"When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget your God ... And you say to yourselves, 'My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me. ...' For your God is ... the great, the mighty and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing food and clothing." (Deut. 8:12-14, 17; 10:17-18 -- from this week's Torah portion)
According to this morning's paper, the month-long movement of social protest here in Israel has aroused little interest and less support around the world. With a world in financial crisis; existential threats to Israel's security -- grimly brought home to us yet again today; a diplomatic stalemate and a cratering image; deep cracks in Israel's democracy; boycotts to fight (or support) -- why take an interest in a scraggly group of youths in shorts and tank tops, lounging around in tents and keeping their lips tightly buttoned on all of the above issues? You might say that, but I think you'd be wrong. From where I sit, those kids look like Israel's last, best hope.
Full disclosure: My son is at one of the tent camps now, in the center of Jerusalem. He's almost 25, post-combat service, post-volunteering in a kibbutz and in a home for troubled teenagers, post-Jewish study year, now going into his second year at the Hebrew University. A serious young man, just starting out in life, not untypical of dozens of young men and women of his generation. He's grown up in a middle-class home and never known hunger or deprivation, though he's met those who have. He has a strong Jewish and Israeli identity. And he's convinced that Israel needs a new social contract -- convinced enough to set it at the very top of his personal list of priorities. Convinced enough to spend night after night at the tent camp, deep in discussion of how to bring about a change in Israel's direction.
My son belongs to a generation that's come of age and realized that what the Promised Land promises them, under current conditions, is a life of increasing debt, in which two professional salaries are not enough to make ends meet; an economy that's been sold out to a handful of tycoons and cartels; a struggling "free" education system in which all that's free are the teacher and the blackboard, and everything else, if it's available at all, comes at a price; a deteriorating public health system; an environment that's being devoured to create housing for the rich; and a society that leaves its poor and needy without the resources to get on their feet. The kids who are out there demonstrating are the strong ones. They don't need handouts and aren't asking for them. They're asking for a stake in society, not just for themselves, but also for the less fortunate. They're asking for a society made over according to their ideals.
Many of these kids are quite well aware that the ongoing diplomatic and political stalemate has produced a stalemated society. But they know that airing these issues will create dissension, where they need unity to create change. One of the most remarkable aspects of this movement is how little rancor it has produced. These are the kids who finished their army or national service and went off to see the world. Their travels made them realize how deeply Israeli they are and how much they love their language and their country, even when it gives them so little. They're smart, resourceful and fun-loving; give them a square meter for a tent, and they'll do the rest. They could give up and go elsewhere, but for the moment, they don't want to. They want the Promised Land to turn back into their Land of Promise.
These kids, if we keep them, are set to become the backbone of Israel's society. They're our future, which means that they also hold the key to the future of the country and -- at least to an extent -- of the Jewish people. Let them down, and we're lost.
So, shouldn't they be talking about those existential problems that are of such grave concern to Jews around the world? The stalemated situation that's partially responsible for society's woes? The injustices towards Israel's second-class citizens and third-class non-citizens? I say: wait. Once the issue of social injustice has been raised and aired; once it's allowed to stay and be debated in the public space, it demands examination of the whole society.
This movement that's brought hundreds of thousands out into the public space is the only one on the horizon that has the potential to break the stalemates and open minds to imagine different futures. If you're hoping for an Israel that can grow, change and forge ahead -- give it your love and support.
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