Jerusalem — Even in the face of the current terrorism suffusing Israel from north to south, it is not surprising that this nation of more than five million or so opinionated Jews seems unable to find a way to join together to fight its enemies.
Not surprisingly, some people are even taking advantage of the situation to advance their own ideological views. This somewhat questionable behavior came to the fore last week when religious and secular factions began debating a new approach by the Tel Aviv municipality to the sale of bread and other leavened food products by Jewish businesses during the week of Pesach.
Courageously, and also somewhat antagonistically, the Tel Aviv municipality announced that it did not plan to fine restaurants or bakeries that sell hametz during the eight-day festival, even though doing so is against the law.
The municipality argued that so long as establishments are discreet about selling hametz, they are not breaking the law. And just to make sure that it would enlist the public’s sympathy, the municipality added that any obvious breaking of the Jewish law should be accepted in light of the terrible economic conditions resulting from the ongoing terrorism.
Of course, secular Jews who enjoy their leavened products rejoiced in the news and welcomed it as a step forward in upholding their rights. It was also a major victory for Tel Aviv’s liberal mayor, Ron Huldai.
As can only be expected, religious groups did not welcome the approach. Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who represents the Sephardi religious party Shas, not only called for the government to raise the fine, he also declared that if the Tel Aviv municipality was not willing to send out its inspectors to fine Jewish businesses selling bread then he would send out his own Interior Ministry officials to do so.
However, Yishai threw in for good measure that rather than turning a blind eye to breaking Jewish law because of the intifada, it was now more important than ever for all Jews to observe Pesach because then God might heed our calls and help the Jewish people during this dire time.
Though the linking of religious and secular issues to the current security situation has occurred once or twice before — most often when some secular politician calls for yeshiva students to serve in the Israel Defense Forces or when ultra-Orthodox Jews protest the opening of a new deli or restaurant selling pork — for the most part this usually fiery debate has been on the back burner since the start of the new intifada 18 months ago.
All are Jews
But the last few weeks of rising terrorism have shown to the country that our enemies do not distinguish between bread-eating liberal Jews and God-fearing religious Jews who do not serve in the army. In their eyes we are all Jews and all equally deserving of being killed.
From this sobering fact seems to have arisen some tolerance among Israelis. Though the attack three weeks ago in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, where a suicide bomber targeted families returning home from synagogue, and the attack a week later at the trendy, secular Café Moment might have well been a million miles and lifetimes apart, after each event religious and secular people seemed to briefly unite in sharing each other’s grief and offering each other sympathy.
Following the gruesome Mea Shearim bombing, the nation learned through the secular media that an entire Nahmad family had been lost in one blast. Photos and stories about this religious family of four — father Shlomo; his wife, Gafnit; and their daughters Shiraz, seven, and Liran, three — filled the press.
Sympathy for secular victims came a week later after the bombing at Café Moment, one of the few Jerusalem establishments daring to open its doors on Shabbat. Following the deadly attack, which killed 11, Orthodox Jews took to the streets alongside Jerusalem’s more secular residents to demand that the government take stronger action to stop the reign of terror.
And, of course, there are more high-profile figures who are using the security situation to try to help this country and its citizens unite in the face of terror.
Earlier this month, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer issued a directive that all soldiers killed in action be buried in Jewish sections of military cemeteries. Since the start of the new intifada, there have been numerous cases where soldiers, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who were not considered halachically Jewish were buried apart from their Jewish comrades.
Also, on March 13, in an even more incredible move, Israel’s chief Askenazi and Sephardi rabbis — Yisrael Lau and Eliahu Bakshi Doron — called on the nation to unite in a day of mourning, fasting and prayer. They held a prayer service at the Western Wall and recited a special prayer for peace in honor of all victims of recent terrorist attacks.
Though OC Chaplaincy Corps Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Weiss, who is responsible for burying soldiers fallen in battle, countered Ben-Eliezer’s directive, and though most secular Jews did not fast on March 13, the fact that high profile figures are making these announcements is a huge step toward tolerance.
Even though we still have a long way to go before five-million-plus Jews can agree on an appropriate religious ideology for this nation, it is comforting to think that in the face of terrorism, we just might be able to finally join forces one day.
Ruth Eglash is the arts and entertainment editor of the Jerusalem Post and the former assistant editor of The Chronicle.
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