(JNi.media) In a media plateau drenched with expressions of affection for departed extreme left-wing leader Yossi Sarid, there have been precious few voices ready to evaluate the man from a negative point of view. Jewish tradition promotes the popular citing of the names of two Torah portions that are frequently read together on Shabbat, Acharei Mot / Kdoshim—literally: after their death they are saints—meaning that you don’t speak ill of the dead. At least not for a while. But former MK Michael Ben-Ari, a student of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, renowned for political stunts and unabashed statements, did not even wait until Sarid’s body was safely in the ground to let him have it.
As Ben-Ari himself put it: “It’s a kind of Jewish trait to forgive a man after his death, obscure his bad side, highlight his positive aspects. But Sarid does not deserve such a treatment because he made no concessions for his own opponents after their death. When Rabbi Kahane was assassinated by an Arab, the Knesset plenum stood for a minute of silence in his memory, but Sarid made sure to remain seated, so he could be interviewed later and hone words saturated with hatred at the expense of a Jews murdered in martyrdom. Even the passing of Rav Ovadia Yosef caused this man to open his mouth with the evil that was his unique domain.”
And so Ben-Ari went about expressing his own unique views of Sarid: “Anyone looking for the image of the modern Hellenist, should gaze at the image of Sarid,” Ben-Ari wrote in Srugim Sunday. “A highly fluent Hebrew speaker who at the same time was alienated by an equally abysmal hatred of everything we hold sacred. For him, everything that was sacred to the Jewish people was a proper subject for contemptuous animosity.”
For readers who are not familiar with the writings of Ben-Ari’s mentor, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the term “Hellenist” in the latter’s vocabulary was similar to the term “Cosmopolitan” in 1930s references to rootless European Jews, bereft of religion and cohesive community, adrift in a world of Western philosophy that is as empty of values at it is rife with cynicism.
“Using slogans of ‘seeker of justice,’ Sarid cursed and maligned the return of the nation of Israel to its land. He stepped on the sacred values of Israel for the sake of headlines,” Ben-Ari wrote. “With his rare talent he turned the Hebrew language into a tool to trample Judaism. No one was spared, not even the patriarch Abraham. We’ll remember Sarid’s title ‘Kiryat Arba — a.k.a. Sodom.’ We will remember his ‘Hitler Youth’ (in describing the Hill Youth). And for anyone who needs a more precise expression, we’ll remember his statement: ‘For me, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir are no less terrorists than Yasser Arafat.’
“His identification with the Arab enemy was perfect. I searched tonight for his statement against the brutal murderousness of Arabs, but found none. However, any retaliatory action of the IDF merited his poisonous article in his home newspaper Ha’aretz and more recently on Army Radio.”
Ben-Ari even suggested that “Sarid was not a man at all. He represented and represents the enemies of Judaism, the Hellenist who begrudges the redemption of Israel, who identifies with our enemies, rejoicing at our defeat.”
Ben-Ari concluded with the second half of Proverbs 10:7: “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”
Ouch.