Days of awe?

The High Holy Days of Tishrei are a perfect time to examine our lives and improve our behavior.

By PEGGY CIDOR
yom kippur woman 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
yom kippur woman 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The High Holy Days of Tishrei are a perfect time to examine our lives and improve our behavior. And for our esteemed Mayor Uri Lupolianski, this has been a perfect occasion to prove that when he promised that he would be a mayor for all citizens, he really meant it. Please, dear readers, do not ask us why it has taken him nearly three years to do so. This column does not wish to spoil the blessed grace of these days, nor miss the opportunity to commend a worthy act. As we all know now, Rosh Hashana this year coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on the second of the 10 Days of Awe. Our Muslim brethren announce the beginning and the end of the fasting hours with the blast of a cannon. Considering the hazardous political and military times in which we live, it should not be taken for granted that this tradition, among all others, persists to this day. What an opportunity for ecumenical initiative. Mayor Lupolianski bought (well, of course not personally) some shells, insisting on a choice of colorful and regular ones, all for the moderate sum of NIS 6,800. In response, the mayor was invited to be the first one to fire off the cannon for Ramadan. Now I imagine that many of our readers will click their tongues or murmur in deep disgust, "A waste of money. Merely a gimmick" and so forth. But in truth, this was a kind gesture, the kind that one believer should always be entitled to expect from another. Lest you might ask yourselves what happened to the usual critical tone of this column, let's get back to business, and I will not disappoint you. Mayor Lupolianski hasn't only met smiling people over the past few weeks. As In Jerusalem reported last week, the Labor Court ruled that Lupolianski had no right to fire his legal counsel, Yossi Havilio, and instructed him, in no uncertain terms, to find a peaceful solution to this ongoing conflict. The municipality, in turn, has announced that the mayor will not go back on his decision to act "according to his rights." Translation: Lupolianski will not give up his attempts to get rid of Havilio. The next installment of "How Kikar Safra turns" will be broadcast in the future. But the real "action" in Kikar Safra this week was somewhere else. Council member Mina Fenton, from the National Religious Party, announced that enough is enough, and now she's ready to take serious action. Fenton is outraged at what she views as the Christian influences that sneak into our cultural and social life, especially in Jerusalem. Declares Fenton, "People were angry to hear that the winner of A Star is Born, Jacko Eisenberg, announced that he refuses to serve in the Israel Defense Forces or stating what he thinks about the State of Israel. Others protest against playing the works of Wagner here in Israel. But what about the Christian liturgical music that we play here? Our orchestras and choirs play and sing works whose words served as a trigger for the slaughter of our people for centuries, and I'm doing my utmost to make sure that we don't play or listen to this here." Now Fenton is a very active member of the municipal council. She has already managed to prevent any cooperation between the municipality and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews run by Rabbi Yehiel Eckstein and financed by devout Christian believers. Now she says she will not rest until the city stops its contributions to a local oratorio choir that performs masses and requiems in Jerusalem and is scheduled to tour Germany (where, she further claims, one of the concerts will take place on Shabbat). "We should stop dealing with the small problems like Jacko Eisenberg or the music of Wagner, raise up our Jewish identity proudly and refuse to listen to these messages," Fenton concludes. So stay tuned to hear more.