This year, like every year, I got very irritated about Yom Kippur. For those unfamiliar with it, it's the day of atonement for sins and transgressions against the 613 Mitzvot and the expansion thereof in Talmudic law. On this day it is not permitted for the observant Jew to light fires, eat, drink, work, enjoy any kind of entertainment or have sex. This is just a subset of the rules surrounding Yom Kippur. Now in Israel, they shut down the nation's TV network, you can't drive and everything is closed. I can't do diddley except hole up in my flat and play video games or go for a walk. But it's not advised to smoke in public, eat in public or even light a barbeque in my own damn back yard because it might displease the neighbors.
This is the crux of the matter. I still can't stand the notion that bearded assholes infringe on my right as a tax payer to drive or even eat in public and, worse, do certain things on my own property on account of their arcane beliefs. Some people that made the mistake of driving on Yom Kippur even got rocks hurled at their ass. Apparently the business of Stoning some poor schmuck *is* kosher on Yom Kippur. The fact that many Israeli's shrug their shoulders with a derisive "then don't do that if you don't want to get stoned" also gets me going because it shows a blatant disregard for the barbaric nature of it all.
Don't get me wrong. I respect Good Friday, Yom Kippur and the Ramadan equally. If people want to fast, abstain from entertainment, or if people don't want to drive or work because of their religious beliefs, fair enough. They can do that in the privacy of their own home and if they're practicing whatever rite they practice in public, I won't raise even so much as an eyebrow as long as it doesn't interfere with my existence too intrusively.
But as soon as we're talking about switching down the nation's TV networks, prohibiting all kinds of activities and forcing their culture upon other-minded people, I get enraged. As if the 1.2 million Arabs in this country should abide by that tradition. Or expats like me, or even secular Jews that think it's an annoyance. It's an outrage, because I strongly feel it's undemocratic, and it really isn't what I'm paying my tax dollar for. Hell, if I were a US resident I'd even point out that it's unconstitutional, and I would try going through the Federal court system to put a stop to it.
Mind you, I feel the same way about legislation that stops shops from opening on Sundays in certain communities in Holland and the fact that Christmas is forced down immigrants' throats in most of the Western World. Now in Israel, there are several people, friends of mine, who think my views are very extreme in their nature. From my perspective, I feel that my views are the product of a liberal humanistic agenda. So what goes? Is what I'm saying extreme? Anyone who has a viewpoint on this has to mail me though. Comments still don't work, because I'm a lazy bastard. Come to think of it, I did have the time to investigate and fix the problem on Yom Kippur but didn't. :-D
On the bright side, kids get to play in the streets. That's cool. We like playing kids.
Posted by Chris at October 12, 2008 12:34 PM