Don’t just sit there and kvetch – do something
Do tell – not to me, to yourself – what have you done to change the situation here in Israel? Yes, you, who are so anxious about your children’s future that you can barely put food in your mouth – where do you channel all that worry? And you, who are a member of dozens of protest groups on WhatsApp, devouring every message, reacting with emojis of anger, frustration, disgust – what do you actually do about it all, besides forwarding video clips?
Where are all of you, who have no trust in the government and its decisions – according to the polls, we are more than two-thirds of the public? How can you sit at home instead of filling the streets all day, every day? After all, a government you don’t trust is sending your sons to die in a war that every professional body opposes. Meanwhile, it plans to use your taxes to fund a temporary airport en route to Rabbi Nachman’s grave in Uman (yet Soroka Hospital has not received a shekel to repair damage from an Iranian missile), ignores the steady decline in inidices of quality-of-life and excellence (while rewarding ignorance and separatism), and is destroying the economy, foreign relations, the future of us all.
I will not discuss what drives the prime minister; the reader is invited to choose one or more explanations: a belief that he is fulfilling a historic mission on behalf of the nation, pressure from coalition partners, tricks to delay his trial (and later, perhaps, the elections), and some would point to issues of mental health or his cognitive state. Likewise, it is unnecessary to analyze the motives of his coalition partners, and there is no point in grading the ministers’ performances – everything is well known. But you, what do you do with all this information?
It is easiest to blame, to point at “them,” to explain why “they” are wrong, to say that “they” only care about “their” voters, that “they” don’t give a hoot about the damage “they” cause to all of us. All of that is true. But what about “I,” what about “we”? Yes, those who are destroying everything which is good here hold immense power; compared to them, our means are negligible. Yes, we are tired; how much can one endure? Yes, it is not certain that the protest will succeed (although research shows that sustained large scale protest has a major impact). There is no shortage of excuses.
You know what? Fine, you don’t join the demonstrations – it doesn’t matter whether because it’s complicated to get there or hard to stand, because you fear of police, because it may cause trouble at work, because it’s cold, because it’s hot, or simply because. At the very least, contribute financially, because everything costs money: loudspeakers, lighting, advertisements, transport, legal appeals. No, the Biden administration did not donate a billion dollars to topple a legitimately elected right-wing government, George Soros has not put his bank account at the service of the protest, and if someone is funding everything out of his pocket, including generous payments to demonstrators – somehow, he skipped me.
We are approaching the High Holy Days, the traditional time of introspection, and I am using this platform and the Jewish calendar to address those shuddering at what is unfolding in our country. They worry, complain, and that’s it.
We grew up on expressions of personal responsibility for the whole, such as: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am only for myself, what am I?” or “All Israel are responsible for one another.” Moreover, our sources say that anyone who has the ability to protest a transgression and does not so, that person is punished as if he himself committed it. You cannot see and ignore, you must not say: It is none of my business, I did not feel comfortable speaking up, I feared the reaction, it would not have helped anyway.
Translated into our current reality: anyone who has the ability to act against this government and does not do so, in effect enables it to continue on its path of destruction, and becomes complicit in its deeds. Think about that, act on it, before it is too late.
