Hassagot השגות

What sort of Israel awaits on the other side of efforts to overhaul the judiciary

The Israeli government coalition's package of changes to the supreme court has opened a Pandora's box for the country.  Israel cannot return to the way it was before the box was opened.  

For liberal Israelis, the coalition's proposed changes represent a rejection of liberal democratic values, a blow to the equality of women in Israeli society, a move toward a more theocratic society.

For national-religious supporters of overhaul, there appears to be a strong desire to address grievances with a secular Israel that has thwarted their efforts.   

My understanding is that no particular party within the governing coalition supports all of the most frequently reported-on proposed elements of overhaul.   

A remarkably large portion of Israeli society has participated in demonstrations opposed to the judicial overhaul.  Those who oppose it do not wish to sit back quietly while the coalition transforms the country.

A powerful struggle for the soul of Israel is playing before our eyes.

It seems to me that Israel will come out of this struggle either less or more democratic than it is now.  

A profound debate about the identity of Israel

On a recent trip to Israel I saw many signs of the political conflict roiling the country: "Netanyahu is leading [the country] to civil war," "Democracy or revolt," "Don't throw democracy into the garbage," "Where were you when democracy died?", "We mustn't destroy everything we've built.  We have to solve this together!", as well as signs that read "An end to the tyranny of the supreme court" and "A new generation is not afraid.  Reform now!"

Ostensibly, the governing coalition's series of judicial reforms are technical--a few changes to the functioning of the supreme court, that's all.  Large swathes of Israel's population understand that they are in the midst of a deeper debate about the nature and future of the state of Israel.

The coalition's program of overhaul or 'reform' of the composition, functioning, and authority of the supreme court are part of a proposed transformation of the country as a whole.

.  

 

Looking for a chief, in the eyes of William James

Dislike of the saintly nature seems to be a negative result of the biologically useful instinct of welcoming leadership, and glorifying the chief of the tribe.  The chief is the potential, if not the actual tyrant, the masterful, overpowering man of prey.  We confess our inferiority and grovel before him.  We quail under his glance, and are at the same time proud of owning so dangerous a lord.  Such instinctive and submissive hero-worship must have been indispensable in primeval tribal life...  The leaders always had good consciences, for conscience in them coalesced with will, and those who looked on their face were as much smitten with wonder at their freedom from inner restraint as with awe at the energy of their outward performances.

William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, "The Value of Saintliness" (1902)

The Bad Air has Come to Chicago

I cannot recall a day quite like this.  The air smells like you are sitting next to an active fire-pit.   Visibility is very poor.  The sky is grey without clouds.  The sun is mostly concealed by smoke.  

The temperature is 71 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-afternoon on a late June day that my weather app describes as being "Mostly Sunny."  The same app gives an  Air Quality Index of 187.  Airnow.gov shows a current air quality of "Very Unhealthy".  The fire and smoke map of fire.airnow.gov shows a red and purple blotch over the Great Lakes.  IQAir.com rates Chicago as having the worst air quality and pollution ranking in the world, ahead of Detroit, Lahore, and Karachi.

Who cares about numbers, apps, and data.  The air bites the lungs, stings the eyes, afflicts the throat, clouds the mind.  Smoke has traveled from Canadian forest fires to our city, as it has to many others.