The Corona Year teaches us not only about division, but also about unity among the people • Today there are ultra-Orthodox who served in the army, and also those who do not - want to understand and hurt • Opinion
A memorial day ceremony for ultra-Orthodox soldiers
Photo:
The late Miri Tzachi
The past year has undoubtedly been the year of the Corona, a year that has affected not only the health aspect but also the relationships between the various communities in Israel.
On the one hand we all knew how to fight the plague and on the other hand we watched the split and the split that the plague flooded the surface.
One of the deep divisions that manifested itself was that between the secular and the ultra-Orthodox.
After all, it is easy to paint everyone who wears black instead of trying to understand that under the black-and-white dress there are people of color, who are completely human.
The past year has also shown us that if anyone can be trusted - it is us citizens.
When the political chaos was at its peak, it was the citizens who came to help each other, from helping a neighbor who was in isolation and needed someone to shop for her, to charities and an active civil society that simply provided families with food baskets regularly. To ensure that tests and treatments do not miss the members of the community, not all of whom flocked en masse to the hospitals.
The accusing discourse at one point became more inclusive discourse, as government and military ministries learned to approach each sector in its own language and make the information accessible, while on the one hand reporting on the corona situation was trivial and updated hourly in editions, online and newspapers,
So even with the "agents" they were different, after all, when there is a common goal, and a desire to see the other side, it is possible to overcome the obstacle and harness everyone to the goal.
The corona may be behind us, but the gaps between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular will not disappear so quickly, so that there is no real chasm between us. The members of the ultra-Orthodox community decided to take the sweet goat out. , Heroes of Israel, an initiative arose from the ultra-Orthodox community to make the Jewish way of memory accessible to as many people as possible, who can feel that they share in the grief and upliftment of the souls of all IDF martyrs, friends, brothers and family.
So that anyone who wants from the living room at home, from the bus stop on the way to the base and also from the yeshiva can pray - one Psalm for each space.
This is the second year that the "Love and Remember" project allows this encounter between the names of the spaces and the stories, and the tens of thousands of people who took part in this important commemorative project, from ignorance, between two seemingly so different but so interdependent worlds. Are we without our army?
And who are we without our Torah?
This opportunity is a double opportunity - for the ultra-Orthodox community to show that their pain in those spaces is no less strong, the way is different, but the intention and desire to be partners in creating the Israeli collective memory are common.
And an opportunity for the seculars who are interested in taking an active part and connecting in prayer.
We do not have to speak the same language, we do not have to agree on everything, but we live in the same country and we do need to learn to listen to those who are not "us" and try to communicate.
Anyone who sees me on the street will not necessarily know that I did military service, that I lost a friend, the late Yosef Cohen who was killed in a terrorist attack in Givat Assaf, after a terrorist also confirmed that he was a member of my community but also played with me at the same meeting. My friends who have not served in the IDF or do not know a soldier who has become a space can still understand and hurt, because we are all human beings and my prayer is no different from their prayer, for all of us the chapters we carry are for the souls of the dead, the Torah is our way To, and she is no less than any other way of crying out the pain and cherishing wholeheartedly.
Shlomo Gelber is active in the "Lovers and Remember" project.
