The news on Ariel Sharon this morning is very, very bad.
Reactions, of course, run the gamut, from shock and prayer to political speculation to the expected vilification from Israel’s enemies to praise from unexpected sources.
But Allison, in one post, neatly sums up the Israeli reaction from her perspective:
Whether he lives or dies, we are all already in mourning. All of us — those who always like Sharon, those who never liked him, and the vast number of Israelis who once vilified him, but over the past several years have looked in wonderment as he embodied the definition of the word — leader.
Yes, he had flaws, yes, there was scandal, he was far from perfect. But he was a leader. We had a leader. And we no longer do.
I’ve repeatedly said that Ariel Sharon is like a cat with nine political lives. Unfortunately he’s also a human being with only one physical life. And, agree or disagree with his policies, Sharon’s loss is a real loss of a leader for all of Israel.
Leader? For someone to be a leader, they have to lead, NOT employ spin doctors and go with the polls.
Either the talmud or zohar state: “The face of the generation is like the face of a dog”; i.e., the people’s leaders are like a dog:
It ‘leads’ it’s master, but always turns around to see in which direction the master is going.
I remember that after the first big massacre of Sharon’s term, he said that ‘restraint is power’ and subsequently we received several hundred dead. Later while still under hostile fire he decided to retreat from Gush Katif and essentially destroy the homes, lives, synagogues, and yeshivot of several thousand people without giving us even a simple reason.
I did say some tehillim for him (since I was already saying for my wife and newborn anyway). Who knows? Maybe Sharon managed to say a simple ‘shema yisrael’ before he lost consciousness, essentially doing tshuva and becoming a tzaddik.
But otherwise, I have a really hard time to pray for his recovery and mourn for this man who has been evily possessed for the last four years. I’m certianly not happy, and I don’t think that this consoles one person affected by his policies over the past few years.
Mazel tov on your newborn.
Absolutely! On the newborn I mean…
Mazel tov!!
You should read this. http://tinyurl.com/bhkbo