"Look who is testing the traditional Israeli!"
Lily Deri's opinion column headline.
Very nice, you also talked about writing these lines.
You were born Shani Chabani, and I grew up in Ma'ale Adumim in a kosher and traditional home.
Today I live in Harish, which I assume no one will consider a branch of the State of Tel Aviv.
I serve as the deputy head of the council, and work in Israel freely as the director of the Hoya - Ceremonial Center, which welcomes couples outside the rabbinate.
In my home some of the tradition is kept because that is what we want for our children.
To some extent, this is precisely the purpose of our survey, to set aside the stigmas and preconceptions about people who have attitudes that are necessarily connected with their religious definition and place of origin.
We in Free Israel do not assume that someone who was born in Ramla to a family of Oriental descent and defines himself as traditional, necessarily believes that public transportation should be avoided on Shabbat.
Elsewhere it is called racism.
The traditional definition is the most amorphous definition in our districts.
There are those who will define themselves as such on the basis of preserving candle lighting and Kiddush on Shabbat, and there are those who actually keep Shabbat but do not want to put on a head covering.
There is a huge range between these and these.
We decided to do a survey and see what people who define themselves as traditional really think about the issues we deal with.
Speakers on behalf of the traditional public are outraged that for the first time a body stood up and asked a simple question: Who said traditional people support religious coercion?
With all due respect to the amorphous questions about the Sabbath atmosphere, the bottom line is there is a reality and decisions need to be made.
And for that you need to ask explicit questions: Public transportation on Saturday - yes or no?
Shopping malls open on Saturday - yes or no?
Gender segregation in public space - yes or no?
In the opinion column, the author refers to the "secular hudna" in which we ostensibly call for the concealment of positions in order to reach understandings.
This indicates a complete lack of understanding of Scripture.
The argument is that theoretical discussions do not serve the reality on the ground, and in any case one should not convince each other of a world of values.
The question is only where the values of most Israeli citizens meet.
This is the point to strive for which is the desired balance point in religious-state relations.
I will try to explain this with an example from life itself. When we asked the city council for plowing regarding the opening dates of businesses in the city, we all agreed on the importance of the Sabbath atmosphere, except that we interpret it differently. In the end we reached a compromise where the general public in plowing can enjoy culture, sports and entertainment within its city, in the complexes designated for it, while the Sabbath-keeping public enjoys the Sabbath atmosphere as it perceives it in the rest of the city. We could not have reached this conclusion if we had tried to persuade each other to change our values. This is not a hudna, nothing was hidden, but we did not deal with theories and ideals, because the public that chose us was waiting for us to make a decision. The movement supported me throughout this process, and for one moment did not determine what would be the right compromise.
We in Free Israel do not apologize for our survey.
Secularists do not need permission to participate in the discussion on the Jewish image of the state, just as religious Zionists, ultra-Orthodox-nationalists and ultra-Orthodox do not shy away from dealing with the issue.
This is a Jewish issue and all Jews should have a chair around the table - both secular and a third of Israelis who identify as traditional, to whom it is customary to attribute conservative positions in religious and state debates, without anyone ever asking.
If thanks to our spotlight, they start asking the traditional public what they think and do not automatically assume what their positions are, then we have done our part.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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