When Naomi Shemer wrote Shlomit Boneh Succat Shalom in 1971, she drew the inspiration for the optimistic text from a girl named Shlomit, the daughter of two friends, Aya and Rami Zehavi. The Shlomit corresponded well with "peace," and thus were born brilliant lines in their simplicity, which children and adults chant to this day: "... A wonderful thing will happen suddenly: / The neighbors will come/ Everyone will be in masses/ And everyone will have a place."
Just before the beginning of the fast: Clashes at Dizengoff Square over gender segregation at Kippur prayers \\ Eitan Elhadez/TPS
The Tel Aviv municipality's decision to prevent the "Jewish Head" organization from erecting a sukkah in Zamenhof Plaza, and to prohibit it from holding second laps in Dizengoff Square in about a week, is the opposite of conservative optimism, and above all: capitulation to populism and the dictates of the extreme fringes. Not smart. Not right.
Israel Zeira, Chairman of Jewish Head, in turmoil during holiday prayers, photo: Eitan Elhadez/TPS
At least for now, I, like many others, am not convinced that a "Jewish head" violated municipal guidelines and a court decision last Yom Kippur night, and even if he did, such "revenge" is misplaced. Succah in the public space and second laps have always taken place in Tel Aviv and other places in Israel. It is not the organization of the Jewish mayor of Tel Aviv that is punishing, but parts of the city's residents who want to feel that they live in a Jewish state, and to experience Sukkot with a "Jewish mind."
A sukkah and second laps in the public space are not coercion, even when the initiators and organizers are "Jewish heads." Whoever wants - let him come. Whoever doesn't want to – don't come. But why cancel? What kind of democracy is it that is willing to "tolerate" only what seems and works out for its outlook, and is unwilling to accept what is different and different from what it believes in?
The clashes in Tel Aviv over the installation of the partition and prayer in Dizengoff Square, photo: Gideon Markowitz
It is the right of Israel Zeira and his organization to try to bring people closer to Judaism, and even to bring people back to repentance, just as anti-religious organizations have the right to return people to the question.
This is the essence of free and democratic choice. "Erasing" public sukkots and second laps from the first Hebrew city is the real "shame." What is Ron Huldai afraid of? What are Tel Aviv's city leaders afraid of? Is the backbone of the secular so weak? Or is the upcoming election shaping such wrong decision-making?
A combination of heritage from my father's house and the secular experience
Israel Zeira and his ilk are part of the "market of opinions" that exists here, and that must be managed correctly and wisely. The Tel Aviv municipality's decision is the exact opposite, and is no different from censoring books or texts and ceremonies of other religions, in regimes that Israel does not want to resemble. It is not wise to be liberal only to those who think like you. The great thing is to be tolerant of those who disagree with you and even annoy you.
The right spirit is the spirit of Naomi Shemer and her "Shlomit builds a sukkah of peace." Shemer combined her extensive work between the Jewish and Israeli worlds, in the sense of "the old will be renewed and the new will be sanctified." She extracted from frames and chains the old world of my father's house heritage, and dressed the secular experience with a grace from Jewish origins and roots. The Tel Aviv Municipality behaves differently. Such a shame.
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