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"FLAMES OF HATRED" EXTINGUISHED
by Hadas Kroitoru
Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2004
Five flames, each representing an injustice or form of hatred within Israeli society, were symbolically extinguished by a diverse company of special guests yesterday afternoon in a ceremony in Jerusalem's Zion Square.
More than 75 guests and onlookers participated in the alternative commemoration of Tisha Be'av, which was focused less on the destruction of the Temple and more on the internal issues facing Israel, represented by five flames of unjustified hatred: racism, violence, extremism, exploitation, and discrimination.
The torches were extinguished by a group of diverse participants specially selected chairman Mazen Ghnaim, Rabbi Menahem Froman, single mother activist Vikki Knafo, Yehudit Ilani of the Ta'ir Center, Sigal Rosen of the Hotline for Migrant Workers, and legal foreign worker Facil Ayele.
"The idea of Tisha Be'av is not only the destruction of the Temple, but also what led to it, and those issues are still present in Israeli society today," said Jewish Voice event coordinator Michelle Mond.
The organization serves as a coalition between secular and religious groups in Israel, devoted to expressing a tolerant, humanistic, and more liberal voice of Judaism.
"We are hoping to communicate that unjustified hatred is what could lead to the third destruction of the Temple," said Mond, adding that the issues of social injustice are "bringing the country to its destruction, and aren't being properly dealt with."
Organizers and guests agreed that Tisha Be'av is an appropriate time to address these issues, making the holiday more meaningful to secular and religious Israelis.
"I think we are indeed doing the best thing to make the fast of Tisha Be'av more relevant. As our rabbis tell us, the reasons for the destruction of the Temple were internal – hatred and lack of sensitivity," Rabbi Ehud Bandel, the head of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement, who was the only guest to light a torch, a flame representing love and harmony for the future.
"I think we represent what a vast majority of Israelis feel about this day and how they want to express it. We don't tie the values of tolerance and justice into the Jewish calendar enough," said Bandel.
"People who want to see change must be active. We must push society to treat each other better. The message of this ceremony is for all of society to believe that we can live together," said Ghnaim, who extinguished the flame of racism.
Organizers hope that further awareness and education about such internal issues facing the country will eventually lead to solutions.
"We want very much to support a trend in Israel to start setting priorities on the Israeli agenda, one that will give social and economic issues the same priority as security issues and issues at the borders. We cannot find solutions there until we address these problems," said Meir Yoffe, executive director of Panim for Jewish Renaissance in Israel, an organization that has worked with Jewish Voice on similar events.
Yoffe explained that the internal issues that need to be addressed include relations between Jews and Arabs, poverty, prostitution, and hatred between Jews and non-Jews.
"We are trying to distinguish between the destruction of the Temple and the internal fire of hatred that was really the root of the destruction," said Bandel, before mounting the stage to symbolically light the last flame.
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