A new musical, Peri Ati, is currently being staged at the theater, telling the story of the "Openbank" bank robber, Roni Leibowitz, who about thirty years ago hated an entire nation, drove the police crazy, humiliated the government and put an entire country into mixed feelings of admiration and anxiety.
In the musical "The Openbank" I made sure to include the humorous line that is committed in this amazing story, combining the tragic aspects of the main protagonist's life story, which led a man from the community to become the greatest Israeli bank robber of all time, and the personal price he had to pay for his actions.
On Saturday evening, an extensive article about the musical was broadcast on "Ulpan Shishi," combining a reminder of Leibowitz's deeds and an interview with Ilan Lukacs. To my amazement, following the article, I received several inquiries about the matter that left me stunned. "Why praise Hillel a robber?", "Why commemorate the story of a criminal?", "Why even give a stage to someone who has committed such acts?", And more priest and priest complaints.
People have probably forgotten that this is first and foremost a culture, and the role of culture is, among other things, to reflect the reality in which we live, with different interpretations, even if it is not always pleasant. Have we become a place where a pious society lives that suppresses the truth in favor of false fantasies about a perfect and flawless society? Is the "Autobank" really to blame for the situation in which it finds itself? And that not an entire company marched in those years into the false abysses of bank stocks, due to false predictions, the stock market crash, and an entire country that went from rejection to rejection following its captains who lied to its citizens? Have we become a company that engineeres its past and beautifies it so that it can continue to repress the truth? And the truth must be said with a full mouth: Humans who are in distress will do anything to get out of it. Bank robbery also in broad daylight. If we like it or not, this is the reality, such wonderful material is the dream of every playwright and screenwriter.
Does anyone imagine that the Americans will stop seeing "The Godfather", or will they stop telling the stories of El Capone, just because it is a time of crime families in America, a time that is uncomfortable for the story of the perfect American ethos?
Will the British nation stop telling the story of its villainous heroes?
Macbeth the killer, and Richard III the crook?
Will the Italians stop telling the plots of the book from Seville who used to cut the necks of his customers?
We are in a real cultural war, between the enemies of creative freedom and opinion.
The story of "The Autobank" is the story of us all.
We are all sinners, but only some of us deserve like him to atone for his deeds and return to the benefactor, "because for stupidity one must pay."
Were we wrong?
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