In Israel, there are no public TV stations that have a Jewish angle. There are no national radio programs with a Jewish viewpoint, and the news is never guilty of having a Jewish slant. Once, there was a radio station called Arutz-7 [now, of course, continuing broadcasts on-line - ed.], which a Jew could feel comfortable with, but that was a relatively short-lived episode in the history of Israel. Maybe all good things come to an end, but in Israel, the bad things seem forever.
Many of us who see ourselves as holders of a vision of what Israel should be, a nation of believers rather than cynics and settlers rather than expellers, have tuned out of Israeli radio. To retain sanity and maintain a level of strength, one must insulate himself against certain debilitating elements. A person on a diet doesn't sit and read cookbooks, nor does an athlete stay up all night smoking and drinking. But human nature is human nature and sometimes we fail to live up to the standards we profess.
In a moment of weakness a few days ago, I turned on the radio to hear the news and, as I continued my flirt with masochism, listened to a radio interview. The news reporters were in fine form as they competed against each other in reporting the events of the demolitions in Gush Katif. Their friendly rivalry reminded me of a childhood tongue-twister game that went like this: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" The idea was to say it as fast as you can without making a mistake. If you failed; you had to start over again. So, how many times can you say "radical right-wing settler" in the span of thirty seconds? If you think you can say it more times than an Israeli broadcaster, forget it, you're better off trying to run the four-minute mile.
Israeli interview programs are much more respectable than the news reports. No wood-chucking here. Pillars of society carrying titles like professor, doctor and general are usually the invited guests, and a hapless rabbi or other representative of the "right wing" is the invited victim. I have a lot to say about the victims, but this time, I really learned something about the distinguished guests.
In order to join the new Gush Katif community of Gan Or, twenty-three years ago, I had to undergo an interview by a screening committee. In order to build a solid base, they wanted solid, stable members. One way they verified this was by asking, "Where have you been living until now?" If you were someone who changed your address too often, you were deemed to be a risk and not the kind of person who could serve as a solid founding member of a new community. This was good thinking. Weeding out malcontents before it was too late contributed to the success of the settling of Gush Katif.
The distinguished guest on the Israeli interview program knew how to present his premise, "I personally have moved fourteen times in my life, and see no problem whatsoever in having the Gush Katif people undergo an address change."
Leaving sarcasm aside, I'm glad I'm not considered a pillar of Israeli society, just a "right wing extremist" living in the same house for twenty-three years.
Many of us who see ourselves as holders of a vision of what Israel should be, a nation of believers rather than cynics and settlers rather than expellers, have tuned out of Israeli radio. To retain sanity and maintain a level of strength, one must insulate himself against certain debilitating elements. A person on a diet doesn't sit and read cookbooks, nor does an athlete stay up all night smoking and drinking. But human nature is human nature and sometimes we fail to live up to the standards we profess.
In a moment of weakness a few days ago, I turned on the radio to hear the news and, as I continued my flirt with masochism, listened to a radio interview. The news reporters were in fine form as they competed against each other in reporting the events of the demolitions in Gush Katif. Their friendly rivalry reminded me of a childhood tongue-twister game that went like this: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" The idea was to say it as fast as you can without making a mistake. If you failed; you had to start over again. So, how many times can you say "radical right-wing settler" in the span of thirty seconds? If you think you can say it more times than an Israeli broadcaster, forget it, you're better off trying to run the four-minute mile.
Israeli interview programs are much more respectable than the news reports. No wood-chucking here. Pillars of society carrying titles like professor, doctor and general are usually the invited guests, and a hapless rabbi or other representative of the "right wing" is the invited victim. I have a lot to say about the victims, but this time, I really learned something about the distinguished guests.
In order to join the new Gush Katif community of Gan Or, twenty-three years ago, I had to undergo an interview by a screening committee. In order to build a solid base, they wanted solid, stable members. One way they verified this was by asking, "Where have you been living until now?" If you were someone who changed your address too often, you were deemed to be a risk and not the kind of person who could serve as a solid founding member of a new community. This was good thinking. Weeding out malcontents before it was too late contributed to the success of the settling of Gush Katif.
The distinguished guest on the Israeli interview program knew how to present his premise, "I personally have moved fourteen times in my life, and see no problem whatsoever in having the Gush Katif people undergo an address change."
Leaving sarcasm aside, I'm glad I'm not considered a pillar of Israeli society, just a "right wing extremist" living in the same house for twenty-three years.