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Jonathan Blake's avatar

Claire - BRAVA! What a magnificent dissertation on Israeli judicial reform and a truly dispassionate dossier on Itamar Ben Gvir.

You convinced me - he IS a racist. And you convinced me that the reforms ARE illiberal (as well as anti-democratic, in their likely effects).

I cannot believe you found time to research and create such a comprehensive, thorough write-up. You can truly write faster than most people can read!

Thank you for taking the time - and tremendous effort - to respond to our criticisms and questions.

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WigWag's avatar

It would be particularly interesting to get Adam Garfinkle’s take on the judicial controversy in Israel. He knows more than most about internecine Jewish conflict which has been a constant feature of Jewish history from ancient times.

The current judicial conflict is reminiscent of the struggle between the Hellenistic Jews and the more devout Jews that led to the Hanukkah story.

While the Sunday School version of the story suggests the conflict was between the Maccabees and their Greek-oriented overlords, Garfinkle has relayed the historically accurate version. According to Garfinkle, the ancient conflict was between Jews who thought that what was beautiful was holy, and those who thought that what was holy was beautiful. Fast forward more than two thousand and the Israeli demonstrators play the part of the Hellenized Jews while their opponents play the part of the Maccabees and their partisans.

This is from Garfinkle,

“In the Hellenistic culture of the day, along with its aesthetic and philosophic/proto-scientific accomplishments, its wealth, and its power, there was at least de facto social sanction for infanticide and patricide, slavery (as opposed to indentured servitude, which is actually what is discussed in the Torah), male homosexuality up to and including pederasty, concubinage outside of marriage, and, least of all I suppose, public sports nudity, among other things. Call them stuffy and old-fashioned, but Jewish traditionalists could not abide such behaviors, all of them prohibited by Jewish law and custom.”

No one suggests that the demonstrators in today’s Israel support infanticide, patricide or slavery, but they are far more likely than their more traditional political opponents to eschew Jewish law as it has been understood for centuries.

Garfinkle’s rendition of the Hanukkah story is both riveting and brilliant. On the eve of another and far more important Jewish holiday (Passover) It is well worth a read. See,

https://www.the-american-interest.com/2014/12/24/hanukology/

The similarity between the ancient conflict and the current conflict is uncanny.

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