When I was 11 years old, I really idolized Yigal Bashan. I especially loved the song "Oseh Shalom", composed by Nurit Hirsch, which was performed in some song festival. It begins quietly and calmly with a clarinet suggestive of wandering Jews and then a dashing Yemenite singer named Yigal enters with his majestic voice and with a diction and a cadence reminiscent of San Remo singers. Later, enter the rhythmic, jazzy, almost "privileged" drums, and by the end of the song, the audience is going crazy. (As a side note: I would like to thank Raviv Schwartz for the English translation of this article).
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My grandfather, a religious, enlightened, liberal man who loved culture, art, and music, used to take us on holidays to the Italian synagogue in Ramat Gan. Included in the liturgy there was the tune I remember to this day (part of the benediction after meals and the Kaddish prayer) which I knew by heart from the song: "He who makes peace in the heavens above, he will make peace among us and upon all Israel and let us say Amen." This verse has punctuated my life at various junctures, including of course at my parents' funerals where we recited the Kaddish prayer.
I'm not a religious person and I assume my views are fairly well-known. I regularly attend the protests and am awed both by the amazing spirit that drives them and by the young people there, each and every one of whom I feel like hugging! I yearn for a Jewish, democratic, and egalitarian state, in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, uncompromisingly so. I don't like, to say the least, what is happening to us these days. I don't like the hate that is being spread, the barbaric-like behavior of some, and the disgusting epithets being uttered such as, "Tzfon-bonim" (spoiled, aloof residents of North Tel Aviv), "privileged" and "anarchists", and wonder why our politicians think that using words more appropriate for the bleachers at a football stadium somehow advances the education of our youth.
Video: Netanyahu talks about judicial reform// Credit: Twitter/Prime Minister's Office
I also don't like being lied to over and over (and over) again, including the one about our Prime Minister suffering from sunstroke, while he is released from the hospital with a new pacemaker. (Luckily for him, they didn't implant a lie detector as well). I'm afraid of the moment our Air Force pilots don't fly their planes, and I think that they, and anyone else not willing to volunteer under these insane circumstances, are justified. I'm disturbed by the fact that a wave of volunteers, who help reduce the workload of our policemen and policewomen, are leaving because they don't want to take part in the beating of protesters.
If we have to choose to whom we should be listening, I, for one, prefer the recommendations of the former heads of the Shin Bet and the Mossad, the commanders of the IDF, past police commissioners, the leaders of Israel's hi-tech and the economy, the scientists and the heads of the universities, rather than Dudi Amsalem, Itamar Ben Gvir and Minister of Communications Shlomo Kari (who wants to shut the TV channels he doesn't agree with), or other ministers who are very familiar with the Shin Bet (albeit from the perspective of those being investigated).
Indeed, there are times I'm glad my parents are no longer around and don't need to witness this awful division of our people - particularly the way in which those sowing the seeds of hate and despair so dismissively toss into the garbage the sacrifice, investment, talent, and courage that my parents and their contemporaries contributed to the building of this country. Let me say this: I have no problem whatsoever with religious Zionism, with the ultra-Orthodox, or with Likudniks, though I do have a lot of criticism. My problem is with the Messianic, chauvinistic, and racist fanatics.
In recent months, we have all been inundated with posts and video clips expressing opinions of every imaginable shade. This week, two of them, in particular, caught my attention, and if we are speaking of "Oseh shalom", listen to Sherry, a religious, Sephardic mother of six, who said the following:
"Bayn HaMetzarim" (traditional Jewish period of mourning) – this is how I refer to this period. A terrible time for the Jewish people. All of our demons have come home to roost. I'm from a Likud family and for years, I was a right-winger. It was my home and the home of parents who were ultra-Orthodox Zionists. When I was 14, we moved to a settlement. There, I was raised according to a Torah that was loving and inclusive, and that's how I want to raise my daughters. I want a Judaism that belongs to all of us and I am deeply disturbed by this government and I certainly don't get the impression that it consists of God-fearing people. I see where this religious extremism is going and it's definitely not the Torah upon which I was raised. I'm afraid of laws enacted in the name of religion and I take part in the protests because I am really worried about the fate of our country. It's enough for me to hear the leaders of this "reform", how they speak, and what they plan to do - and I believe them. And it scares me, I know it's not in my best interest nor in the interests of my daughters. There are elements in this government who speak on my behalf as a woman, as a religious woman, as a Sephardic Jew. Does the fact that I am Sephardic or a former Likudnik require me to support policies or politicians just because they belong to a certain party?! This is an insult to the Sephardic intelligentsia in this country. This is not about left or right; this is about being either exclusivist or inclusive; extremist or democratic. And It's ultimately about politicians who simply want more power for themselves. I know how the story of political leaders with unlimited power ends. It ends in destruction. The schism among our people is terrible in my opinion, but if there is anything encouraging during these difficult days, for me it's the coming together of religious and non-religious Jews. On both sides, people are saying, "Wait, there is something here that is ours together".
And then, like Yigal Bashan and my grandfather, she concludes with "He who makes peace in the heavens above, he will make peace among us and upon all Israel and let us say Amen". Someone will have to make peace among us, perhaps someone up above or perhaps someone here on earth. I damn well hope he succeeds.
Civil War
I have written here many times about the use of the Hebrew term "brother". Along these same lines, it's worth listening to a recent speech by MK Ram Ben Barak. He said the following:
I have many, many friends, some of them are like my brothers. They are secular, Haredim, Arabs, the entire people of Israel, and all the citizens of Israel. Not just "Am Yisrael" (the Jewish people), but everyone; we are all like brothers and responsible for one another. However, those working to destroy our country from within – they are not my brothers! Those who are corrupting our country are not my brothers. Those calling me a "privileged anarchist" are not my brothers. Those demanding the imprisonment of fighters for their refusal to continue volunteering are not my brothers. Those working to transform Israel into an Apartheid state are not my brothers. Those who are demanding subservient legal advisors are not my brothers, and those demanding to appoint cronies as judges are not my brothers. Those wishing to choose CEOs of major public companies according to party affiliation are not my brothers. Those who think like me but nevertheless enable a collection of messianic extremists to blackmail the prime minister and, in so doing, endorse their actions, are not my brothers. Those who think that Israel should be Jewish but not democratic only because it is not written in the Torah, are not my brothers. Those who think that a woman's place is on the back benches are not my brothers. Those who create illegal and irresponsible outposts and put others like my daughter at risk when they have to guard these same outposts are not my brothers. Those who tell me (and today, also my children) "Protect me and die for me and, in the meantime, I'll study" are not my brothers. Those who attempt to run over protesters are not my brothers. Those who insist on willingly raising generations of ignorant and needy citizens- aren't my brothers either. Those who believe that there are first-class Israeli citizens who are Jews and second-class citizens who are not Jewish are not my brothers. Those who throw a Molotov cocktail into a Palestinian home, targeting its residents are not my brothers. Those who express support for this terrorism are also not my brothers. Those who insist on putting a yeshiva in the middle of an Arab settlement or neighborhood, are not my brothers. My brothers can be orthodox and secular, Jews and Arabs, from the gay and the straight community, but to be my brother, one must believe in a Jewish, democratic, and egalitarian Israel. An Israel that respects and protects the rights of all citizens, including those of immigrants and of Palestinians. An Israel which is part of the liberal, enlightened world and not part of the dark word of fascist, authoritarian states. And so, I must confess I am not everyone's brother. Incidentally, my biological brother was killed in the Yom Kippur War, defending a Jewish and democratic country.
What the religious, Sephardic settler and the non-religious moshavnik, who dedicated his life to this country's security (and to mine - this "privileged" musician) have in common is that they are the Israeli majority. The majority that doesn't get how an extremist minority has taken over this "family business" of ours.
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