I do not object to the Israel Prize being awarded to theater man Oded Kotler.
Kotler may or may not be worthy, but the general interest that this respectable institution arouses in me does not skyrocket.
Kotler's victory is only a symptom of a deeper problem.
When the state subsidizes security services for its citizens - this is true and understandable.
When it subsidizes basic products to help the weaker sections a legitimate debate may arise, but the logic of the supporters of the subsidy will remain stable and reasoned.
But when the State of Israel subsidizes tickets for theater performances, this is a completely different case, and a citizen is allowed to stop and ask "why?"
After explanations of the importance of art in our lives and how theater is an existential need for all intents and purposes, "subsidy of culture" remains merely a synonym for "public education."
That may be the truth, but it's not as terrible as it sounds.
Every government tries in the Torah (and always fails) to educate the public according to the taste of its electorate.
While this move is silly and wasteful, it is the way of the world.
There is no reason to dwell on it, as long as it remains reasonable or at least tolerable.
The move is already less tolerable as state officials, in this case members of the award committee, lose touch with common sense and public sentiment.
Kotler's win illustrates exactly the loss of this connection.
Mr. Kotler's mighty enterprise would not have taken place without public funding.
It was the taxpayers' money that gave him a living from the theater, and the amount of money that would be given to Kotler came out of your wallet and mine.
Common sense is a bit lost when he recalls that the freshman award winner called "straw-licking beasts" the same people who had ridden his staff for many years, and only thanks to them did he become Oded Kotler.
The 30 seats that Mr. Kotler artistically likened to a herd of animals at the time have meanwhile grown to 40, and in the name of those two million animals I suggest that this year, and only for Mr. Kotler's convenience, the institution be renamed the "First Israel Prize."
Laughter aside, it was evident that the famous utterance was said out of pain;
Out of Kotler's frustration accumulated over years of false efforts to educate the herd, Sisyphean foot classes to the periphery and a respectable attempt to teach it "quality."
I would like to offer him a different line of thought regarding Israeli theater and the exceptional unresponsiveness of the ticket buyers.
Maybe this is not a reluctance to high art?
Maybe it's not the ticket price?
Maybe the herd of beasts leaves his wallet closed not because of ignorance, low IQ or undeveloped artistic taste, but because of people like Oded Kotler, who call him "beasts"?
Kotler and his friends' condescension and aversion come inextricably linked to a clear political bias on the left, and this is exactly the theater that Israel accepts: actors whose military service is their payoff, From the halls not because he does not like theater, but because he does not like such theater?
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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