An unhealthy response to a premier’s illness
Last week Israel went through an extraordinarily sad moment in its history as it watched as the apparently indomitable Prime Minister Ariel Sharon struggle for his life. With Israelis glued to their televisions and radios for the latest medical bulletin from Hadassah Hospital, the television talk shows and news programs engaged in the evaluation/obituary of a man who was still alive, albeit with his political career clearly suddenly over.
While the onset of illness in an elderly man does not match the shock and tragedy of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the national distress and political upheaval were similar. Writers, news analysts, and academic commentators were dissecting tea leaves and evaluating the life of the prime minister, knowing that they were doing their part to affirm in their own way that democracy works well in Israel, political change is handled naturally, and elections would take place in March as scheduled.
On the human level, reporters and statesmen offered their hopes and prayers for his recovery. Regardless of political differences, virtually all of the world’s leaders and opponents — with the usual exception of Israel’s outright enemies like the Iranians — wished Sharon nothing less than a full recovery.
In Israel, as is the Jewish way, the chief rabbis called upon the people to say psalms, offer a public prayer on the Sabbath, and include prayers for the prime minister’s health in their private thoughts and tefillot. Literally within 24 hours of Sharon’s stroke, prayers were already being offered in synagogues throughout the country.
Yet within the religious Zionist community there were some bizarre events which highlighted the deep-seated bitterness toward Sharon following the disengagement this past summer, which some segments of the society were still unable to overcome. In one religious moshav, efforts to offer a prayer on behalf of Sharon’s health on Jan. 5 were shouted down by angry congregants. On a religious kibbutz, the prayer on Shabbat morning offered for Sharon’s recovery was recited with the same amount of gravitas usually reserved for the announcement of the schedule of services for the forthcoming week.
Perhaps the most outrageous behavior within the national religious community came from the circle of rabbis and their followers who had issued a pulsa dinura, a kabalistic ritual in which they had called upon the angels of destruction to curse and strike Ariel Sharon dead. They declared that this ceremony, which they performed last July in the cemetery in Rosh Pina prior to the Gaza disengagement, was now fulfilled. They proclaimed last week that God had answered their prayers by striking Sharon down with an illness which will eliminate him from any further leadership of Israel.
Hearing such irrational ravings from the likes of the Rev. Pat Robertson last week was troubling enough. Robertson suggested that God had struck down Sharon now for “dividing God’s land” and returning Gaza and part of the West Bank. While the Anti-Defamation League called Robertson’s comments “outrageous and shocking,” there were only dismissive comments emanating from any circles concerning the equally disturbing behavior from Jews.
Some will say that such comments were only heard on the Jewish fringe. Nevertheless, these admittedly small examples present a very serious challenge to the national Zionist community in the post-disengagement era. At a minimum, there are significant numbers within this community who still have not only bitter memories of the disengagement but also who appear to be unable to accept the strength and viability of democracy. Those who left the settlements in Gush Katif and throughout the Gaza Strip are struggling to reestablish their lives. While the government may not be moving as effectively as possible to facilitate their adjustment and relocation, these former Gaza settlers need to approach their own future and their options more realistically.
When a Jew is ill, and especially when his life is in mortal danger, the religious tradition calls upon other Jews to for pray for his recovery. It does not suggest that one needs to examine an individual’s merits and demerits before deciding whether to offer a prayer on his behalf. Human beings can judge man’s conduct, but we ought to leave to God to determine man’s ultimate fate.