The Last Exile

This is the post where I probably jump the shark. I admit I am probably with agreement with Gideon Levy – the same Gideon Levy I suggested trading to the Syrians for peace. I am still open to trading Levy and Ha’aretz but Levy finally wrote a column where I found myself nodding my head in partial agreement with (although I do take issue with the Tehran-Israel parallel) but the difference lies in that Levy is appalled by the state of the Jews in the Jewish homeland where I feel its life affirming. Of course, Jews, even religious Jews, don’t really throw me for a loop either. Each to his own. Anyway, here is Levy at his most religious.

Only 44 percent of Israelis define themselves as secular, as opposed to 64 percent of Swedes who define themselves as atheists; and this is reflected in all aspects of our daily life. A mezuzah on the doorpost of almost every home, and the pagan custom at almost every one of those houses of kissing it. Eighty-five percent of Israelis hold a Passover seder, fervently recalling the plagues – pestilence, boils, death of the first-born. Sixty-seven percent fast on Yom Kippur, which in Western eyes is the strangest of days. The absence of bus or train service on Shabbat, the observance of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) in every public institution, and Sabbath elevators in every hotel and hospital – these too are not exactly the vision of a secular state. A bar-mitzvah for almost every boy, matza in nearly every home on Passover, and the kiddush blessings.

Torah sages of various kinds make decisions on fateful political issues – at the homes of miracle workers, magicians and those passing out amulets – and the lines outside their doors are growing, made up mostly of those who argue they are fervently secular. They are lying to themselves and to others. Expressions of racism and arrogance, too, based on the concept of the “chosen people,” are uttered. And between you and me, who doesn’t believe this (a little)? You don’t need the newly religious and the newly secular. A large portion of secular people are “traditional,” which means religious, but just a little.

In the Bible study of our youth, we put on skullcaps. When, God forbid, the Bible fell on the floor, we would kiss it, with great reverence – secular people like us, as it were. And what happened during morning roll call? The quotation of the day from the Bible. None of us had ever heard of the New Testament, and no one would have dared teach it as part of the education we are trying to glorify. We were also afraid to even enter a church.

The Western Wall is holy to everyone – who has not placed a note with a wish in its crevices? Most Israelis’ reasoning for the continued occupation of “holy” East Jerusalem is also based on religious faith. It is not only the “hilltop youth” of the West Bank settlements who revere every stone. Not only Gush Emunim, the bloc of the faithful, believes in the baseless connection between sanctity and sovereignty. Most of us believe it. Admit it.

Let’s admit that we live in a country with many religious and halakhic attributes. Let’s remove the concocted secularist guise with which we have wrapped ourselves. Shocked by Neeman’s remarks? They are not so far removed from the reality of our lives. Israel is not what you thought. It’s definitely not what we try to present to ourselves and the rest of the world.

Oy vey, a mezuzah on a door is now a pagan ritual….who knew? And in keeping with the rituals – all over Israel tonight the first candle will be light in the menorah and Jews all over the world will recite these three blessings.

Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.

Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has wrought miracles for our forefathers, in those days at this season.

Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who has granted our life. Sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

There are those who try to equate Chanukah as a Jewish “Christmas” without the “Christ or the Mass’ but it isn’t. If anything, Chanukah is the anti-Christmas – it’s the triumph and the miracle of Torah Judasim against the forces of both the secular and profane. My circumstances have changed remarkably since last Chanukah but the constant in my life is my Tree of Life menorah and that I haven’t broke faith.