Page 45 - Hamizrachi #30 USA 2021 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Dr. Sharon Goldman

Embracing Ridiculous

th
s Israel’s 24 Knesset was I learned a new Hebrew word: ךחוגמ extraordinary country, has developed
sworn in, not knowing if – in English: truly ridiculous. These into a city of co-existing incongruities:
their tenure would last more permutations and political machinations Ultra-Orthodox mingling with teenagers
than a few months, President have ventured into once inconceivable, in ripped jeans on Jaffa Street, Moslem
ARivlin urged co-existence and and outrageously incongruous and doctors in hijabs tending to hospitalized
mutual respect, and the development of contradictory, pairings. Holocaust survivors in Hadassah.
a model of Israeliness that was inclusive But perhaps the situation is actually Electric scooters parked by ancient
and respectful. Israel continues to remain not at all ךחוגמ, or if it is, it should be synagogues, and start-up companies
stuck in an absurd cycle of election and reframed as brash and innovative. housed in centuries- old buildings.
reelection, reeling from the insufferable Maybe this is the parliamentarians’ At the heart of Yerushalayim is the
and seemingly endless situation in which (conscious or subconscious) response Kotel and Har HaBayit, a living testament
we find ourselves: nasty elections that to the idea that “Insanity is repeating to the power of reconciled contradictions:
result in a highly divided electorate and a the same thing over and over again a Temple built by a king of peace, who
Parliament that can’t seem to find its way and expecting different results.” The was able to do so only because his father
to a majority, let along some sort of ideal electorate and the Parliament have was successful at war. The place Yitzchak
consensus. simply repeated the same thing; the became an akeidah, because of his
th
On April 6 , the President handed the exact seats won by the exact parties have father’s willingness to sacrifice him to a
power to form a government, once again, differed slightly, and the exact coalitions G-d that demanded the end of all human
to Binyamin Netanyahu, who received tried have varied somewhat, but overall, sacrifice. And in 1967, it was only with
the most endorsements by lawmakers. we have repeated similar patterns. There the deadly force of Israel’s army that a
However, Netanyahu opens the is no reason at all to believe that a fifth democratic peace could be established
negotiations with only 52 of the required election will change anything. So maybe over an undivided city.
61 mandates. we need a little ridiculousness – a totally So perhaps we should listen closely,
To say that this situation has created radical way of getting ourselves out of but with an open mind, to what
strange bedfellows is an understatement. this deadlock. Maybe we should embrace President Rivlin asked of us all: to
Netanyahu has reached out to the four- the contradictions, instead of looking at develop a model of Israeli coexistence
seat-winning Arab Ra’am party whose them askance. that is inclusive and respectful.
charter calls Zionism “a racist occupying Israel is a country full of contradictions Maybe what we need to most include
project” and supports a Palestinian right that combine to form things of beauty. and respect is the quintessential
of return. He also (supposedly) offered Last month we celebrated Yom Israeliness of demanding that we live
Naftali Bennett the option of rotating as HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. simultaneously within contradictions.
a Prime Minister – on the strength of The two days were deliberately And perhaps instead of calling some
only seven mandates. Ostensible head established one directly after the other of the suggestions being made by
of the left leaning coalition, Yesh Atid’s – a seemingly absurd juxtaposition of parliamentarians ךחוגמ, we should urge
Yair Lapid, also offered the explicitly mourning and celebration that demands them to think in even more creative
right-wing Bennett a rotation as Prime a willingness to embrace contradictions ways about how to create a new model of
Minister – the first rotation even. There and an ability to tolerate nuanced unity built upon the once inconceivable.
is also loud chatter among the right conflicting emotions. More: the IDF can
leaning anti-Bibi parties about offering only function within a strict hierarchy, Dr. Sharon Goldman is a Vice-President
Netanyahu the Presidency, so he will but as high up as the Supreme Court, at Bar-Ilan, and a frequent speaker and
step down as Prime Minister and those laws have been passed that demand writer on such topics as Zionism, the Amer-
who promised never to serve with every soldier take personal responsibility ican-Jewish Diaspora, and the U.S.-Israel
relationship. Sharon has published articles
him can join together in a right-wing for his own actions. in, among others, The Times of Israel, Com-
coalition. Yerushalayim, the capital of this mentary and The Forward.

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