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4 HASHALOM November
2016
November 2016
HASHALOM
5
The parade of presidents, prime ministers and princes that filed into
Mount Herzl Friday morning to pay final respects to Shimon Peres
should, rightfully, fill the country with pride.
Here was an A-list of world leaders who – at a moment’s notice –
dropped everything, and flew halfway around the world to attend the
funeral of the last of Israel’s founding fathers.
Even those extremely critical of US President Barack Obama’s
policies toward Israel over the years had to admit that it was both
an impressive and moving gesture on his part to spend almost a
full day-and-night on a plane in order to spend just six hours on the
ground in Israel to pay his respects to Peres.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – undoubtedly moved by
such a massive show of respect by much of the world for a man who
had become a walking symbol of the country – should be careful not
to misinterpret the gesture.
Obama’s arrival, like that of so many of the other leaders – at least the
European ones – was a gesture toward Peres, not the government
of Israel.
This was a salute to an idealized Israel that Peres represented, not to
the flesh-and-blood Israel that is.
And, if anybody had any doubts about this, all they had to do was
listen to Obama’s eulogy. It was a eulogy that recognized the travails
of Jewish history, and celebrated the wonder of Israel’s rebirth.
But it also praised Peres for his big dreams, while needling the
current leadership for its small ones. It contrasted the Israel that
Peres believed the country could be, to the one that actually exists.
Obama said he didn’t believe – as so many critics have said over the
years – that Peres was naïve. Rather, he asserted, Peres understood
that “true security comes from making peace with your neighbors.”
Even in the face of terrorist attacks and negotiations that
disappointed, Peres “insisted that, as human beings, Palestinians
must be seen as equal in dignity to Jews and, therefore, must be
equal in self-determination,” Obama said.
The US president compared Peres to other leaders he has met – people
such as Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth – “leaders who have
seen so much, whose lives spanned such momentous epochs that
they find no need to posture or traffic in what is popular at the moment.
“People who speak with depth and knowledge, not in sound bites.
They find no interest in polls or fads. Like these leaders, Shimon could
be true to his convictions even if they cut against the grain of popular
opinion,” Obama said. “He knew better than the cynics that if you look
out over the arc of history, human beings should be filled not with fear,
but with hope.”
Though he may not have been looking directly at Netanyahu, it was
clear to whom his words were directed.
Obama’s words outlined the ideal Israel, the Israel Obama – and
much of the world – want to see, even in the face of endless terrorism
and threats.
They came to Jerusalem Friday because they were touched by
Peres’s vision and wanted to do something to nurture it.
That is one message the Israeli public could take from Friday’s
funeral: This is the Israel to which the world wants you to aspire.
But the other message was that it doesn’t really matter what you
aspire to, because the other side is not going to be there for you
anyway.
And this message was rammed home by the absence – with the
very notable exception of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas –
of the leaders of the Arab world or the elected representatives of the
Israeli-Arab public.
Abbas’s presence is highly commendable, especially in light of
the harsh criticism he has come under from various factions in the
Palestinian territories because of his decision to come to the funeral.
This was a courageous political move, and an important gesture to
the Israeli public from a man not known for caring all that much
about gestures to the Israeli public.
But equally telling was the fact that he was the highest ranking Arab
leader in attendance.
Peres had a vision – a vision embraced by the world, as evidence
by the number of leaders who arrived. How ironic, therefore, that the
objects of this vision – the Arab world – were so noticeably absent.
For the last 30 years of his life, Peres tried to forge a new reality with
Israel’s neighbors.
World leaders beat a path to Mount Herzl on Friday because they
identified and supported his vision of peace with the Arab world,
and because they wanted to send a message of encouragement to
Israelis to keep going down that path.
But the people with whom he had hoped to make peace were, for
the most part, missing from the crowd. That, too, sends a message.
If the Joint List MKs boycott the funeral of Peres, the man who
preached coexistence; if Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose father
had a close relationship with Peres, can’t make the journey across
the Allenby Bridge to pay last respects; then why go through the
motions? It won’t work.
On the one hand, the public can look at who came to the funeral
and be awed by the respect the country could garner if it pursues
Peres’s path.
But, on the other, it can also look and see who among the country’s
neighbors did not come and ask themselves a simple question:
What’s the use?
Analysis: Conflicting messages from the Peres funeral
By: Herb Keinon - JPost
ISRAEL
King David’s alarm
clock
MISHNA IMPOSSIBLE 5
Tractate Berachot 3b
Last month, we learnt of R’Eliezer’s opinion that there were three
watches in the night and the Shema could be said until the end of
the first watch. Rebbi disagreed that there were three watches in
the night – he said there were four, each being three hours long.
This was derived from a quotation in Judges 7:19, that Gideon
and his men came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of
the middle watch. R’Nassan disagreed, pointing out (with what
might be called good reason) that the “middle watch” means
one before and one after – or it won’t be the middle! The Gemara
explains Rebbi’s reasoning, which was based on two quotations
involving King David. In one (Psalms 119:62), King David said that
“at midnight I will arise to thank You for Your righteous judgments”
whilst in another Psalm, King David spoke of his eyes preceding
“the watches”
. So, if King David awoke at midnight and his eyes
preceded the watches (plural), there must have been two watches
before midnight, and obviously then two thereafter!
R’Nassan disagreed, holding that the good King’s eyes preceding
the watches refers rather to how much earlier he arose than other
kings of the time – if he arose at midnight, there were six hours
remaining in the night, which is more than one watch. Further, other
kings arose at the beginning of the third hour of the day – which
appears to be at about 08h00. Therefore, that is two watches of
four hours each before the other Kings leapt gazelle like from their
beds! So, his eyes preceded two watches, making the two verses
quoted above consistent with each other!
This debate (which, as a lawyer I quite enjoyed – reconciling
ostensibly different facts in order to support a thesis in a coherent
way is kind of like my day job!) then turns to
how
King David knew
when it was midnight, in order to get up.
R’ Acha bar Bizna held that King David had a sign revealing when
it was midnight – a harp which hung over his bed would play by
itself when midnight arrived and the north wind came and blew
on it. So, the soft strumming of the celestial-inspired alarm clock
would awaken our King, who would then study Torah until dawn
and he would then get on with running the country.
There is a lesson here for all of us (or at least I think so). Our
lives are so full and so busy that there is never enough time to
do things. Except…there is. King David could fit in Torah-study,
Psalm writing and being King into each day (yes, true, BatSheba
made things more complicated, but he had time for that too!!). He
prioritized, because he knew what was important. And we can as
well – we just need to figure out what is important (the “must”) as
opposed to what really isn’t (the “want”).
If we want it, there is time… there is all the time in the world (thank
you Louis Armstrong, a prize for whoever can identify which James
Bond movie that song is from!!).
By Warren Shapiro
Here was an A-list of world leaders who – at a moment’s notice – dropped everything, and flew halfway
around the world to attend the funeral of the last of Israel’s founding fathers.
Biker Jen
Dear Editor,
At Beth Shalom, my life at 81 should have
quietened down but “vroom – vroom”, it appears it’s
only getting more exciting. The reason being is that I
am suddenly the owner of a montrous motorbike - YES-
motorbike.
This exciting news I was told, arrived in the post with an
E-toll account stating I owed R1.46 for using a toll road
on my motor cycle in Gauteng! The amount has since
been increased to R2.92! My correct address and ID
were on the account, which is worrying. There is also
a photo of myself- as I evidently am supposed to look-
riding on this huge motorbike! Although the photo was
taken in Gauteng, I have not been there in 3 years and I
certainly do not own a motorbike! I would never be able
to even climb on it, let alone drive it or in fact climb off it!!
This story has caused endless laughter, smiles and
giggles - it is quite hysterical! Imagine me on the seat of
a bike riding into the Beth Shalom parking area? I have
now decided to borrow a Hells Angels black helmet, black
leather jacket, gloves and knee high boots and wear
them to our line dancing classes to try and keep fit for my
new exciting lifestyle!
Life is still exciting at 81, “vroom-vroom”- yes thats me -
Jenny Kaplan
LETTERS TO
EDITOR