Throughout history, the Jewish people have faced countless hardships and persecution. From exile to genocide, we have endured some of the darkest moments in humanity. Yet through it all, we have managed to maintain our sense of humor.
Humor has essentially become a survival mechanism for the Jewish people and maybe even a lucrative hallmark thanks to the likes of Groucho Marx and Larry David. Through satire, gallows humor and self-deprecation, we’ve used laughter as a balm to heal our collective wounds.
But in the famous words of Erma Bombeck, there is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt, and this past week I witnessed a gross violation of that line.
Sitting in the front row of my daughter’s kindergarten performance, I watched in horror as she and her classmates sang “Comme Ci Comme ca,” a satirical tune popularized by the Togolese-Israeli artist, Stephane Legar. In unison, they declared “Israel est problematique” (“Israel is problematic”) verbatim and performed the choreography to the soundtrack of Israel’s mediocrity.
“Comme Ci Comme Ca”
YOUNG STUDENTS are welcomed to school on the first day of classes after the holidays, last September. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)Arguably, every word in this catchy pop song is accurate.
Sunday traffic jams in Israel are insufferable or rather comme ci comme ca (French for mediocre) as Legar declares them. Israel suffers the worst traffic congestion among OECD countries.
Wages in Israel are abysmal or delicately put, comme ci comme ca, according to the song. As of 2021 data, wages in Israel fall significantly below the OECD average.
But I didn’t discover this or any of Israel’s shortcomings until my relationship with the state was far more advanced, at which point it felt easier to forgive. I wish the same naivety upon my daughter and her peers for the benefit of their Jewish identity.
The role of formal and informal Jewish education in the Diaspora is to shape the identity and beliefs of future generations and strengthen the ties between Israel and Jewish communities around the world.
In my experience, this is more effectively achieved by introducing an idyllic version of Israel. After all, as the saying goes, we attract more flies with (the land of milk and) honey.
It’s important, as Jewish people, that we instill a connection, love for Israel
AS JEWISH people, it is essential that we instill a meaningful connection and love for Israel in our youth to strengthen our collective identity and promote unity among Diaspora Jewry worldwide. With its many accomplishments in the fields of technology and sciences, and its collection of Nobel Prizes and Hollywood exports, it should be rather easy to nurture a positive and relatable image of Israel within the framework of our education system from the time of first exposure through to graduation.
A robust and effective general studies curriculum paired with an environment that encourages critical thinking will do the heavy lifting necessary to build strong thinkers who can engage in democratic dialogue and healthy thoughts on Israel and form their own opinions based on facts and evidence.
Jewish schools today do not have a responsibility to dispel the myths of Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and democracy in the Middle East. Trust that mainstream media will do the honors and when it does, I wish my daughter and your sons have the wherewithal to recognize the attack is not aimed at a foreign land but at their homeland and the homeland of their ancestors; and essentially at them. Because by now, we all know that anti-Israel sentiment is simply the more socially acceptable twin of anti-Jewish sentiment, as we are reminded each time anti-Israel protests erupt in our communities.
Above all that, I pray that their Jewish education imparts to them sufficient attachment and impetus to stand by Israel when the time comes.
Israel, despite what the Abraham Accords might lead you to believe, has enough enemies as of the time of print. Between the outspoken US congressional “squad” and the intellectual Left, the criticism is far more than this tiny mass of desert land can handle.
The last thing we need is to raise a generation of Jews filled with resentment and disillusionment toward Israel or worse yet, indifference. We do not have to be the architects of our own demise and certainly not to the tune of Jewish school tuition fees.
Israel, especially with its fragile and faltering democracy, is not a punchline to our Jewish jokes. It is an inside joke reserved perhaps for those living within its heavily contested borders and we, Diaspora Jews, must remember that we are on the outside.
The writer is based in Montreal. She holds an MA in Jewish education from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She served as the director of cultural affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal from 2008-2015.