Today made me sad. There was a million people in Jerusalem that got together to show their strength, and make a statement. The statement was about their dedication to their way of life. Their commitment to their beliefs. I personally agree with their beliefs and commitment, but I understand that other do not agree.

I wish that those who do not agree would examine their ideas. The same old tired slanders, the same poor excuses to hate other Jews. The same fear, the same self righteous smugness. I am not saying that it only flows in one direction, how I wish I could make that claim, but I can't. But the fact that 20% of the population of the country came together with one purpose should give liberal, democratically minded  people pause. I don't think that the activists who have instigated this law have really give thought to the effect the law will have on the mindset of the charedim. The charedim are turning inward, the law is having the opposite effect of what its authors have intended, at least what they say they have intended. I think there is a small, but wicked group of people who are glad that this is happening, they are happy to see the Jewish people in a state of strife. Both sides have a small wicked group. There are charedim who reject the Jewish community in Israel, as a means of feeling self righteous, just as there are people on the left who would seek to destroy the Jewish community. These small minorities feed off the bad feelings of the larger communities. They have small hearts, and smaller minds and they reject whatever is not like them. It is up to us, the larger communities, wether religious or not, to find the courage to hang on to our values while rejecting the haters in our midst. At the end of the day we are all the children of Yisrael, wether we learn torah, or keep shabbos, or just have a passion for social justice, or a love of the land of Israel. We are all deeply wounded by 2,000 years of exile. Some of us pray for it to end, some of us are the grandchildren of people who prayed for it to end. What I find saddest of all is that the majority feel the need to parrot the haters among us. The arguments are so stupid, ten minutes of honest reflection will allow a person to understand his neighbor and answer his complaints against us. But instead, we bicker, and we disrspect each other. The history of the Jewish community in Israel is complex, but not that complex. We live in the Middle East and e have picked up some nasty attributes from our neighbors. The fear of being a friar has replaced brotherly cooperation. Screaming at each other has replaced reasoned debate. Grabbing and impatience has become the watch words of our society. We are tearing ourselves apart, and all so that a small group of people can get elected to the knesset on the backs of hate.
Somebody said recently that the whole country feels like it is waiting for  a bus to arrive. We need to eat before the bus gets here, we need to pay the rent, and build roads, but we are all waiting. The religious recognize it as waiting for Moshiach, the secular folks are not sure, or maybe they are waiting for disaster to strike. But whatever it is, we are waiting.  No one is just living, we are all taut as a bow string, the stress is so great the whole country is tense, waiting to snap. Snap we do at each other, but I wish nothing but peace on all of klal yisroel. I hope that what we are all waiting for arrives quickly, and brother can sit down with brother without strife or bickering, united in purpose at last.