{"id":40997,"date":"2023-03-24T01:37:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T08:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=40997"},"modified":"2023-03-22T16:58:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T23:58:29","slug":"beauty-amid-turbulent-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/beauty-amid-turbulent-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty amid turbulent times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli journalist Yair Cherki (photo from Facebook)<\/em><\/p>\n

Bravo Yair Cherki, the popular, ultra-Orthodox TV news reporter. He recently came out as gay in a wonderful social media post. In part, he said: \u201cI write these words shaking, postponing to tomorrow. For next week. For after the holidays. Maybe it\u2019s been 10 years since I\u2019ve been writing and erasing…. And I write not because I have the strength to write but because I have no power to stay silent. I love men. I love G-d. It is not contradictory….\u201d<\/p>\n

His confession continues, \u201cI live the conflict between my secular preference and my faith all the time. Some have solved the conflict for themselves by saying that there is no G-d, while others explain that there is no homosexuality. I know both exist. And I try to reconcile this contradiction within myself in various ways. These are things between G-d and me\u2026. This is neither a fashion nor a trend nor a political statement. It is simply me….\u201d<\/p>\n

An intimate and intelligent statement.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, if this doesn\u2019t take \u201cblaming the Jews\u201d to new extremes. In my previous article in the JI\u00a0<\/em>(jewishindependent.ca\/land-of-milk-honey<\/a>) I praised the historic maritime natural gas agreement between Israel and Lebanon, enabling both countries to drill for natural gas within their own territory. I truly wished Lebanon much success in hitting a gusher and creating their own Sovereign Wealth Fund.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah\u2019s leader Hassan Nasrallah sees it a bit differently, warning that any delay in Lebanon\u2019s extracting gas from its own waters will be met by a punishing attack on Israel\u2019s adjacent gas fields. Maybe Robert Frost\u2019s poem \u201cMending Wall\u201d will assuage Nasrallah: \u201cI let my neighbour know beyond the hill…. And set the wall between us once again…. To each the boulders that have fallen to each…. He only says, \u2018Good fences make good neighbours.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Nasrallah went on to threaten that if the United States continues spreading chaos within Lebanon \u2013 some conspiracy theory or other \u2013\u00a0 that Israel will pay. Reminiscent of the Three Stooges slapstick routine when Curly slaps Larry for Moe slapping him.<\/p>\n

Peace and prosperity for all, on both sides of the Fatima Gate. Otherwise known as the Good Fence!<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Going once. Going twice. Do I hear $50 million? According to its website, \u201cSotheby\u2019s is proud to offer … the earliest, most complete Hebrew Bible during this year\u2019s marquee New York sales auction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Codex Sassoon is more than 1,000 years old. According to Sharon Mintz, Sotheby\u2019s senior Judaica specialist, in an interview with CNN, \u201cthis is the most important document to come to auction ever.\u201d It\u2019s expected to generate huge interest across the world from the wealthiest of bidders, with offers expected to reach as high as $50 million.<\/p>\n

Other treasured documents fetching such modest amounts at auction include the Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci (ostensibly his science diary) sold to Bill Gates in 1994 for about $31 million. And the first printing of the U.S. Constitution, bought by American hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin in 2021 for about $43 million.<\/p>\n

May 16 \u2026 save the date. And your shekels!<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few weekends ago, my wife and I drove south for the day to enjoy the year\u2019s winter festival, Darom Adom, when the bright red poppies \u2013 a protected flower in Israel \u2013 come out in full bloom along the Gaza periphery. It\u2019s another reason to celebrate with local handicrafts, seasonal fruit, local cheeses and wine, homemade Israeli cuisine.<\/p>\n

Taking place not too far from Sderot, within the opened gates of local kibbutzim and moshavim (agricultural communities) and less than a kilometre from another good fence delineating the border between Israel and Gaza, the festival a testament to Israeli\u2019s resilience \u2013 and longing for a peaceful coexistence.<\/p>\n

Somewhat poetically, we purchased a beautifully handcrafted hamsa made by a young, local artist. This hand-shaped amulet is used for protection by both Jews and Muslims. In the Jewish faith, the five fingers of the hamsa represent the Five Books of Moses, or the Torah. The Muslim faith sees a hamsa as representing the Five Pillars of Islam (declaration of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, pilgrimage). In popular culture, the charm represents the five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste).<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judicial reform. Judicial reform. Judicial reform. Sounds like Jan Brady whining about her sister getting all the attention, \u201cMarcia. Marcia. Marcia,\u201d from the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch<\/em>. Judicial reform certainly has been getting all the attention lately.<\/p>\n

Issues aside, we\u2019ve had 10 weeks and counting of protests, with several hundred thousand Israelis protesting around the country every Saturday night against judicial reform. The protests are also aimed at the extreme, right-wing \u2013 even theocratic \u2013 makeup of the current coalition that is driving headstrong into judicial reform. And yet, the primarily secular, centre-left who comprise these thousands, waving Israeli flags and ending every protest with the singing of Hatikvah, respectfully wait until after Shabbat to begin their protests. How\u2019s that for deep-bred regard for this Jewish tradition that crosses sociopolitical lines?<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bravo again to Yair Cherki. To come out in these turbulent, sociopolitical times for the Israeli LGBTQ+ community. With our far-right, xenophobic, theocratic and anti-LGBTQ+ government, Cherki\u2019s post and testament to himself is nothing short of brave, beautiful and brilliant.<\/p>\n

Bruce Brown<\/strong> is a Canadian and an Israeli. He made aliyah \u2026 a long time ago. He works in Israel\u2019s high-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Brown is the winner of the 2019 AJPA Rockower Award for excellence in writing, and wrote the 1998 satire An Israeli is…. Brown reflects on life in Israel \u2013 political, social, economic and personal.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli journalist Yair Cherki (photo from Facebook) Bravo Yair Cherki, the popular, ultra-Orthodox TV news reporter. He recently came out as gay in a wonderful social media post. In part, he said: \u201cI write these words shaking, postponing to tomorrow. For next week. For after the holidays. Maybe it\u2019s been 10 years since I\u2019ve been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[22219,22220,22218,3107,22121,8615,3597,9011,6937,22217],"class_list":["post-40997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-codex-sassoon","tag-darom-adom","tag-hassan-nasrallah","tag-hezbollah","tag-judicial-reform","tag-lgbtq-2","tag-politics","tag-social-commentary","tag-sothebys","tag-yair-cherki"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}