THERE WERE doubtless many meaningful services on Tisha B’Av – certainly the one held in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. But let’s be honest, Tisha B’Av and its lesson of baseless hatred is centered on tragic and historic events in Jerusalem. Synagogue services were in all probability very moving, but it’s difficult to imagine that they could rival those held at the Western Wall or on the balcony of Montefiore’s Windmill, where the attendance was huge and diverse in both age and lifestyle. Participants at the latter included MK Benny Gantz, who was also at the Western Wall, and philosopher and historian Micah Goodman, who is one of today’s most influential thinkers. Goodman said that it is a mistake to speak of baseless hatred in terms of Tisha B’Av or even what is happening in the country today. The hatred that exists between different factions in Israel is not baseless, but a clash of differing ideologies, and can only be overcome by compromise, which unfortunately has eluded all sides.
The same goes for Democrats and Republicans in the United States, he said. Both Israel and the US are more focused on external threats than internal threats, and the opposing sides in both countries are each convinced that they are the salvation of the nation. In relation to the cause of Israel’s intelligence failure on October 7, Goodman said that part of the problem was that Israel believes its own myth about being a hi-tech superpower and having an invincible army. The army is too small, which is why reservists are receiving new call-up notices after completing each round of service, he said. As for hi-tech, it can be used for many positive purposes, he acknowledged, but it can’t replace people, and Israel’s mistake was that it placed too much reliance on artificial intelligence, and reduced the size of the army.
■ PEOPLE SHOULD be very careful about the names they give to their children. For instance Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s name means adversary or opponent. Given the national rift he caused in response to his determination to introduce judicial reform, coupled with the after effects that resulted in the October 7 massacre, the kidnapping of hostages, the failure to bring them home, and the ongoing Operation Swords of Iron in which so many young men have been killed and so many children have lost their fathers or have been born after their fathers fell in battle, it would be logical for Levin to drop the whole issue of judicial reform – certainly while the hostages are still captive and the war is intensifying. But no. Worse still, of all the times that he chose to revive the judicial reform controversy, he chose the eve of Tisha B’Av when the nation was set to mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the numerous other tragedies that took place on or near Tisha B’Av. Small wonder that in the video-taped Tisha B’Av message that President Isaac Herzog sent to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, he said:”Last Tisha B’Av, the winds of division and separation were blowing everywhere, threatening to ignite a war between us, within our own home. The winds of incitement, violence and outbursts brought ruin upon this beloved house, almost set brother against brother.
”I watch with great concern as these dangerous winds of division return to us even now, threatening our unity, our existence as one people in one state.”
That unity was yet again at risk when National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, upset the status quo and defied the edicts of the most learned rabbis by ascending the Temple Mount and praying there. No wonder that political analysts refer to him as the real prime minister of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be helpless against him because the police, instead of enforcing the status quo, are subservient to Ben-Gvir.
■ NOT ALL Israelis automatically hate Gazans, and not all Gazans automatically hate Israelis. There are peace activists on both sides – decent people for whom vengeance serves no purpose. One such person was longtime peace activist Vivian Silver who was murdered by Hamas on October 7, and her house in Kibbutz Be’eri set on fire.
Active in Women Wage Peace, and The Road to Recovery in which she drove Gazans to and from Israeli hospitals where the treatment they received was not available in Gaza, the Canadian-born Silver had many friends and acquaintances in Gaza where a sign with her name and portrait has been placed in the Zomi camp’s kitchen and community space to honor her memory.
Zomi was created by Damour, the Palestinian NGO for community development which works in close cooperation with Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies.
Silver’s son Yonatan Zeiger posted on social media: “In these heartbreaking circumstances, I would rather know that my beloved Mom Vivian’s name is helping to feed children in Gaza than see it engraved on a missile that kills them.”
■ MANY OF the groups and individuals who enter the gates of the President’s Residence in recent months include released hostages, families of hostages, wounded soldiers, parents of soldiers who fell in battle, parents and siblings of the October 7 victims of Hamas, IDF officers and others who are in one way or another involved with the war and the return of the hostages. This week it was the turn of Mothers of Combatants who met with Michal Herzog, the wife of the president. The delegation represented several thousand mothers of soldiers who are fighting in Gaza and along the northern border. The purpose of their visit was to raise awareness of the importance of the life of each and every soldier and the need for each of those soldiers to be protected to the maximum extent on the battlefield.
After asking many questions about the activities of the organization and about the sons of the mothers in the delegation, Herzog shared her own feelings as the mother of a soldier.
In praising the women for their unflinching commitment to the welfare of soldiers fighting on the frontlines during such challenging times, Herzog also referenced the toll which the war is taking on mental health. She emphasized that mental health is a subject that she mentions at every opportunity.
Nava Rosenblum, one of the mothers in the delegation noted that the conversation was of the kind that takes place when mothers of soldiers get together and share common concerns and emotions.
■ BETWEEN AUGUST 18-23, Jerusalem will ring with the sound of music in which most of the events are free of charge. Veteran singer, musician and composer Ariel Zilber who will next month celebrate his 81st birthday, will appear at the First Station at 8.30 p.m. on the opening night in a concert that will include a saxophone quintet, led by clarinet virtuoso Hanan Bar Sela. Also on the programs are accordionist Emil Eibiner and flautist Avraham Schwab. Performances throughout the week by other artists will take place at Cinema City, the Lev Ha’Ir Community Center, Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem Theatre, and the Dan Hotel on Mount Scopus. With the exceptions of the Yad Vashem and Jerusalem Theatre concerts, entry to all the performances is free of charge. The concert at Yad Vashem is in memory of all the Klezmer musicians who were murdered or who perished during the Holocaust.
■ AMONG THE prayers that will be recited during the upcoming High Holy Days is the verse from the 71st Psalm: Cast me not off in my old age; abandon me not as my strength fails. Unfortunately, the importance of these words has been ignored in urban renewal legislation in which the rights of senior citizens have been trampled.
Journalist Ranit Nachum-Halevi became interested in the subject when her mother was deprived of her rights in connection with her house being sold to a developer. The sales agreement had originally been signed by the journalist’s father who died before anything to do with the proposed evacuation and build project had been implemented, or even finalized.. Her mother then inherited her father’s rights, but there was a snag in the law. She was not entitled to certain rights because she was not yet 70 years old when the agreement had been signed. In addition, the law states that the developer cannot receive approval for the project until all the owners of existing buildings have signed, and if anyone refuses, they are subjected to alarming pressures from the lawyers representing the developer as well as from their neighbors who sometimes take them to court for standing in the way of progress. The value of the existing property is usually determined by an appraiser who is generally chosen by the developer. The sum determined by the appraiser seemed too low for Nachum-Halevi, who decided to call in an independent appraiser, who estimated that the property was worth considerably more than the amount stated by the developer’s appraiser. There were all sorts of other legal snags that were finally settled in court but the anxiety that had been caused to the journalist’s mother who is not a healthy woman, prompted Nachum-Halevy to conduct a nation-wide investigation, talking to other senior citizens who had undergone harrowing experiences, and to lawyers who deal with real estate legislation. Her findings were published in The Marker, the economic supplement of Haaretz. It appears that many senior citizens die long before the project is approved and construction commences. It often takes five years or more from the time an agreement is signed before the project is approved and construction begins. The apartment owners do not see any money from the developer until the project is near completion. Meanwhile, they have to find alternate accommodation at their own cost, once the project receives approval. But after transfer of ownership, the sellers usually have to move out. Sometimes the developer will provide the alternate accommodation, but it may be in a smaller apartment and in a different neighborhood. According to the article in The Marker, elderly people who are taken out of familiar surroundings in which they have lived for decades find it difficult to adapt to a new environment in which they don’t know people, in which they don’t have a local mini-mart or coffee shop where they regularly meet friends to schmooze. This shortens their lifespan. The bottom line is that no one other than their families and social workers care about senior citizens. In the final analysis, it’s all about money.
Deprivation or ignoring of rights goes way beyond senior citizens. It affects people with disabilities, single-parent families, evacuees, children who have missed out on schooling, reservists whose businesses have crumbled, trauma victims, and more. Perhaps a group of pro bono and retired lawyers and judges could get together to work out and propose solutions to these problems. Tikkun olam (repairing the world ) is one of the principles of Judaism. In the spirit of “Physician heal thyself,” perhaps we should start on ourselves first.
greerfc@gmail.com
