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Visual Dispatch: Jerusalem Day |
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 by Paul Widen, June 4, 2008 |
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TAGS:
Jerusalem Day: Jaffa Street Forty-one years have passed since Jerusalem was reunited as a result of the Six Day War. A couple of days ago the streets of Jerusalem were thus once again packed with revelers that slowly made their way, singing and shouting, through the narrow alleys of the Old City to the Western Wall. By nightfall, tens of thousands had filled the plaza facing it.
This is what is left of the holiest site of Judaism: Not the place in itself, nor a ruin, but the ruin of the wall that once marked its perimeter. Standing there means being one significant step removed from the ideal: it means standing on the Outside in some sort of genuine sense.
As I was standing there, I was reminded of a discussion I had a while back with a secular Jewish woman. I remember saying that Judaism, to me, is a witness to the fact that something is fundamentally broken in the world, and that the Western Wall is a very graphic symbol for this. I did not suggest that any practical steps be taken at this point to change that fact, but this woman nevertheless felt it pertinent to exclaim, "May it remain broken! May it remain broken!"
This, to me, is a very curious position to take, and my failure to share this woman's defeatism probably explains why I fail in political moderation. Wishing for things to remain broken can only indicate that you live in a bubble where this brokenness means quaint Diaspora culture, not persecution and suffering. From this perspective, religious Zionism is perceived as a crude and dangerous idea, an obstacle to peace, and a violent and chauvinistic perversion of Jewish values.
The vast majority of the people that filled the Western Wall plaza as Yom Yerushalaim drew to an end adhered to this idea. Pushing and shoving they hastened to the wall, where the longing for complete redemption is so palpable that you can almost cut it with a knife. "May the Temple be rebuilt, the City of Zion replenished," they sang, as the Dome of the Rock towered over them in perfect serenity. Then came the piercing call of the Muezzin: Allahu akbar; Allaaaaahu akbar, suggesting that God, perhaps, is greater than all this.
Redemption is not a guarantee in Judaism, and the opportunity can be squandered in any number of ways. The real tragedy, however, comes when an unadulterated loyalty to the hope of complete redemption is branded as fanaticism, and when people settle for, even promote, the brokenness which has defined Judaism for 2000 years. Essentially these people still live in the Diaspora, despite the fact that they reside in the Land of Israel. It is never too late to lose the Six Day War, they claim: it would in fact be of great benefit to finally reverse that victory. It is, ironically, a very Jewish thing to say.
(Photography by Paul Widen)
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Michael Green
Paul - I'm intrigued, why
Paul - I'm intrigued, why exactly do you give a toss?
Eli Valley
No and Yes
"Wishing for things to remain broken can only indicate that you live in a bubble where this brokenness means quaint Diaspora culture, not persecution and suffering."
I'm not sure what this sentence means. I don't understand how you can claim to guess what the woman meant when she said "May it remain broken!" I would love to hear how not rebuilding the Temple is the same thing as "persecution and suffering." Mostly, I don't understand how the brokenness equals "quaint Diaspora culture," or how it indicates, in your later musing, "defeatism." In fact, I'm not sure what you're talking about at all, but I will say this: Refusing to capitulate to delusionally eschatological fanaticism is not the same thing as "defeatism."
As for your sentence "religious Zionism is perceived as a crude and dangerous idea, an obstacle to peace, and a violent and chauvinistic perversion of Jewish values." -- Very well put. I would only add that it is perceived thusly by people who are sane.
Also: Every single person who lives in "the Land of Israel" still lives in Diaspora. To believe otherwise is to be an idolater -- another "very Jewish thing" to be.
David Kelsey
Beyond Diaspora vs. Zionism
"Every singe person who lives in "the Land of Israel" still lives in Diaspora. To believe otherwise is to be an idolater -- another "very Jewish thing" to be."l
Indeed...this is the idol worship of the religious-Zionists...
The idea that the Diaspora is inferior in terms of culture is actually a very modern twist on the ancient longing for the Temple to be rebuilt. Bavel was the seat of Jewish culture even during the second commonwealth to a large extent. Granted, in terms of events, Israel wins...but it gets more complicated when we start measuring accomplishments.
In the end, I find this competition quite healthy, provided it doesn't get desperate. The need to nullify the Diaspora, or the need to nullify Israel, by either (respectively) the Right or the Left, is the need to deny half of the Jewish condition. We are so much better off having both...
Moshe Feiglin
Rabkin: If the polls are to
Rabkin: If the polls are to be believed and the Likud win the next general election, what role do you see yourself playing in that government?
Feiglin: In a nutshell, in Israeli elections you don’t vote for a person, you vote for a party. Based on what share of the vote your party gets, you get a certain number of people from your party’s list in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). I plan on getting a high enough spot on the Likud’s list to get a seat in the Knesset. After you are in the Knesset your spot on the list doesn’t matter.
I am not sure though that I would want to be a government minister. I am talking about a revolution in Israel, but if I accept a cabinet position under a leadership that will continue in the same direction, I will end up being a part of the problem instead of part of the solution. So I am not sure at all that I want to be a minister. I want to be Prime Minister.
Rabkin: Israel is in serious trouble today. What needs to be done to turn things around?
Feiglin: The problem is much more than Olmert not giving the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) an order. Not that I like Ehud Olmert, believe me, I am not one of his fans. But the problem is much bigger. The problem is our mentality. Since Rabin’s handshake, the entire state of Israel marched into a state of mind of pragmatism and non-spirituality.
We don’t need more F-15s and F-16s from America. That is not our problem. What we need is to march back into the right state of mind. And for that we need leadership. True, authentic leadership based on Jewish values. A leadership for Israel that believes in the God of Israel.
Look at Olmert and many of the other leaders of Israel today. They can’t even explain to their own kids why we established the State of Israel to begin with. Olmert’s kids are not in Israel (Olmert’s son Shaul lives in New York and has been associated with anti-militaristic left-wing groups. His other son, Ariel, studies French Literature at the Sorbonne in Paris). The same thing is true of our other current leaders.
What we need is a Jewish Revolution to take back the leadership - and it has already begun. We are growing stronger every day. Last August the Likud held primaries, a race that was not only going to define the leader of the Likud party, but also the next Prime Minister of Israel. Every fourth Likudnik, your average Israeli, voted for me. And do you know what my slogan was in that race? “Feiglin – Because He Has a G-d”.
And let me tell you something else - in the next primaries I will win. I say this because the concept of Jewish leadership, leadership that will lead the State of Israel in the name of G-d, leadership that will lead the State of Israel with Jewish values, leadership that knows where it comes from and where it is going, real Jewish leadership, is picking up steam and cannot be stopped. This totally new concept, which is being attacked from all sides, is gaining more and more popularity. And believe me, it will continue. We cannot lose, we cannot stop going in this direction, because without Jewish leadership there is no hope. No hope for Israel and no hope for the entire Jewish Nation.
I say the entire Jewish Nation because whatever happens in Israel immediately reflects back on all Jews worldwide. When the Jews in Gush Katif were dragged from their homes, what happened to the level of anti-Semitism worldwide? It went up of course. Israel did what the world expected of us and anti-Semitism went up. When we defied the world and did what we had to do in 1967, the level of anti-Semitism dropped. Suddenly every Jew on the streets of Toronto and New York was proud to be a Jew. So you see, what happens in Israel immediately affects all Jews worldwide. A proud Israel with real Jewish faith, that knows what it stands for, impacts on every Jew.
FlowerPower
Revel Revel
"A couple of days ago the streets of Jerusalem were thus once again
packed with revelers that slowly made their way, singing and shouting,
through the narrow alleys of the Old City to the Western Wall. By
nightfall, tens of thousands had filled the plaza facing it."
Perhaps you aren't aware of the curfew faced by non-revelers (Palestinian Old City residents, for example) just to enable your revelry? Somehow I imagine this isn't an issue you feel needs to be "fixed", but feel free to prove me wrong.
Elvis Baldwell
Perhaps you aren't aware of
Perhaps you aren't aware of the curfew faced by non-revelers (Palestinian Old City residents, for example) just to enable your revelry... I would be happy if the reverly we felt could be shared by all. However, Palestinians have a strange cultural response to Jewish revelry, usually manifested as stabbings, shootings and suicide bombings. We really dont like these responses, hence the curfew. Palestinians have the right to wage war (the polite term is resistance) against Jews, but once they have chosen this, they give up the benefits and conveniences of peace
Proud Self-Loather
Wishing for things to remain broken
The problem with your specific example is that trying to un-break what's physically broken about Judaism's holy site necessitates us physically breaking someone else's holy site. Which doesn't seem like the Jewish thing to do, first of all, but more importantly, misses the point of what's actually broken in this world. Hint: it ain't about physical buildings. (Or do you think moshiach is really that shallow?)