I’ve had it. I am full and overflowing and if I “have it” anymore, I shall take off for a far-away tropical island somewhere with no electricity, no connectivity, no WhatsApp, Waze, Internet, satellites, Skype, cellphones, smartphone, any kind of phones. Just me and the sky and the land (or sand); the water, the wind and the trees.
I’m talking, of course, about the news. The never-ending, detail by detail, repetitive reporting of the last few weeks of terrorist attacks here in the Holy Land. First the news announcer, then the bystanders, then Hatzalah and/or Magen David Adom, then the hospital spokesman, and… the family and any friend or neighbor or passerby that can be found. Over and over and over again. (We should only review the parashat hashavua that often!)
I have read hundreds of talkbacks attacking or defending every possible position, including ones that are absolutely, irretrievably obnoxious and often downright evil. Others are foul and decadent, as are the sites that allow them to appear. But still others are oh-so-intellectual and knowledgeable and analytical, that if you were a first-time visitor from Mars and didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on here, you’d be ever so impressed. And convinced. And we mustn’t forget the loving, universal, humanistic pieces which are so hallucinatory and illusionary that you wonder if the writers are living in this world or in a bubble somewhere in Outer Space. But whoever they are or wherever they are living, they have something to say. The more they babble, the less sense they make.
And so, I have concluded that there is not a single thing I can write about what we here in Israel call “The Matzav – The Situation” that has not been said and written countless times before. That doesn’t mean I’m not affected by what’s happening, or that I’m not interested. I am, very much so. But I just don’t want to hear any more about it. All I want to hear is that Mashiach has made his appearance on Har HaZeitim (if the Arabs who terrorize the area allow him to appear). Aside from that, I try to concentrate on trying to persuade Hakadosh Baruch Hu what wonderful, spectacular, unique and holy children He has here in His Land, and to suggest that perhaps the time has come to end this phase of history? Does He really want more orphans and widows, more handicapped, wounded or disabled sons and daughters? Surely not!
Yes, I know. We are not sufficiently deserving. We are not yet a Light Unto the Nations (who seem to wear permanent black glasses. I often wonder if any light at all can pierce the darkness of their souls). We have many sins. Not enough mitzvot. We are egotistic and involved in worthless, transient activities. All that is true. But we also carried the heavy burden of G-d’s Torah – Ol HaTorah – on our backs, lovingly and at great cost, for the past two thousand years. Are we not deserving of seeing, as Mrs. Ruchama Shain a”h once told me, “the last act in the play, the Happy Ending”?
If you read the papers, listen to the news, surf the net… you cannot help but become depressed. We here in Israel are six million Jews among one and a half billion Muslims in the world (that means 0.4% – slightly less than 1/200 of their population). We live (at the moment) in less than 11,000 square miles of land in a Middle East, which comprises over 5,200,000 square miles (that’s 1/500th of the amount of land for those of you who are mathematically challenged). And despite Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Africa, ISIS, Boko Haram, Iran, Iraq and the declining dollar, the world can find nothing better to worry about than us. Even Mrs. Merkel, who has tried to sound objective and balanced, announced this week that “continued building in the occupied territories is counter-productive.” Translated, that reads: “Stop building, living, growing in land that we all know isn’t really yours or you’re going to be sorry.” Those “occupied territories” (she means Yehuda and Shomron of Biblical fame) are now home to over 100,000 Jews who are having children, building, growing and blossoming. With the help of the Almighty, they/we aren’t going anywhere.
All of this interest in our affairs says something. It says that, like it or not, the Land of Israel is the center of world interest. And for some illogical, unexplainable, unfathomable reason, until the world manages to separate the Land of Israel from the Jewish people, the world cannot rest. However, since we are not about to fall apart, succumb, disappear, give up, implode or assimilate, the world is in for bad times. The times may not be so good for us either, but we have an Eternal Promise that Someone is looking after us.
Nonetheless, it’s really insane. We are not looking to hurt, harm, kill, exploit anyone. We have brought progress, prosperity and good fortune with us to every place we have stopped on our long, 2,000 year old journey. But no matter what we do or don’t do… we are always the guilty ones, the bearers of bad fortune, the outsiders, the troublemakers, the enemy. Many of the Jews in the West have not yet digested this unsavory fact, but it’s there just the same.
And so perhaps, instead of constantly attempting to explain, be nice, give in, and try to assuage the UN and the EU and the USA and all the other assorted, initialed powers-that-be, we should simply go about our own business… learning and spreading the Torah among our own people, and striving to be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation while continuing to develop new medicines, tools, technology, all for the betterment of mankind. Our enemies included. Perhaps this is all we can do. It is, I think, more than enough.
I am not always personally ecstatic about the policies of the Israeli government, but my heart goes out to poor Bibi. I have no doubt that if he were able, he would love to put things in order for the good of the country and turn Israel into a Middle East Wonderland (actually, it already is!). But his hands are tied. More by our fractured populace and media and Knesset than by any outside force. We Jews are a highly individualistic nation. Jewish unity is hard to achieve, and when it is achieved, it is a highly fragile commodity.
But to return to the beginning of this lengthy thought process, I don’t want or need to hear any more news. I shall continue to mind my own business, tend my own garden, try to do what I think G-d wants me to do, and to do whatever I can for the good of my country, my land, my people. But no more news, please, unless it’s b’sorot tovot….. good news! I’m waiting for a signal to open the radio again. Maybe a Shofar Gadol ???
“Wheat, Wine & Honey…Poems by Yaffa Ganz” is the author’s first book of Jewish poetry. It is available on www.amazon.com or from [email protected].
