Them Vs. Us By Arlene Peck

Arlene Peck

Them Vs. Us

By Arlene Peck January 28th, 2003

One of the things that I loved while living in Israel was the feeling of we are all one. Everyone went into the army and there was never a feeling of division between the people. Military officers and the privates socialized and lifelong bonds were created. Cab drivers never felt the reluctance to hit on any pretty woman that got into their cabs as they would anywhere else in the world. Their attitude, or chutzpah, built and kept a special unity that has forged and created a unity that has bound the Israelis together no matter what their social standing.

Yet, I noticed a feeling of resentment growing when I was there a couple of years ago. The same way we, in California, feel resentment towards the Mexicans who are swarming over the border and immediately applying for our social services. This paralleled how the secular Israeli felt about the ultra-orthodox. Many were verbalizing about being held "hostage" over having the have their social services cut, their sons and daughters going into the army, while the "haredi" stayed home, studied, and were not obliged to do military service. Israel may have a varied cultural mishmash of people. Russian Jews, Middle Eastern Jews, American Jews, European Jews-- all from very different cultures but even that seems to be an easier blend than the religious versus the secular.

What has been festering for many years, is now spoken in most conversations, has now apparently found a provocateur spokesman, in a politician Yosef "Tommy" Lapid. He ran in the recent Israel election as the self-styled defender of Israelis secular Jews. When someone comes into the fray of Israeli politics with a cause of pitting the European Jews against the Middle Eastern ones, and the religious against the secular, or even the rich against the poor, it has a negative effect. Yet the thinking of the country has obviously been going along with that trend for the past several years. While one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist, the same can be said for the public opinion in relation to the ultra religious. But, conflict aside, many of us believe that were it not for the religious Jews, Judaism, as we know it would soon disappear. Assimilation resulting from intermarriage, or from differing agendas, is rampant among the secular Jews outside of Israel. The numbers are shrinking, not growing, in all sectors except the religious.

No wonder the Israeli find it so difficult to blend in like most of the world. Truly, take the Mexicans, or Koreans or any of the other ethnic groups that regularly settle in our country, and, within a few short years they are "American". They speak only English, they attend the schools and have blended into our native culture. Not so with the Israeli. They could be living here for thirty years and they will always be Israeli. They give parties and only invite Israelis. They do business with Israelis. They have their homes in Israeli neighborhoods and attend services with only Israelis. Even the restaurants they frequent open when the others close and play Israeli music. When they move here, they commit a social, psychological and emotional suicide. They do not want to nor do they know how to integrate.

More and more of the secular in Israel are becoming disgruntled with what they consider, a small part of the population are leaching the tax payer subsidies and perks, that should be returning to the majority who protect Israel. Many times I heard friends in Tel Aviv tell me. "They don't work. They don't go into the army. They don't support themselves, but sit with hands out for me to provide them for all their needs. What about our needs? Why should our society suffer because of them?"

I can find much of that attitude around my own Marina del Rey congregation. I call them the "payers and the prayers." Rarely do I see those who support the synagogue there but they make the perks possible, for example the free lunches and benefits that we enjoy. I think they do it to ease their own conscience for not being as religious as they might like to be. The prayers reap the benefits but don't pay their way.

Frankly, I think the electoral system in Israel is a cancer because of the conflicts arising from the dozen or so splinter groups that manage to bring down the government like clockwork every few years. It's certainly not a democracy, as we know it, but, some sort of vague patchwork of a legislature. The entire system is such a mess that the inequities cannot be corrected until this multiparty and unwieldy Knesset will be redesigned into a system where the majority of votes in the Knesset can no longer decide who will be Prime Minister. They are on the move to elect a Prime Minister who is independent of the Knesset vote. However, there are a lot more changes that have to be made in the system to make it a real democracy. In Israel's case, it's too much of a good thing. The electoral system is so chaotic and they have given the religious parties more power than their numbers deserve. And, that has caused much of the resentment with no answer in sight.

The haredi situation has got to be solved. Because of the chaotic democratic system in Israel, they seem to have created a country within a country. They not only have their own schools with their own curriculum, (since they don't have to report to the minister of education) They also have their own social and judicial systems which run on their own agendas which are not necessarily those that are best for Israel. Some one has to pay for all these luxuries and expensive services. They are not part of the daily civil responsibilities. This is the anger that has emerged. The feeling seems to be, if you don't work, (and only study) then you shouldn't be eligible for housing subsidies. If you're young and healthy and not willing to work on anything, then you should not get welfare or support.nada. The separation is evident. However, if they continue to be independent of the mainstream educational system, and only studying the Torah, they will never become future productive citizens without the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.

A little country, Israel, has 29 political parties. Based on population ratios, the US should have 870 political parties. Think about it- it is not secular versus religious; it's Jew versus Jew.

Arlene Peck is a syndicated columnist and talk show host. She doesn't practice "political correctness," but tells it just like it is. This website is proud to present her work because we don't practice political correctness either. Visit Arlene's Homepage

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