6 Tishrei 5781
24 September 2020
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The News on the Israeli Street
The daily Corona (Covid-19) update . . .
About the only subject that anyone is talking about in Israel is the explosion of Corona and what should be done about it.
As of 8 am:
There are 204,690 confirmed cases—an increase of 11,316 since this time yesterday
144,963 of these confirmed cases have recovered—an increase of 4,212
657 are in critical condition—a decrease of 11
161 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—an increase of 2
1,325 have died–an increase of 40
There are now 59,997 active Corona cases in Israel.
The positive test rate yesterday was 13%. Sector-wise, the rate was 9.7% in the general public, 12% among Israeli-Arabs, and 26% among the haredis (ultra-orthodox).
What can you say other than we have gone from bad to worse. 40 Israelis dead yesterday. 11,316 new cases.
And still we have a parade of people such as the leader of the Black Flag protests against Netanyahu on television proclaiming that the protests will not be stopped and the restrictions will not be obeyed. Similarly, we have rabbis in the ultra-orthodox community saying that no one will keep the haredis out of the synagogues on Yom Kippur.
What kind of insanity has infected these people?
The new lockdown . . .
The “government” approved a stricter lockdown this morning, limiting attendance at demonstrations and synagogues to small groups of 20 people who live within 1 kilometer of the protest or synagogue. Non-essential businesses that receive customers will be completely shut down.
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The lockdown begins tomorrow and will continue until the end of Simchat Torah on October 11.
Sounds cut and dried right?
Remember that nothing in Israel is ever cut and dried. The new measures must be approved by the Knesset today. Some questions were also left unanswered last night such as whether Ben Gurion Airport will be closed down completely or not.
The next country . . .
. . . to normalize relations with Israel appears to be Sudan.
It is being reported that PM Netanyahu will fly to Uganda in the next few days to meet with the Sudanese leader at which time a normalization agreement will be drafted.
Other countries such as Oman are reportedly waiting to see the results of the November election in the U.S. before moving forward.
TODAY’S BLOG:
What Is Israel?
“Democracy includes a right to demonstrate; however, prayer is not a democratic right, but a religious one. Israel is a state of democratic Jews.”
Ron Huldai, the major of secular Tel Aviv, speaking in support of the “right” to demonstrate against Netanyahu despite Corona restrictions and against the “right” of the orthodox to gather to pray in synagogues despite Corona restrictions.
The clash between the secular and religious in Israel continues to boil over–and leads to several questions concerning the nature of Israel. How would you describe Israel?
Is it a democratic country?
Is it a Jewish country?
Is it a democratic Jewish country?
Is it a Jewish democratic country?
Huldai is clear: he thinks it is a democratic Jewish country. Democratic values come before Jewish values.
Your humble servant disagrees believing that Israel is a Jewish democratic country in which Jewish values and democratic values are largely the same and at the very least go hand in hand.
Should buses, supermarkets, and malls operate on Shabbat? Huldai would say unequivocally yes. I would say that a balance must be carefully worked out–but if push comes to shove, the scale should be tipped toward Judaism.
In the current situation, it seems to me that the best solution is black or white.
The demonstrators should be able to demonstrate and the religious should be allowed to pray–or, no demonstrations should be permitted in the street and no prayer permitted in the synagogues.
In my opinion, if we want to stop the spread of the virus, the second choice is better.
Obviously, one does not have to be in a street to protest or in a synagogue to talk to G-d.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.