Orbach Explains Bibiphobia

Uri Orbach wrote an op-ed, "The power of Bibiphobia", and stated:-

Ehud Olmert reached an almost zero percent approval rating - a nice achievement after one year in office. Yet among the very few who still support him, particularly notable is Minister Roni Bar-On.

The latter, with the enthusiasm of a fool and the dedication of an experienced attorney, continues to praise his master. When we hear him speak it appears as though the Winograd report's only purpose was to demonstrate Ehud Olmert's abilities when it comes to repairing flaws, engineering collapsing walls, and performing rehabilitation tricks that will turn the country and the IDF into a brand new and wonderful home.

Let Ehud plaster away. Bar-On is so convinced of Olmert's ability to be the national renovator that it makes one feel like forgetting Olmert himself is also the main culprit behind these failures. Just like Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" who sends a child to break windows and later offers himself up as a glazier, or like a failed dancer who manages to straighten the crooked floor.

Yet following the tempting offer comes the threat: What do you want now, Minister Bar-On says with his thundering voice - to get Bibi and his shady deals? Eh?! You want Bibi?! So says Bar-On, and joyfully returns to work.

The way the "Bibi threat" affects wide media circles is odd and deserving of a psycho-social research. They just hear "Bibi" and they start shaking.

More here.

In the Presence of a Religious Jew

Here's something that even Dov Bear would smile at:-

It so happened that as I was coming down in the elevator from the 20th floor of a Tel Aviv office building, the doors opened on the 18th floor and a young woman with blond dyed hair stepped in. Wearing low cut pants, a belly shirt, chewing gum and holding a cell phone to her ear she pressed the button to the third floor. In the corner of my eye I noticed that she had noticed me as well.

As she was speaking with someone on the other end and unexpectedly bumped into me - the frequent traveler - she somewhat lost her equilibrium and told her telephone partner, and I quote verbatim: "…so I told him to respect him and suspect him, namely, none of your honey and none of your sting, and I'll buy the challah bread for Shabbat later on."

I pondered on this empty sentence uttered by my elevator partner...for my benefit alone. Because I was there.

I am against prejudices, unless they are true and accurate...But next to the "religious Jew" she felt an uncontrollable need to demonstrate a command of her quasi "religious" Hebrew...My joining her conversation as an incidental listener that was forced on me, made the woman revert to a different register of Hebrew, where "respect and suspect" became intertwined with "honey and stings and the Shabbat challa."

Every religious Jew has at some time or another encountered a secular colleague who refrained from using rude language in his presence. Sometimes the rude jester adds to the audience's applause by saying "you, block your ears." On the other hand, there are secular Jews who begin wishing you Shabbat Shalom as early as Wednesday, or bless you with something they think is very appropriate for the time of year...

...The person on the other end of the phone probably asked her what type of challa bread she was suddenly talking about and she blurted out: "Never mind we'll talk later." And when the elevator stopped on the 10th floor she skipped out, seven floors before her designated floor. And I immersed myself in another thought about the presence of a religious person and his subconscious influence on his surroundings; and how the fact that you are standing next to another person makes him or her adapt their words and manners, sometimes exaggeratedly and grotesquely.

Yet perhaps all this is nothing but a proverb, when and how we can influence another person in an elevator. What is said in our presence and what is not. Does our actual presence prompt an action or are we just an inconvenience on the routine lives of others.

On reaching the ground floor I escaped the elevator, full of passing thoughts on strange relations that go up and down, between religious and secular Jews. It is after all a matter of respect and suspect. So I bought a few loaves of challa bread for Shabbat.

Written by Uri Ohrbach