I have no ability at all to describe the upheaval I went through, like many others who not only knew Haim Velder's activities but also knew him personally, since this affair came to light.
First, with the discovery of the hard deeds, came the great breach of trust.
This week came the shock of the suicidal act.
The silencing and denying voices do not really encompass the whole of ultra-Orthodox society.
In many places, they looked at the events, faced them bravely, and also realized that out of this crisis could emerge, quietly and with great force, underground currents, a great revolution.
But elsewhere a reverse decision was made within a second: alienation and denial.
It was decided so quickly, as if someone was sitting down and planning it in advance.
Densification of lines around the policy of denial, and the referral of all arrows towards the whistleblowers of the affair.
How can it be that the deniers, who for the most part are good and righteous and far away from all evil and lewdness until they have a hard time imagining it, fall into such a pit?
Here is a possible explanation, which I really thought had long since passed from the world, but it turns out not to be: the basic need, arising from the Israeli cultural war to protect "our" side.
If the other side takes a certain position - I automatically oppose it.
Even when he's right and when I know he's right.
And now I read it and freak out: Walla?
really?
All this description, which is also completely valid for me when it comes to the issue of creating forests in the north or the frequency of buses in the south, is also relevant to the laws of such persons?
And even more so: is it really worth it?
Leave for a moment the objective questions of good and evil, of the request of the persecuted, of the need to protect the victims - leave.
Let's talk about cost-effectiveness: is it worth missing out on the tremendous educational opportunity that such painful trauma can provide on such a wide range of important and critical issues?
This affair could have translated into a powerful lesson on the twists and turns of the animal soul, on caution, on protection, on the treatment of harm and on dealing with evil.
Values that are at the heart of ultra-Orthodox society, which is concerned with fixing the world and doing good.
Many on the ultra-Orthodox street have been busy this week looking inward, in mental arithmetic, in observation, in emotional coping - and that's what came out of it?
The announcement at the funeral that "the one who published this is a murderer"?
What a miss.
What a disappointment.
The good and dear ultra-Orthodox children of Israel are these days divided into two groups: those who succeed in deriving the most educational and moral benefit from the world in this terrible event - who have lost an object of admiration, but have gained the most important lesson they will receive in life;
And those under the guise of narrow-mindedness will lose this lesson and may, God forbid, be forced in the future to be exposed to future evil when armed with the least useful weapon in the world - the clear and unnecessary knowledge that "we are the best."
kobiarieli@gmail.com
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