Today it might befit us to discuss God's finger. The metaphor for the Almighty's involvement in human lives, in this petty world of ours, seems appropriate for two reasons. First: A personal hunch. Second: A funny news story.
A hunch.
Personally, I think there's a lot to be divined about our world from studying the weather. Maybe because it has such a tremendous impact on our lives – our moods, plans, and income – the weather seems to reflect a day's events. An average day, only a fortnight ago, when MK Esterina Tartman was forced to withdraw her candidacy for the position of Tourism Minister, serves as a perfect example.
You'll have to excuse my poetics, but this is an accurate account of what happened the very next day after she announced her candidacy is withdrawn.
The morning opened bright and clear, but by 9.00 A.M. the heavens opened and torrential rains swept Tel Aviv. Soon thereafter the waters mounted, washing the roads in a broad stream that forced pedestrians to wade their way across to the other side. But this is no analogy to the biblical Flood, because minutes later the streets were awash with filth. Cigarette butts surfaced by the dozens, flowing into the gutters alongside assorted scum and muck. The shit did not hit the fan. It was afloat on the city's main street – not as a metaphor – but as fact.
Funny news.
An item in today's Haaretz, which has already been circulating for a while, discusses right-wingers' glee at the personal and professional catastrophes that befell the main figures who engined the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.
On the face of it, the eerie claim to a divine curse on the heads of the state, security forces and political echelons almost makes sense. One by one, the head of state and his right hand, the army and police chiefs, and several other senior figures have all met tragedy up close.
Ariel Sharon is lying in a coma, three serious police investigations are conducted against Ehud Olmert, former justice minister Haim Ramon was convicted of indecent acts, both Dan Halutz and Moshe Karadi were forced to resign from leading the best part of Israel's security forces, and the list goes on and on.
No one can deny that they were all involved in the disengagement. No one can deny that they could have done a lot better for themselves than they have since the Disengagement.
But did the Heavens intervene there? Did the finger of God touch upon the lives of the Disengagement "traitors," or set the scene for the embarrassing exposure of Tartman's shenanigans?
Hardly.
The tragedies that "befell" each and every one of the above, are without fail the rotten fruits of their own labor. No need to go into details – these have been spread across every broadsheet in the country for months on end.
Can we consult meteorological maps to prepare ourselves for the next scandalous crisis? I doubt that. It's nice to be able to poeticize over such sad, sad events as the ones we witness almost daily. Nothing more.
And yet, I'm writing this because a thick cloud of dust is hanging above the city today. The weatherman tells us it will be washed away soon and be replaced by storm. In light of past correlations, I shudder to think what scum it will bring to our doorstep this time.
A hunch.
Personally, I think there's a lot to be divined about our world from studying the weather. Maybe because it has such a tremendous impact on our lives – our moods, plans, and income – the weather seems to reflect a day's events. An average day, only a fortnight ago, when MK Esterina Tartman was forced to withdraw her candidacy for the position of Tourism Minister, serves as a perfect example.
You'll have to excuse my poetics, but this is an accurate account of what happened the very next day after she announced her candidacy is withdrawn.
The morning opened bright and clear, but by 9.00 A.M. the heavens opened and torrential rains swept Tel Aviv. Soon thereafter the waters mounted, washing the roads in a broad stream that forced pedestrians to wade their way across to the other side. But this is no analogy to the biblical Flood, because minutes later the streets were awash with filth. Cigarette butts surfaced by the dozens, flowing into the gutters alongside assorted scum and muck. The shit did not hit the fan. It was afloat on the city's main street – not as a metaphor – but as fact.
Funny news.
An item in today's Haaretz, which has already been circulating for a while, discusses right-wingers' glee at the personal and professional catastrophes that befell the main figures who engined the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.
On the face of it, the eerie claim to a divine curse on the heads of the state, security forces and political echelons almost makes sense. One by one, the head of state and his right hand, the army and police chiefs, and several other senior figures have all met tragedy up close.
Ariel Sharon is lying in a coma, three serious police investigations are conducted against Ehud Olmert, former justice minister Haim Ramon was convicted of indecent acts, both Dan Halutz and Moshe Karadi were forced to resign from leading the best part of Israel's security forces, and the list goes on and on.
No one can deny that they were all involved in the disengagement. No one can deny that they could have done a lot better for themselves than they have since the Disengagement.
But did the Heavens intervene there? Did the finger of God touch upon the lives of the Disengagement "traitors," or set the scene for the embarrassing exposure of Tartman's shenanigans?
Hardly.
The tragedies that "befell" each and every one of the above, are without fail the rotten fruits of their own labor. No need to go into details – these have been spread across every broadsheet in the country for months on end.
Can we consult meteorological maps to prepare ourselves for the next scandalous crisis? I doubt that. It's nice to be able to poeticize over such sad, sad events as the ones we witness almost daily. Nothing more.
And yet, I'm writing this because a thick cloud of dust is hanging above the city today. The weatherman tells us it will be washed away soon and be replaced by storm. In light of past correlations, I shudder to think what scum it will bring to our doorstep this time.
posted by Orr at 2:32 pm
1 Comments:
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall...
Post a Comment
<< Home