that his finance and education minister have been forced to deal with this piddling issue. Still, when the teachers' representative decides it's not worth his time even to show up for a meeting with the other side, there's something seriously wrong. When education ranks below garbage collection or baggage handling as a national priority, you've got to wonder. Granted, one hundred thousand is a big number to gather in one night; now, how about we deal with the five hundred thousand students who are losing out every day?
Today, Nadia Matar, head of the right-wing activist group Women in Green, wrote a letter decrying the recent shift among the national-religious leadership to focus on kiruv, bringing secular Israelis closer to Jewish tradition:
"I would expect the national-religious public, and the Jewish people as a whole, with its rabbis and educators, to engage in the schools, the yeshivot, the ulpanot, the youth movements, the synagogues, and the community centers, not in bringing people back to religion - which is a type of convenient escape to activity that does not bother anyone - but rather in intensifying the topic of the importance of Eretz Israel, our right to it, and our duty to defend it. I therefore call, here and now, upon our public: put aside the matter of making people religious, especially when there is a public that is already engaged in this."
You would think that the national-religious public promoting Judaism would be a no-brainer, but Ms. Matar seems to be seriously offended by the very idea. Her objections are two-fold: 1) it's not offensive enough; and 2) haredim already do it. It's a bold position: surrender kiruv to the haredim, as the national religious have already surrendered the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbinical courts, because it doesn't count unless you're blocking roads and screaming in people's faces.
After all, who can argue with failure? For the past two decades, the National Religious Party (Mafdal) has hemorrhaged members to extreme-right splinter parties, until the rump NRP was forced to join the National Union or fade away. We have stressed over and over to our youth that they are the only Zionists left and that they all need to settle in Judea and Samaria in order to build it for our posterity. We have built cloistered communities and looked down on the rest of the country. And somehow, with all of this, darn it if the rest of the nation doesn't view us as another species, those dangerous, unreasonable orange people!
But Ms. Matar has a solution: our ghetto walls aren't high enough. Seek out confrontation, and don't interact with the rest of the country in any other context. Show them what disengagement means! If only we were more consistent with our dogma and demagoguery, those pesky 110 other Knesset members would just accept that our ten are right. I mean, correct.
Of course, then we'd need to find a new adjective for us. If we're dumping "religious," we need to find something to hyphenate. We want to ignite social change, reforming Israeli society as a whole, so how about "socialist"? Yeah, national-socialist--that's got a nice ring, don't you think?
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.
The above quote, from Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 44:25, tells us that Jews have no concept of infallibility; even sages make mistakes. How else can we explain the words of Rav Ovadya Yosef, this past Motzaei Shabbat (Sat. night)?
"Is this a wonder, God forbid, that in war certain soldiers die--those who are not Shabbat observant, who are not Torah observant, who do not pray every day, who do not lay tefillin every day--is it a wonder that they are killed? It is no wonder, may God have mercy on them; may He bring them back in complete repentance, that they may all live good lives in peace."
Rav Ovadya, in his weekly sermon, was discussing a certain Mishna (Sota 44a), which expounds the passage about warfare in the Torah:
"AND THE OFFICERS SHALL SPEAK FURTHER UNTO THE PEOPLE [and say: Whoever is fearful and fainthearted, should go and return to his home]" (Deut 20:8)--RABBI AKIVA SAYS: 'FEARFUL AND FAINTHEARTED' IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD LITERALLY: HE IS UNABLE TO STAND IN THE BATTLE-RANKS AND SEE A DRAWN SWORD. RABBI YOSSIE THE GALILEAN SAYS: 'FEARFUL AND FAINTHEARTED' ALLUDES TO ONE WHO IS AFRAID BECAUSE OF THE TRANSGRESSIONS HE HAD COMMITTED.
Now, what would you conclude from Rabbi Yossie's opinion? Can you draw any conclusion other than that the idea that the most pious and righteous, like yeshiva students, should be on the front lines? Well, Rav Ovadya drew a different conclusion: only sinners die in battle.
Now, Rav Ovadya is known throughout the Jewish world as one of the greatest halachic decisors of our time. Nevertheless, in this forum, his weekly post-Shabbat sermon, he has repeatedly made pronouncements of this sort, which significantly hurt the image of Torah and mitzvot in the eyes of the general public. At the same time, his halachic decisions are courageous, clear and sensitive.
I only find one way to understand this paradox: it's the difference between halacha and derasha. Halacha is a legal system, wherein the Torah finds its true objective expression; derasha is subjectively tailored to the audience. To put it simply, when he faces a rabble, he rouses them--with the desire to bring them to fulfill the mitzvot he mentions, no doubt, as he said today, but what difference does that make to the families of fallen soldiers, many of whom kept Shabbat, prayed three times daily and voted Shas. Wait, I apologize for bringing up reality; this isn't a halachic discussion. If it were, I might point out that the Mishna goes on to say that these exemptions are applicable only in a discretionary war, but not one in which Jewish lives are at stake (milchemet mitzva). But this a derasha, Ssh!
OK, it finally happened. Sh'mita is less than three weeks away, and the Jerusalem Post has been running a lot of stories about the preparations. The problem is that they invariably print a lie about the sabbatical year, which really upsets me. When Yael saw it this morning, she said, "You have to write a letter to the editor!" So I did, and here it is:
To Whom It May Concern,
I was shocked to learn that the Jerusalem Post has ruled, repeatedly, that all sh'mita produce from Jewish-owned land is forbidden for consumption. There's a book that's been out for a couple of years now, the Torah, in which God writes: "During the seventh year, you must remit and abandon it, and the needy of your nation will eat" (Ex. 23:11) and "The sabbath of the land will be for you to eat" (Lev. 25:6). While it is true that the rabbis prohibited s'fihin, species which are planted annually, and there have been various halachic solutions suggested for this, no one has ever prohibited fruit of sh'mita, which has sanctity; in fact, many authorities, such as Nachmanides, consider it an explicit mitzva to eat the produce of sh'mita in the proper way. The fact that some communities seek to avoid this mitzva--much like, say, army service--does not allow them to transform a divine command into a sin.
Anchors aweigh, here we go. We have combined our highly successful podcasts, Rabbi Joe in Jerusalem and NP3: The New Pashtani Parasha Podcast, into one site: Sea of Torah, www.seaoftorah.com
We've also added two new weekly podcasts, Year of the Jew: Secrets of the Hebrew Calendar, which launches today, be"H; and Know Your Navi: The Fun and Prophets Podcast, which launches tomorrow. Get in on the ground floor! Let us know what you think!
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