Israel Election Blogging?

I love Israeli elections. It's like color war on steroids. The debate is really robust and interesting, though there's also a lot of garbage, and the media often plays a big role in shaping perceptions of particular candidates.

I find myself regularly commenting and debating such issue on Facebook, so I've decided to start re-posting some of my longer and more analytic comments here. I think it'll be fun if you want to stick around for the ride.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I view the Likud as my political "home" in Israel and have for several years now. Just a few weeks ago (before the merger with Yisrael Beitenu), I paid membership dues to the Likud for the first time. That said, no political party or politician will be a priori immune to praise or criticism here.

Anyone know how to import comments?

The old comment host has shut down. I downloaded all of the old comments in a single file. Does anyone know how to easily import comments in a format that will automatically attach each one to the relevant post?

Thanks,
E

More Provocations

Ha'aretz's "Anglo File" has an article in its weekend edition on Anglo (i.e., American, pretty much) opposition and discomfort with Modi'in's policy of barring non-residents from Anabe Park.

The article is here. Here's the bit where I'm quoted:

When Baltimore native Elli Fischer drove past Modi'in's Anabeh Park during the Sukkot festival this week, he witnessed firsthand an ultra-Orthodox couple being denied entry due to a controversial new policy that restricts holiday admission to local residents.

Fischer, himself a Modi'in resident, stopped his car and arranged to have the family of five admitted as his guests - but not before arguing with park officials.

"The policy is nothing but thinly veiled anti-Haredi bigotry," Fischer, a writer, translator and ordained rabbi, chided the park officials.

Last week, before the onset of the seven-day Sukkot festival, the Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut municipality decided to close the popular park to nonresidents of the three communities in its jurisdiction, citing "overcrowding." It's the latest volley in a saga that has pitted the municipality against the mayor of the neighboring Haredi community of Modi'in Illit, Yaakov Gutterman, who recently announced that its archaeological sites would be closed to non-Haredi visitors.

Fischer, 36, suggests the new policy is linked to an incident that occurred in the park during this year's observance of Passover, when a female performer at a concert was asked to step off the stage by Haredi members of the audience.

Nothing, he says, can justify the exclusion of citizens - a principle to which many among Modi'in's burgeoning Anglo community are particularly sensitive, he explains. "Americans in particular grew up with the legacy of the fight for civil rights as a part of our cultural DNA," said Fischer, who invoked the images of separate water fountains for blacks and whites in the United States. "I think it very much affects the way that we relate to issues of discrimination and bigotry, whether it's against Haredim, Arabs or African migrants."

ADDeRabbi, Agent Provocateur

For those not following along at home, my fair hometown of Modiin has barred non-residents from visiting its spacious and beautiful Anabe Park during vacations and on Hol Ha-Mo'ed. This is a result of a pishing contest between Modiin's Mayor Haim Bibas and Modi'in Ilit's Mayor Yaakov Guterman, plus it plays into a strong anti-Haredi (and occasionally anti-religious) sentiment amongst a minority of Modiin residents (a political party, Modiin Hofshit, ran on an anti-religious platform and got only a few hundred votes for city council).

The new policy upsets me greatly, and I wanted to see how the policy was being implemented generally. As I got in line to enter the park, I could see that a few cars ahead of me the line was being held up by a Haredi family insisting on entering the park. Since the new regulations allow for Modiin residents to bring guests, I went and invited the family in as my guests. After a while, the guards let us in on that basis. Serendipitously, a reporter from Haaretz was there at the time. Her report is here (Hebrew) and here (English - paywall). The paragraphs relevant to my story are:

As the argument continued, a Modi’in resident, Eli Fischer, decided to see whether everyone was really being barred from the park, or only those in ultra-Orthodox garb.

“He’s my guest, let him in,” said Fischer, in an effort to help Tirnauer, at first without success. The guards checked Fischer’s identity card, and then started questioning Tirnauer and his family about their relationship. One of the ushers called a municipal security guard to help.

“He’s not really your guest, he’s here to make a provocation,” the security guard told Fischer. But Fischer persisted after the getting approval of his superiors the security guard allowed Fischer and his new acquaintances into the park.

“The park is empty, and I wanted to see what would happen, since according to the instructions that were publicized, [the park] is reserved for Modi’in residents and their guests,” said Fischer. “I don’t know why they were questioning me.”

The municipality said that the confrontation involving Tirnauer and Fischer was the first to occur since the instructions were issued, claiming it was a planned provocation by the media.
“During all the days that entrance to the park was restricted, there wasn’t a single incident, except for one in which a visitor who isn’t a city resident came with a reporter to create a provocation and get a headline,” the municipality said.

 The Hebrew version also includes a Gemara that I cited for the benefit of the reporter, from Sukkah 27b:
"All Israel are fit to dwell in a single sukkah."

iBavli Out-takes

The good folks at JRB have graciously allowed Shai and me to post some of the material (it was about half, maybe a bit more) that did not make the final published version. The excerpt he posted contains an extended musing on the arrival of digitization and media saturation as the twin axes of the information age, and what they might mean for Talmud study and authority.
Enjoy!
The Talmud in the Digital Age: Notes from the Cutting Room Floor

iBavli

Shai and I look at what the digitization of the Talmud means, specifically reviewing ArtScroll's new Talmud app, at Jewish Review of Books. There was a lot of material that did not end up in the review, because this topic is extremely broad. Perhaps there will be occasion to expand on it in the future.

Thoughts on Yeshiva Student Deferrals

As a taxpaying Israeli with two sons who will one day, in all probability, serve in the IDF (and also hopefully spend a good amount of time studying Torah seriously), I despise the fact that there are blanket military deferrals for yeshiva students. Its social and economic impact on this country are outrageous, as many have noted.

And yet, when I set out to study the history of these deferrals closely, I began to realize how difficult - even impossible - it would be to change this state of affairs. Many of us are used to thinking of Israel as an American or European style democracy, in which all are equal before the law. But Israel is not, and never has been, that type of democracy. From the earliest days of the state, it has been conceived as a form of consociationalism, in which Haredim were given a certain degree of cultural autonomy in return for their agreeing to join the state. The vast majority of the state, if it had its way, would abrogate this social contract, but can and should such an agreement be breached unilaterally? I tend to think not.

The Tal Law expires tomorrow. I do not know what the future holds, but I tend to think that the agreement will remain largely intact, and Haredim will continue to serve as a matter of personal choice and not as a matter of conscription.

My full analysis appears today on Jewish Ideas Daily.

Unrelated: here's a Times of Israel article on our Thursday Night event.

Utopian Musings: Jerusalem Hosts the 2032 Olympics, Commemorates Munich

I scribbled something of a utopian musing on Israel and Palestine co-hosting the 2032 Olympics and how they would commemorate Munich's 60th anniversay. It's over at the Times of Israel.

Speaking of utopianism, here's an article from last week on Shimon Peres's Presidential Conference. Enjoy.

More utopianism? Take a look at this event that I am attending tonight and that I helped organize. Not too late to come on out if you're in the neighborhood.

Is utopianism even permitted during the 9 days?

The Cholent Pot: Between Melting Pot and Salad Bowl

I've taken bits and pieces of old blog posts from here and tried to distill 6 years worth of lessons about being an American immigrant to Israel into a single blog post.For now it's over at TOI. I'll probably post it here in full over the next few days.