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The great light in Yair Sharki's act only highlights how much darkness there is in Amir Ohana and his friends - voila! culture

2023-02-16T06:30:14.806Z


Sharkey paid what the extremist government would like us to forget. He is the beautiful Israel we want to be and even if he didn't really mean it, his post became a political bomb


I am short of understanding how Yair Sharki felt on Tuesday evening when he logged into his Instagram account, wrote the text he had been thinking about for ten years, attached a childhood photo - and published it.

"Coming out" is never an easy step, not at the age of 15, not even at the age of thirty.

We, the LGBTQ people, know and know very well how heavy this "closet" is. Until you find another metaphor, it's worth at least clarifying it - we don't hide in the closet, therefore we don't come out of it either, we carry it on our shoulders every day. It's an exhausting burden and especially Disables joy. One that causes constant annoyances and disturbs the peace. We are so used to its weight that we no longer notice it, at least until the moment when we muster up the courage and dare to say what we knew long ago and then, then the relief comes. It is a feeling that only those who have experienced it They will know how to recognize. As if in one second you lost all your body weight but you are still close to the ground.



This clinging to the ground is no accident.

It stems from the daily difficulty of life as an LGBTQ person. Yes, even after all the billboards of Essi Ezer Bailon and the Tiktok feed full of proud fathers holding blue-eyed surrogate babies, the facts are still the same - we are a minority with no equal rights but equal duties. This difficulty is doubly great when You, like Sharkey, also belong to another community, more conservative than the general public, many of which hold a worldview according to which LGBTQ people, with an emphasis on gays, should not "come out of the closet" but fight their tendency and live according to the "norm".

In the case of Sharkey, the religious affairs reporter for News 12, a GLAtz graduate, a graduate of Yeshiva Makor Haim and the son of Rabbi Yair Sharkey - a community rabbi in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood and who, among other things, wrote materials for the "Choosing a Family" organization that deals with anti-LGBTQ content - the conflict feels like It is irreconcilable.

It turns out he is.

The conflict can be mediated.

Sharky (photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

In his post about coming out of the closet, Sharkey described it well when he wrote: "I know that this truth that I have shared here saddens people dear to me that I love very much. And that they love me. I hope that you will find the place in your soul that allows you to discuss the merits. And understand that this step was made after deep thought and consideration ".

Yair Sharkey belongs to a large group of religious LGBTQ people. People who are out of the closet and still continue to believe in God and lead a religious lifestyle. He wears a kippah and until recently even grew wigs but as he wrote so beautifully he "loves boys", then added: "Loves boys And the Holy One, blessed be He." The contradiction between what the Torah says about male intercourse and a person's deep faith is part of the daily life of religious gays, like putting on a tefillin or shaking hands. Actually, what are we wondering about? Our lives are full of contradictions.

I was never able to resolve the conflict and I consciously chose to hide this aspect of my life from my grandparents whose memory is blessed, they were religious and God-fearing people who loved me very much but also loved the tradition they came with from North Africa and believed in it.

When I read Sharkey's post I felt immense pride and also some envy for the public way in which he took the step without leaving any open ends.



Sharkey's confession surprised many.

Although we see him on the screen almost every day, Yair Sharkey is a private person, unlike some of his colleagues, he did not leverage his screen time in favor of campaigns or appearing in gossip sections.

Even within the media "barangay" in Israel among us, more like a boiling swamp where rumors about media people are commonplace, Sharkey's name didn't get around too much (and if it did, it didn't reach me).

What did not surprise, at least not me, is the clear, precise and brave voice that is heard from among the beautiful lines that Sharkey wrote, a voice that continues in a direct line the excellent journalistic work that he has been doing for years at the news company.

As a religious affairs reporter, Sharkey covers not only the religious public and ultra-Orthodox society, but also the parties that represent these publics in the Knesset.

Just less than a week ago, when there was an uproar over the Shas bill according to which six months of imprisonment would be imposed on those who come to the Western Wall in "immodest" clothing or play musical instruments, Sharki went viral when he said:

Courage.

Sharky (photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

A clear line connects his criticism of religious extremism and the way and especially when he came out of the closet.

"I write not because I have the strength to write, but because I don't have the strength to die. And for my son who has yet to come into the world," Yair Sharki wrote.

The fact that we are all talking about him coming out of the closet says something bigger than the human nosy that is inherent in all of us.

It is certainly not because we live in a country where there is no news and we are only looking for something interesting.

on the contrary.

Yair Sharkey touched so many people because we are at the peak of the most divided period in the history of this country and probably also in the history of this nation.

Admit and confess, I also react less well today than before when I see a group of young men wearing black caps approaching me and this even though I know them well from home.

Even so, before they even open their mouths, I already feel threatened.

Sharkey, in his complex, sincere and authentic message, reminded us that there is a middle ground, that there is an Israel that is proud of its faith and proud of its heart's inclination and there is no contradiction in that.

He embodies in himself what this extreme government would like us to forget, he is the beautiful Israel we want to be and even if he didn't really mean it, his very personal post became a political bomb.

Not in the superficial sense of right and left, in the more essential sense of values ​​and how our country will look in twenty or thirty years.



Not surprisingly, many colleagues from the field and senior politicians congratulated Sharkey for the step he took.

Miyont Levy, Amit Segal and Dafna Lial witness to the competitors from channel 13 Ila Hasson and Tamar Ish Shalom.

From opposition leader Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz to Minister of Information Galit Distal Atabrian and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

The last two are worth dwelling on, Distal, the minister whose office doesn't have a printer and who doesn't have a milligram of shame in her heart, wrote to him: "Sharki, handsome, I have a great match. Talk to me", completely ignoring the fact that while one half of her mouth is "flirting" with the community on Twitter, The other half, which is more dangerous, is talking about a coup d'état, the first to be affected by it will be minorities such as the LGBTQ community. Like her, also her good friend, Speaker of the Knesset Ohana, who in these moments, when his power says nothing, makes his voice heard and supports the community to which he belongs but In the key moments he falls asleep and prefers to be photographed hugging with Itamar Ben Gabir and Aryeh Deri.

The great light in Sharkey's act only highlights how much darkness there is in these two.



Sharki accompanied his post with the caption "Things I wanted to say", riffing on Yehuda Polikar's beautiful song written by Yankel' Rotblit.

His post actually reminded me of a quote from another poem by Poliker, which he wrote together with Yaakov Gilad: "Good evening despair and good night hope".

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Source: walla

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