The public sphere in Israel has become an arena for a struggle between camps and worldviews, in which judgment is undermined. We are in a collision on all levels, and almost no one in such circumstances can open up to the other side – even if common sense and logic yearn for it.
Thus, to our chagrin, a situation has arisen in which the mass opening of Tel Aviv restaurants on the eve of Tisha B'Av is a legitimate weapon in the culture war raging on the streets. The army marches on its stomach, and under the accelerated militarization of polemic, it is not really surprising when gastronomes "enlist" and put on uniforms.
Clashes at demonstrations in Jerusalem, photo: Jonathan Zindel/Flash90
One famous chef emphasized his duty to "remain loyal to my audience, who have been fighting Kaplan for the past 30 weeks," and announced that he would open his restaurant to the public on the night of Remembrance Day. Petitions have begun to form in the chains of customers who will visit the open food houses tonight, and if they are not hungry, at least "they will leave 200 shekels for democracy."
Absurdity is a moment that is inconsistent with logic and provokes an immediate human response of smirk, wonder or fear. This reaction has eroded in our regions, leaving only the last emotion. One should not chuckle or be surprised but only afraid of the murkiness that has taken over the clarity of national mind. Who are restaurateurs punishing? Who are the diners avenging? In the State of Israel, restaurants have been open on the eve of Tisha B'Av for years, and there is no need to report them to the authorities. But from here to a campaign of rebellion whose sole purpose is defiance, denial of identity and inflicting grief on other publics?
National starting point
On the eve of Tisha B'Av 1934 (<>), while working in the Department of Youth Affairs, Berl Katznelson discovered that "one of the youth organizations arranged for its members to leave for a summer camp on the same night that Israel mourns its destruction, enslavement and rebellion against its exile." This discovery led him to publish an article in the Davar newspaper entitled "Destruction and Detachment." He wrote: "What is the value and fruit of a liberation movement with which there is no rootedness and with which there is forgetfulness, which instead of cultivating and deepening among its subjects the sense of origin... It blurs the memory of the starting point"? Tisha B'Av, for Katzenelson, is the national starting point – not a time for religious people whining in Jerusalem.
An attempt at unity. Prayer attended by opponents and supporters of the Western Wall reform this week, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Tisha B'Av eve in Balfour, religious and secular together, three years ago, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Katzenelson, the secular revolutionary, later clarified: "If Israel had not been able to mourn for generations over its destruction on Memorial Day, with all the poignancy of the feeling of those who died lying before it, of those who had just lost their freedom and their homeland, neither Hess nor Pinsker, nor Herzl nor Nordoy would have arisen for us... Neither A.D. Gordon nor Y.H. Brenner, and Yehuda Halevi could not have created Zion HaTashali, and Bialik could not have written the Scroll of Fire."
Distrust of the political system naturally permeates everyday relations between publics and even between people – and this is a very worrying sign. The reluctance, mutual fear and suspicion are present among us, they cannot be ignored. Simple and routine activities such as opening a restaurant, studying a Bible chapter with friends, carrying the Israeli flag – become the potential for a declaration of war. This is severe and indicates a collective disruption of consciousness.
Tisha B'Av is not only for the ultra-Orthodox
The disruption was born of a series of opaque governmental actions and the lawlessness of leaders of various communities on the other side. The outrageous behavior surrounding the raising of "Basic Law: Torah Study" to the agenda at the height of the schism is one example, Ben-Gvir's resentful salad bar - another example. Thus, a huge public of its size has created a fear that permeates and grows that the character of the state will change from Jewish and democratic to "Jewish" only. It is difficult to argue with the pathological findings, it is necessary to understand them. Fear is real in the hearts – and the heart cannot be alienated.
"Distrust of the political system." Plenary this week
But turning its back on "Jewish" – kicks and tramples everything that both the majority of the conservative public and the majority of the liberal public in Israel – not only secular, traditional and religious, but of every ethnic origin – has been struggling for many years: shaping Israel's image as a sizzling laboratory of Jewish pluralism, as a source of humanity and diversity, interested in equality – not inclusion, because inclusion has reservations – of a variety of Jewish publics. True, this struggle is in full swing and its costs are not insignificant. The composition of the current coalition even makes it clear that his achievements for now are in doubt. But it takes place passionately in beit midrash and in the media and on social networks and in theoretical literature and even these days in Sacher Park.
Tisha B'Av is not only for the ultra-Orthodox, and it does not exist only at the Western Wall. It is a national consciousness event that does not need closed restaurants, but introspection and the feeling of those who died lying before it.
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