Jews Don’t Bow

I had assumed that our Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, was Jewish, but now I am not so sure. Pictures have emerged of the Defense Minister bowing in front of Japanese troops. He should surely know that Jews Don’t Bow.

As Megilat Esther tells us, Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman. We should follow his example.

Many, many years ago, I attended the wedding of a Christian friend. At one point in the church ceremony the congregation was invited to kneel. I could not bring myself to do so and quietly left the church. I would expect nothing less of our Defense Minister.

Perhaps Minister Gantz was thinking of “Gantz”, a Japanese manga series. This tells the story of Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato. After dying in a train accident, they become part of a game in which they have to hunt down and kill aliens. Fortunately, they are armed with a several futuristic items of equipment, and weaponry such as an X-gun, X-Shotgun, Y-Gun. These deadly weapons are soon followed by the Gantz sword and the Gantz Bike.
(Readers who want to know more about these weapons will have to look them up for themselves.)

Today, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato would have little chance of dying in a train accident in the United Kingdom. Rail workers are escalating their demand for higher pay rises and threatening yet another national train strike. Of course, strikes are not new in Britain. There was a three-day strike in mid-August with 14 train companies, the London Underground and many London bus services grinding to a halt.

Perhaps rail union bosses are reluctant to close a deal with the traditional handshake. COVID-19 has made us all look at an offered hand with great caution. Time to invest in rubber glove companies? Or a formal but well-distanced bow.