Last week, Jewish media groups and groupies were frantically e-mailing each other to determine whether or not the photo of Israeli soldiers gloating over the body of a dead terrorist, which distressed Rabbi Sacks so much, was indeed authentic. When the pandemonium and debate reached a ludicrous pitch, I took the opportunity to send out the following from a never-before-published article by ?Miss Manners? on battlefield etiquette: "It is perfectly acceptable for both Jewish soldiers and civilians to gloat over the body of a dead terrorist. It is not however, I repeat, not acceptable to gloat, grin or even smile at a live terrorist (it is best to shoot first, thereby making it acceptable to gloat). It is in very poor taste to photograph the scene with the dead terrorist and an absolute no-no to do so in front of the Press."
The rules of common decency sometimes require adjustment when applied to a battlefield situation. Now and then, soldiers raise their voices to intolerable levels. Exhausted, muddied combatants do not always wipe their feet before entering the barracks. Drill sergeants have, on occasion, forgotten to say ?please and thank you? to their recruits. And, yes, it's acceptable for soldiers to gloat when they¹ve achieved success in their operations that from time to time involve killing the enemy.
A lot of people expressed dismay about the reported comments by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Most people I spoke with qualified any criticism they leveled at Rabbi Sacks with, ?...but he?s a brilliant man.? Any Chief Rabbi or scholar among us should know that brilliance combined with limelight might be a problematic and potent mixture.
This is the time of year that people, particularly the brilliant among us, should take some time to listen and think before they speak. It seems that this time Rabbi Sacks was perhaps a little too concerned with articulating what sounded proper or politically correct, rather than what is right and true. At times, it seems that the basic truth is just too darn simple for astute intellectuals to understand, and if, by chance, they do grasp an elementary concept, it?s too lowly for them to bother expounding on it.
I also come from a proper Diaspora home, but every time Yassir Arafat, Sheik Yassin and company appear on television, I bellow, ?Kill the bums!? Yes, I confess that I have, on occasion, done this in front of the children. But maybe that¹s a good thing, as I doubt my sons will have any trouble determining who the enemy is on the battlefield.
Mixed or unclear messages from our spiritual leaders and role models cause confusion among us not-so-brilliant folks. We like to hang on to every word emanating from the sagacious powers that be. But even the wisest man on earth knew that there is: ?A time to keep silent, and a time to speak; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.?
What is it that?s really bugging Rabbi Sacks and causing a lot of other Jews to be discomfited? Could it be that notorious Holocaust picture of the Nazi smiling behind the condemned Jew wrapped in Tallis and Tefillin that haunts our collective Jewish memory? Has that sticky moral equivalency issue unglued the normally very sound thinking of Rabbi Sacks? In times like these, when the confusion of our minds masks the truth in our hearts, then it?s time to get back to basics and return to ourselves.
Remember that famous and very basic Midrash where the Egyptians are drowning and G-d admonishes the Angels for singing His praises? "My creatures are drowning in the Sea, and you sing My praises?" Let me clarify this-it seems that the Angels got into trouble, not us human types. The children of Israel were permitted to sing and celebrate the victory that G-d gave us.
So, what about the bulging Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, which the Muslim Waqf won?t allow to be repaired? What if it were to collapse and crush ten thousand Muslim worshippers who are praying for our destruction? How would you react? Would you ?gloat?? Hey, now don?t get me wrong. I?m not about to grab my shofar and start a mass ?blowing and jumping? rally in a delicate spot, across (but at a safe distance) from the Ramadan worshippers. But, at the same time, I wouldn?t shed excessive tears if the wall just happened to fall down at a sensitive time.
However, for those of us who are striving to be angels...well that long lost article from ?Miss Manners? suggests that you please proceed as follows: ?Hold your breath to suppress any whimper of joy. Excuse yourself from the television room and run into your bedroom. Close your door and windows and turn on your radio, air-conditioning, and vacuum cleaner (still holding your breath). If you happen to have a tambourine or other musical instrument, grab it and start playing. Collapse onto your bed and burst out into uproarious laughter. Laugh until you cry - but just don?t let the Press hear you.?
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Ellen Horowitz lives in the Golan Heights with her husband and six children. She is a painter and writer.
ilan-acu@netvision.net.il