Let literature be literature
The ongoing controversy surrounding the book "Borderlife" (by Dorit Rabinyan) and whether it promotes romantic relations between Arabs and Jews had me pick up my copy of Haim Nahman Bialik's "Behind the Fence," which is about the ability of love to transcend cultural barriers. It tells the story of the relationship between a "shiksa" (a derogatory term for a non-Jewish woman) named Marinka, and Noah, a scared but passionate young Jew.
I couldn't help but wonder whether Education Minister Naftali Bennett will soon ban this novella from Israeli high school curricula as well because its story line resembles that of "Borderlife," which, judging from the few excerpts I have read, has quite a few autobiographical elements.
When the late Education Minister Yossi Sarid tried to include Mahmoud Darwish in school curricula, I defended the move, knowing full well that his works contain anti-Jewish incitement. This was not an easy decision, but I did it because there is no room for book burning in Israel.
The Haaretz newspaper, which cried foul Thursday over Bennett's decision and has stood firmly in defense of Rabinyan's artistic freedom, is the same paper that pressured the Israel Defense Forces not to hand out copies of Ben-Dror Yemini's "Industry of Lies," a book that details how anti-Israel activists use Haaretz to advance their cause. It appears that Haaretz does not believe in applying one standard across the board; it seems to have devised its own set of rules. Professor Asher Cohen exposed this Haaretz double-speak on the news portal NRG on Thursday.
Yes, in some cases, when a certain text includes criminal incitement, it must not be endorsed by the state and should have no place in our schools. But neither Rabinyan nor Yemini fall into that radical category; they do not pose a danger to the general public, just like many others on both sides of the political spectrum.
Denying high school students a chance to read controversial manuscripts contributes nothing to their ability to cope with the world's problems. It misses the very point of schooling our youth. Nathan Alterman talked about this very matter in his immortal poem "The Little Cleric." The poem mocks secular kibbutz members for going out of their way to make sure their kids don't see grandfather wrapped in a tallit (prayer shawl), lest they begin to think there is a God.
The essence of this Kulturkampf has not changed since the days of Alterman. Secular Jews should not keep their children out of synagogues, and national religious families should let their kids be exposed to a cosmopolitan worldview where national aspirations may give way to romantic attraction.
Truth be told, there is no way of telling what effect a certain movie or book may have on the young mind. Great literary giants such as Amoz Oz and Gershon Shaked wrote extensively on the meaning behind "A Simple Story" by Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Each one arrives at a radically different conclusion. This suggests Bennett's efforts to actively promote or deliberately take out a certain text may ultimately have unintended results, perhaps not to his liking. This applies to his successors, as well.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו