A demon-haunted country Part I - Shofarat in Tel Hashomer and exorcisms in the Ministry of Religion

An exorcism in the prime minister's office, and 200 trumpets to fight the evil eye at the IDF base in Tel Hashomer indicate that even if the Shas is no longer in the government, the damage it has caused in the last 20 years still remains

Almost ten years ago, the late Prof. Carl Sagan wrote the book "Haunted World - Science as a Fiddler in Alta", in which he accepts the deterioration towards superstitions accompanied by hatred of science and progress. He expresses concern that the process may lead to the deterioration of the American economy, and all this as part of the change for the worse in the American education system. Already today we see proof of the validity of Sagan's prediction in the form of the panic gripping the USA when high-tech jobs are moving to India and other countries that invest in technological education, while the natives of the USA have been moving away from science education for years, and their excellent universities are staffed by foreigners. It is possible that this issue will decide the presidential elections, and not the sinking in the Iraqi mud.
About six months ago, in October 2003, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Minister of Education Limor Livnat signed the letter of appointment to the committee chaired by Shlomo Dovret. The main motive for establishing the committee was the gap between the low results obtained in the math, science and reading comprehension tests, and the relatively high investment in education in Israel. A Dovrat committee was appointed as a "national task force for the advancement of education". The role of the committee will be to conduct a comprehensive and comprehensive examination of the education system, to recommend a comprehensive structural, organizational and pedagogical plan for the system and to outline a path for its implementation. The deadline for submitting the committee's recommendations is half a year from the day its work began (ie these days). The date for implementing its recommendations is up to six months after the submission of the recommendations.
Recently, the Bureau of Inbound Tourism Organizers performed an economic calculation, which estimated the loss of income from tourism alone as a result of the intifada at a huge amount of about 10 billion dollars. Moshe Negbi points out in his latest book that we are on our way to becoming a third world country like South America (in the context of corruption). But for some reason no one bothered to do the economic calculation of how much ignorance is costing us, how much damage we have suffered as a result of primitiveness that diverts good personnel from productive jobs, towards income security allowances. Maybe a speaking committee will give an answer to this question. In other words, someone has to do the calculation of the loss of the product caused by the activity of Shas. I'm sure it will amount to at least tens of billions.

So apparently they are investing in education but in the wrong direction. Two recent news items illustrate what happens to graduates of the education system when they come to work in the prime minister's office or serve as an officer in the IDF. "Employees of the Prime Minister's Office, who recently complained about the high rate of cancer patients and the many disasters in the family, decided to address the situation with the help of a prayer that would remove the "curse" from the building. Rabbi David Lau presided over the ceremony. This is what "Maariv" said on March 24.
MK Hami Doron (Change) submitted a query on the subject, on the grounds that it is a ritual to cast out demons. "This is the most important government office, and in my opinion this is about crossing a border," said Doron. He asked to know if the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, was aware of the ceremony, what its cost was, and if it is now possible to declare that the curse on the office has been lifted. According to the law, the Prime Minister is obliged to answer the query within 21 days.
And after we thought that it was a one-time curiosity, then only a week later, on March 31, YNET reveals that Rabbi Batsari, considered the greatest of the kabbalists, and another kabbalist arrived at the IDF's Tel Hashomer base to perform a "Tikkun" ceremony. The workers there claimed that a factory where tanks are manufactured is under a curse, after 4 of its workers were killed within six months in a series of disasters. Indeed, the workers appealed to the base commander, who agreed to invite the two rabbis to the camp. The assistants of the rabbis were amazed - "This is the first time this has happened to us", Rabbi Salomon's assistants said - but they agreed to come to perform the ceremony. The rabbis arrived and brought with them about 100 shofars, for the purpose of the ceremony, which was attended by about 200 soldiers and commanders. All of this large group participated in a special correction, designed to "drive away the demons", if there were any that were lurking on the plant. The chairman of the Knesset's education committee, MK Ilan Shelgi (Shinoi), proposed in response to appoint a chief sorcerer to the IDF.
In an article written by Prof. Elia Leibovitz after reading Sagan's book, A World Haunted by Demons (and which was published in the newspaper Haaretz, 14.10.1997), he states that in Sagan's opinion the highest expression of this uniquely human quality, of rational thinking and judgment, is in the system called science. Sagan describes and explains this point mainly by a multitude of historical and modern examples of the flourishing and control of anti-scientific and anti-rational attitudes and concepts in different parts of the world and in different generations, and the enormous damage and suffering they brought in their wings to masses of people. The injured, by the way, were everywhere members of the weaker classes.
"Sagan does not say this, but upon reading the book and the historical descriptions in it you cannot free yourself from the thought that encouraging superstitions and hallucinations, and controlling blind faith in various statements and claims, while suppressing the criticism of reason, have since time immemorial been used as a proven means of controlling a powerful few over the many." Leibovitz writes.

I agree one hundred percent with Leibovitz's analysis, and certainly from his projection (elsewhere in the article) on Israeli society, experiencing the same negative trends. The question is what to do, we don't have too big a back, and in order to return to the growth rates of the nineties we must not lose anyone who can find a job in high-tech.
And more frighteningly, these examples illustrate that the falsehood of Leibovitz's quote is also true - it seems from them that the state itself wants to convey that primitivism is a good thing, because in the hearts of the policy makers they prefer to rule over the ignorant. The legitimacy that such superstitions receive from serious bodies such as the Prime Minister's Office and the IDF should be a serious warning sign regarding the path of Israeli society. Otherwise, who guarantees us, for example, that the decision-makers change the consultation with Amn and the Mossad and instead consult readers at a coffee shop or astrologers? And besides, if primitiveness reaches the heart of the system, how will we be different from our neighbors? As our explorers said, Israeli primitive, barbarian... (In a skit about the millionth immigrant from Russia in the mouth of Foley whom we will meet again later in the series - in August 2007).