Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., September 01, 2007 Elul 18, 5767 | | Israel Time: 23:03 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Sports
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 13:13 27/08/2007
Liberaland and Haredistan
By Carlo Strenger

The burning of the Alei Shalechet crematorium probably doesn't surprise anyone who has been following Israel's ongoing culture war. However, Shas Minister Yitzhak Cohen's statements have raised the stakes. He said he would push a bill criminalizing cremation, a bill that would "put an end to those who are implementing a Final Solution once again."

He not only implicitly condoned a criminal act of arson by using the Alei Shalechet burning as a pretext for his comments, but he also called liberals - who believe in the right to dispose of their remains as they see fit - the heirs of Hitler's Final Solution. This statement disqualifies him from serving in any public position because of his disdain for one of the guiding values of democracy: respect for people who think and live differently than him.

Statements like Cohen's raise a serious issue. Can Israel really exist as a unified state? Is it possible for those who actually believe in liberal democracy and people like Cohen to be united in the same polity?

Advertisement
I want to preface what is to come. I know there are many religious people, including Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), who feel the way I do about Cohen's statement: incredulous shock at a total lack of humaneness and civilization. I ask them to share in the following thoughts for the sake of Israel as a civilized society.

Here is a suggestion that might please Cohen: Maybe we should start thinking seriously about a federative model for the State of Israel. The U.S. federative model, for example, allows sub-states to decide independently on such fundamental matters as the death penalty. For the sake of argument, let us assume there will be an ultra-Orthodox canton, Haredistan, and there will be a secular canton, Liberaland.

In Liberaland, there will be universities and yeshivot. People in Liberaland will be allowed to cremate their bodies and have abortions, but Jewish weddings and burials will also be held. Even if they are Jewish, Liberaland citizens - including homosexuals - will be able to get married without the presence of a rabbi.

It is to be assumed that people like Cohen and Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who also condoned the arson, will be able to breathe more freely if we "subhuman liberals" do our unspeakable actions outside their jurisdiction. Haredistan might opt for a rabbinical council instead of a parliament, and thus rid itself of democratic institutions, including an independent judiciary and uncensored universities. Haredistan citizens will no longer have to feel threatened by freedom of thought and action. They will be able to implement any kashruth law they like, ban anything from cremation to the desecration of the sabbath, and prevent universities from teaching anything not condoned by the rabbinical court. In this way, it would emulate fundamentalist Islamist states.

Of course, Haredistan will not be able to provide many services, ranging from many types of medical and psychological treatment to medication tested by researchers applying evolutionary theory. They will also need to know that Liberaland only allows organ transplants for those who have signed up to donate their own organs to anybody in need, of whatever creed. I am sure that Cohen will feel comfortable without these services, as they are developed and maintained by the "ideological ashes of these devils" whom he so detests.

This thought experiment should be taken seriously. What people like Cohen do not understand is that those of us who carry the burden of actually contributing to the complex edifice of a modern knowledge society are sick and tired of supporting those who do not believe that this society's values of free thought and individual development are the source of its achievement. These individuals reject such values to the point of calling liberals Nazis; they lack any understanding that a knowledge economy (and this is Israel's only viable route) is based on values of tolerance, as research has conclusively proven. So maybe there is no choice but to live in different political systems.

Since we still live together, I call upon the leaders of religious parties (including Shas) and the rabbinical establishment to take a clear stand opposite Cohen, who is crossing every boundary of civilized behavior (except possibly in fundamentalist states like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the former Taliban regime). Judaism, as great thinkers from Maimonides to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Emmanuel Levinas to Yeshayahu Leibowitz have shown, need not be opposed to tolerance. We need a coalition of those who believe in living together in mutual respect, because Cohen has just taken another step toward weakening the ties that hold us together as a society.

The writer is a professor at Tel Aviv University's psychology department and a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.

More Jewish World news and features
Bookmark to del.icio.us
A tall order
Haaretz cooking columnist believes his cookbook reflects 'the spirit of the times.'
Old-fashioned bakeries
There's still time to taste some of the recipes of Eastern European tradition.
  1.   Same here in the US 10:11  |  RW 27/08/07
  2.   Ironically, Israeli democracy requires Haredi Jews 11:04  |  AV 27/08/07
  3.   US Christian fundamentalists are becoming more moderate 11:22  |  a gay man 27/08/07
  4.   The Professor and the Politician 11:28  |  Danny Hershtal 27/08/07
  5.   US Christian fundamentalists are becoming more moderate 2 11:30  |  a gay man 27/08/07
  6.   THE CREMATORIA IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG 11:36  |  PAUL HARRIS 27/08/07
  7.   US Christian fundamentalists are becoming more moderate 11:36  |  a gay man 27/08/07
  8.   Democracies have boundaries 11:50  |  Joseph 27/08/07
  9.   Three State Solution 12:09  |  The Northern Wind 27/08/07
  10.   Thats the point! Why secular Israel requires Haredim! 12:21  |  AV 27/08/07
  11.   Crematoria a necessity in Israel, no land available in future 13:06  |  Sara 27/09/07
  12.   If theres not enough room, then use bone-boxes 13:32  |  AV 27/08/07
  13.   What a nonsense! Secular people do not need haredi bigotry! 14:15  |  Puhi 27/08/07
  14.   Liberalland in 2024 15:08  |  Tziporah Heller 27/08/07
  15.   Hold on Strenger 15:28  |  Bozaglow 27/08/07
  16.   so go elsewhere with your "liberaland" like uganda 15:40  |  Joe Jew 27/08/07
  17.   stop pretending anyone agrees with you 15:44  |  Just A jew 27/08/07
  18.   Time for the politicians 17:07  |  bobby 27/08/07
  19.   To Joe Jew #16 17:28  |  Choni Davidowitz 27/08/07
  20.   Moral stand 17:41  |  Jo Jo 27/08/07
  21.   Don`t you mean Liberalalaland? 17:49  |  Shlomo T 27/09/07
  22.   For Puhi #13 17:57  |  Esther 27/08/07
  23.   #16 joe jew and bigotry a fine combination 17:59  |  victor hardman 27/08/07
  24.   FOR THOSE THTA BELIEVE NO ONE WILL INTERFERE WITH YOU 18:02  |  PAUL HARRIS 27/08/07
  25.   liberlaland 18:05  |  elliot 27/08/07
  26.   to ,Joe Jew 18:18  |  Avi Yerushalmi 27/08/07
  27.   to ,Joe Jew 18:18  |  Avi Yerushalmi 27/08/07
  28.   Pathetic Rhetoric From Both Sides 18:39  |  D.Scent 27/09/07
  29.   Defense? 19:00  |  W 27/08/07
  30.   Liberaland and Haredistan 19:02  |  Ralph 27/08/07
  31.   Wishful but unfortunately not realistic thinking. 19:07  |  H.H.M 27/08/07
  32.   re 1. `Same here in the US` 19:28  |  Colin Wright 27/08/07
  33.   UNDERSTAND - we dont care about democracy and zionism 19:49  |  zeevi 27/08/07
  34.   I happen to agree with Cohen on this one 20:50  |  Fortuna Benmayor 27/08/07
  35.   Why does a pomo like Strenger drag "liberals" into it? 21:24  |  DJStahl 27/08/07
  36.   Creating The Land of Liberal Intelligenzia 21:52  |  Yoram 27/08/07
  37.   Respect,PC correctnes & Democracy 22:13  |  Michael Greenberg 27/08/07
  38.   Liberaland and Haredistan 22:15  |  zvi steinberg 27/08/07
  39.   Selfhatred 22:30  |  Devora 27/08/07
  40.   Fragmentation 23:34  |  NewWorld 27/08/07
  41.   Carlos Strenger 02:04  |  jeff 28/08/07
  42.   we are sick of supporting seculars who don`t believe our values 02:20  |  bernie 28/08/07
  43.   The solution is for secular Israelis to work within halakha 02:39  |  AV 28/08/07
  44.   The Halakha of Rambam as the constitution of Israel 02:58  |  AV 28/08/07
  45.   TO CARLO 04:30  |  JOJO 28/08/07
  46.   reform Jews moving to right-new siddur 05:11  |  samuel koenig 28/08/07
  47.   Stenger, Psychology and Democracy 09:29  |  Garry 28/08/07
  48.   to AV, well, Sharia law can be very well 09:45  |  the pope 28/08/07
  49.   to bernie, we in our turn are sick of feeding 09:51  |  Puhi 28/08/07
  50.   A "modern" constitution = human rights and personal freedoms 14:46  |  AV 28/08/07
  51.   Freedom is part of Judaism 14:52  |  AV 28/08/07
  52.   to AV 15:02  |  the pope 28/08/07
  53.   to AV 15:15  |  the pope 28/08/07
  54.   Haredim dont have a monopoly on Judaism! 16:03  |  David 28/08/07
  55.   # 23 and a freudian slip 21:04  |  Joe Jew 28/08/07
  56.   one people- proof from vindictiveness For#26 21:09  |  Joe Jew 28/08/07
  57.   #54 yes we have no monopoly 21:15  |  Joe Jew 28/08/07
  58.   #49 Who needs the crumbs you throw to us? 21:36  |  Joe Jew 28/08/07
  59.   "the pope" and selective morality 13:11  |  jewboy 29/08/07
  60.   Interesting name, "pope" 13:14  |  jewboy 29/08/07
  61.   jewboy 14:20  |  the Pope 29/08/07
  62.   to jewboy 14:27  |  the pope 29/08/07
  63.   jewboy 15:50  |  the pope 29/08/07
  64.   pope and illogical arguments 11:15  |  Joe Jew 30/08/07
  65.   The pope is perhaps not celibate? horrors!!! 11:20  |  jewboy 30/08/07
  66.   Repeating arguments does not make them logical 11:24  |  Just A jew 30/08/07
  67.   rehab for rape victims is A "black deed?" 11:29  |  Joe Jew 30/08/07
  68.   Jewbaiting pope? 11:49  |  Just A jew 30/08/07
  69.   to jewboy and other mobsters 15:22  |  the pope 01/09/07
  70.   who have tald you that you have 15:24  |  the Pope 30/08/07
  71.   to jewboy and all haredi mobsters 15:56  |  the pope 30/08/07
  72.   to Just A jew 16:02  |  the pope 30/08/07
  73.   My My the pope is angry 22:33  |  jewboy 01/09/07
  74.   Stop picking on the pope 22:38  |  Joe Jew 01/09/07
  75.   Pope and the Mob? arene`t they catholics? 22:41  |  Just A jew 01/09/07
  76.   To argue or not to argue. Is that a question 22:46  |  jewboy 01/09/07
 Today Online
Bradley Burston: Let the settlers stay where they are
Responses: 360
IDF: Three children killed in Gaza Tuesday were just playing tag
Responses: 475
Egyptian Actors' Union to probe movie star working with Israeli
Responses: 129
Reform Jewish leader: Media, politicians are demonizing Islam
Responses: 156
Editorial: Israel must not behave like a terrorist organization
Responses: 189
Danny Rubinstein: Palestinian public holds extreme views despite talk of peace
Responses: 147