Friday, July 08, 2005
Sparks From Israel
Good News and Bad News
First the bad news
A young protester showed me a note that was sent to the wives of the policemen who are being trained to remove the residents of Gush Katif. The note asked the wives to be patient because their husbands would not be coming home for a few months, when they begin their holy work.
It goes on to explain how there will be four policeman for every citizen of Gush Katif. They will insure the safety of these residents and remove infants from the arms of their hysterical mother’s before proceeding to remove the parents and their belongings. They recognize that this may be a traumatic experience for some, and so they are enlisting the help of Druze and Bedouin policeman who of course will not have the same trauma as our soldiers, and might even enjoy this kind of work.
Is this Germany? Stalinist Russia? No, it’s Israel 2005.
And the good news
This same 15 year old protester belonged to a yeshiva, which together with his friends succeeded in bringing highways to a halt, closing down bus stations and an assortment of Gush Katif pranks that stunned the police department. This activism is not limited to the religious sector. On Shabbat walking along the beach of Tel Aviv, there were Gush Katif protestors, with megaphones that the police could not remove, because the sun bathers began marching with them.
For thousands of years, Jews have been at the mercy of our host countries, and for the most part sat quietly, relying on our leaders to barter for our best interests. That Jew died in the Holocaust and a new Jew was born. Not only the Jewish soldier, but the Jewish activist was born.
In the 60’s Jewish protest began with Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League. This handful of Jews succeeded in bringing the Russian Empire to its knees and ultimately releasing over a million of our brothers from behind the iron curtain. Meir Kahane paid a great price for his activism on behalf of the people he loved.
He was murdered a block away from the twin towers warning of terrorism that could happen, and not by coincidence did happen, 11 years later on September 11th in the same spot, by the same people. Nine months before September 11th Meir Kahane’s son was also murdered for his activism and just as the world changed on that fateful day when these two towers crumbled, so did something within the Jewish body.
Those towers of activism who alone led the conscience of the Jewish people were no longer. But from the ashes young seeds of fire were born, and today their orange light burns brightly. The police push and shove the peaceful orange protesters, they spray them with water cannons and they throw these youngsters in jail, but they cannot stop the tides from turning.
Finally yeshiva students are putting their chulent spoons down and getting arrested for civil disobedience (as my young protester friend says, the food in prison is kosher and you can study all day). Finally Jews regardless of their level of observance are demonstrating Ahavat Israel that even ‘frum’ Rabbi’s from the exile, couldn’t come close to.
The good news is that ‘the times they are a changing’ and our great Nation is about to give birth once again. The generation of young Jewish soldiers, who also have young idealism and passion for their people are coming of age. The generation of self-serving politicians and self-hating Jews has already ended. The generation of true leadership that comes from sacrifice, concern, and love for one’s people, has begun.
As the day of the earthquake approaches and the tremors are felt throughout the Land, I can’t help but feel incredibly lucky to witness these new pages of the Torah being written before my eyes, and to taste the future before it arrives. Some resign themselves to studying a Torah that has no connection to the present, but as far as I can see, the best pages are yet to be written.
Good News and Bad News
First the bad news
A young protester showed me a note that was sent to the wives of the policemen who are being trained to remove the residents of Gush Katif. The note asked the wives to be patient because their husbands would not be coming home for a few months, when they begin their holy work.
It goes on to explain how there will be four policeman for every citizen of Gush Katif. They will insure the safety of these residents and remove infants from the arms of their hysterical mother’s before proceeding to remove the parents and their belongings. They recognize that this may be a traumatic experience for some, and so they are enlisting the help of Druze and Bedouin policeman who of course will not have the same trauma as our soldiers, and might even enjoy this kind of work.
Is this Germany? Stalinist Russia? No, it’s Israel 2005.
And the good news
This same 15 year old protester belonged to a yeshiva, which together with his friends succeeded in bringing highways to a halt, closing down bus stations and an assortment of Gush Katif pranks that stunned the police department. This activism is not limited to the religious sector. On Shabbat walking along the beach of Tel Aviv, there were Gush Katif protestors, with megaphones that the police could not remove, because the sun bathers began marching with them.
For thousands of years, Jews have been at the mercy of our host countries, and for the most part sat quietly, relying on our leaders to barter for our best interests. That Jew died in the Holocaust and a new Jew was born. Not only the Jewish soldier, but the Jewish activist was born.
In the 60’s Jewish protest began with Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League. This handful of Jews succeeded in bringing the Russian Empire to its knees and ultimately releasing over a million of our brothers from behind the iron curtain. Meir Kahane paid a great price for his activism on behalf of the people he loved.
He was murdered a block away from the twin towers warning of terrorism that could happen, and not by coincidence did happen, 11 years later on September 11th in the same spot, by the same people. Nine months before September 11th Meir Kahane’s son was also murdered for his activism and just as the world changed on that fateful day when these two towers crumbled, so did something within the Jewish body.
Those towers of activism who alone led the conscience of the Jewish people were no longer. But from the ashes young seeds of fire were born, and today their orange light burns brightly. The police push and shove the peaceful orange protesters, they spray them with water cannons and they throw these youngsters in jail, but they cannot stop the tides from turning.
Finally yeshiva students are putting their chulent spoons down and getting arrested for civil disobedience (as my young protester friend says, the food in prison is kosher and you can study all day). Finally Jews regardless of their level of observance are demonstrating Ahavat Israel that even ‘frum’ Rabbi’s from the exile, couldn’t come close to.
The good news is that ‘the times they are a changing’ and our great Nation is about to give birth once again. The generation of young Jewish soldiers, who also have young idealism and passion for their people are coming of age. The generation of self-serving politicians and self-hating Jews has already ended. The generation of true leadership that comes from sacrifice, concern, and love for one’s people, has begun.
As the day of the earthquake approaches and the tremors are felt throughout the Land, I can’t help but feel incredibly lucky to witness these new pages of the Torah being written before my eyes, and to taste the future before it arrives. Some resign themselves to studying a Torah that has no connection to the present, but as far as I can see, the best pages are yet to be written.
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