Entering The Three Weeks
Groundless hatred cost us the beis ha-mikdosh, and cast us into a galus we have still not extricated ourselves from. This short YouTube, part of a film competition in Israel, might help get some of us into the mood to make some positive changes, especially in regard to making summary judgments about people.
Hat-tip to Menachem Lipkin
This clip is heartwarming, but it’s also depressing because it brings out a basic truth about Israeli society: it takes crisis and tragedy for us to stop fighting and get along. Israelis are always fighting until we’re faced with ch”v a war, natural disaster, or some other crisis, and then suddenly we’re friends and working together. Wouldn’t be nice if it wouldn’t take a traffic accident for the people in this film to get along?
This is not unique to Israel or Israelis, this is STEREOTYPING which we are all guilty of. As we people-watch in the streets, shul or at a simcha, the thoughts that filter in&out are rich, poor, modern, baale tshuva, yeshivish, single, married, fat, skinny, happy, sad, neat, messy, Jewish, Non-Jew, etc. (Since Israel is a polarizing society – stereotyping happens without an awareness)
The question is How does this belief system (Stereotyping) affect our relationships with people? Is it important enough to us as individuals, parents, educators to minimize stereotyping and educate & model non-judgemental thinking & behavior? If so, what are the pros & cons.
I belong to a theater group in Yerushalayim with the widest variety of Jews- religious of various stripes (even the occasional charedi), secular of various degrees, olim from a wide range of countries, native-born, all politics from farthest right to farthest left, young, old, men, women. Our audiences are even more diverse. And we all get along fabulously and work together wonderfully with no need for a crises (well, the theater by nature is one crisis after another) needed to get us together.
While I like the message of the film, it’s hard to be inspired by the scripted reactions of the characters in the story. Filmmakers can write an endless amount of fictional stories in which Arabs in the Middle East love Jews, denounce violence, and passionately declare that Jews have a right to live in Israel. I don’t think anyone would be moved by such a video for the obvious reason that the story depicted in it did not happen. Why is the above video any better?
The thing is, YEA, Israelis of all stripes get along and work together as a matter of course all over the country every single day. It’s true.
Great video.
Israelis of all persuasions pull together in a crisis, work together and get things done.I’ve seen it. That’s because they are essentially a moral and humane nation.