35,35 people. Like a demonstration in Kaplan, like a performance by Aviv Geffen in Yarkon Park, like a small city in Israel. 15,<> people, women and children packed the Book Week fairs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on the first two days of Hebrew Book Week, not including smaller fairs and the rush to stores. Even in a world that indulges in fast, concise and sharp content, Israelis demonstrate a love of books and literature every year, attesting that the <>th-century printing revolution is more relevant than ever.
We have become accustomed to thinking that public influence occurs first and foremost in the Knesset, in the media, on social networks, and of course – in court. The intense public uproar over the legal reform, on both sides of the controversy, reveals how deep the perception that sees the legal arena as the place where the big questions of Israeli existence should be decided. But these questions, such as what kind of democracy we will be, who will serve in the army, what are the relations between religion and state, who will receive allowances and what we would like Israel to look like in a hundred years – all these have come before the court time after time, but time after time have turned out to be issues that cannot be decided with a small hammer. Not that there are no necessary legal proceedings, but the public decision on these issues does not depend on whether the head of the panel was Justice Solberg or President Hayut. It depends much more on what is on the bedside table of each of us.
And that's the secret: it's culture that decides the broader public issues. Law and politics feed on culture, depend on it, and in turn, feed it back with laws and budgets.
What Eli Amir did in his books about his childhood in the transition to the legacy of immigration from Arab countries cannot be done by any activist Knesset member; What Sayyid Kashua did to relations between Jews and Arabs cannot be done by any legislation; The fact that Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood are some of the undisputed heroes of the Harry Potter series gives outsiders as much a gift as a school boycott patrol; And what novels like "Husband of the Fly," "The Handmaid's Tale," "1984" and "Fifty Shades of Grey" have done to Western society, the depth of their influence on how we perceive social relations, feminism, sexuality and freedom cannot be imitated in any court. Each such book created a conversation that made thousands of waves, planted millions of ideas, and set in motion countless processes around the world.
The public that flocked to Book Week fairs showed that they were ready for a conversation – only those who were willing to talk were needed. Do not preach, do not shout, do not subordinate; Convince. Write something profound enough to justify the individual's attention and spark in him a willingness to spend a few hours reading—that is, talking—with a person or idea. This is the core of my work as editor-in-chief at Sela Meir Books, and it stems from trust in a person and an attempt to honestly recognize his strengths and weaknesses. It is no coincidence that we worked so hard to publish Prime Minister Netanyahu's book and MK Simcha Rothman's book; Both understood that legislation was the end of the road, not the beginning. If only every person in a key position were willing to leave his worldview to the judgment of the reader. This is much more important to democracy than the last Knesset vote.
This is also true in less parliamentary areas. Businessman Aviad Friedman, journalist Hanan Amior, writer and creator Gadi Taub, writer Tuvia Tenenbom, cyber entrepreneur Alon Arbets, Prof. Nir Schwalb – all these people understood that the way to change passes through a wide public that will read, understand and identify with the way they look at the world.
About 7,000 new books are published every year in Israel, in an attempt to say something. 35,<> visitors in two days said there were those interested in listening. At a time of tough questions about our democratic resilience, the Israeli conversation has never looked more promising.
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