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Dr. Lila Moore is an Associate Research Fellow at a London university. Her areas of expertise are film, dance and modern art. She is a writer, choreographer and the creator/director of Blue Planet's lifestyle, holistic and inspirational films and video programs.
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By Dr. Lila Moore
February 23, 2004
The fragmented skeleton of the no.19 bus taken to The Hague, as part of Israel's public relations efforts ahead of the court debate on the fence, is a desperate attempt to demonstrate the unspeakable features of life under constant threat.
After all, why take a fraction of a broken bus when there are plenty of photographic records, and witnesses who have seen and experienced the carnage?
Are we at a loss for words?
The remains of the bus, displayed in The Hague, have become an elevated object with symbolic connotations like an artwork or a silent and wordless poem made of steel. Most people can only see the physical evidence i.e. the relics of a bus destroyed during suicide bombing. Can people identify with the event to the point of tears?
How can one create in people an understanding of the impact of disaster after disaster? How can one illustrate the need for security beyond physical evidence?
The ruined bus, as an object on display, is an open metaphor like a verse in a poem. Some people may feel that the broken bus represents the broken lives of the victims involved in the attack, and some may even reflect on the pain inflicted on humans. Although a broken bus does not cry, people cry and shade tears when they hurt.
Moreover, the emotional pain shared by all the broken hearts that have been tormented by loss couples the physical pain. The ruined bus, thus, becomes the mythic symbol of a broken soul.
Beyond the personal tragedy of the innocent victims there is a national tragedy, and here, as well, the symbolic bus functions as a mediator and a metaphor.
The damaged bus, as a national symbol, can be seen as representing a broken shield and a metaphor for the lack of adequate security measures. The broken piece of steel illustrates the overall weakness in the area of defense, and the need to reinforce protection i.e. the need for a better, stronger shield, a protective layer, and an object such as a fence.
But can a piece of a damaged bus generate emotions of empathy or a sincere reflection on the tragic situation in the hearts and minds of those geographically and culturally removed from this unspeakable reality?
Yechezkal Chezi Goldberg, who lost his life in the suicide bombing attack on the no.19 bus in Jerusalem, the same bus utilized to demonstrate the unspeakable characteristics of suicide bombings, wrote a lyrical article entitled: "If you don't cry, who will?"
With the special sensibility of a poet, Chezi Goldberg has reflected on the very essence, which so often escapes our ordinary words and cannot be expressed by politicians sitting around the negotiating tables.
The essence that cannot be explained in ordinary words is not the obvious physical facts that everyone can see but their spiritual, intangible, reflection. Whereas the physical and factual bus is the symbol of the tangible reality its non-physical aspect is its spiritual reflection.
Chezi Goldberg has realized that in order to understand the spiritual dimension, and the true nature of the terrifying events, we have to be able to feel the pain and cry from our hearts. We have to be able to look at the broken bus and feel the non-physical dimension of what it means to be truly broken in body and soul.
Shedding tears is akin to a prayer says Chezi Goldberg's friend: "I heard that the Torah teaches that for every tear that drops from our eyes, another drop of blood is saved."
How can tears save lives? Perhaps it is in the acknowledgment of the two realms, the physical and the spiritual and the correction that can follow as a result of certain conditions.
Firstly, we have to be honest and express our deepest emotions as Chezi Goldberg suggests: "Maybe our salvation from this horrific mess will come only after we tune into our emotions and cry and scream about it."
Secondly, from a position of an open heart, a heart that has felt both pain and compassion, we can start communicating with the nations of the world, as Chezi Goldberg writes:" Perhaps my friends, we are foolish to believe that the nations of the world should be upset about the continuous murder and slaughter of Jews -- if we ourselves are not crying about it. Am I not my brother's keeper?" In other words, once we have shared our painful feelings, and have expressed true compassion towards our brothers and sisters, we can begin explaining our situation to the rest of the world.
"Our Sages teach that "words that come from the heart enter the heart" writes Chezi Goldberg.
Indeed, the words of truth that the wise refers to are the very words that will eventually cause most people with sensible ethics to listen and understand. These words will emanate from the hearts of people and will enter the hearts of many people around the world.
Perhaps in addition to the relics of the bus there is another aspect that needs some work and research in the field of Israel's public relations. In order to generate understanding and compassion to Israel's right to be a secure state there is a need to illuminate the various dimensions of the broken bus as a national symbol.
The tears of a poet, emanating from a reflection both objective and spiritual, coupled with the counsel of the sages can help explain the nations of the world, including Jewish communities, what is rarely expressed in simple words but permeates in the hearts of most Israelis and those who truly care for Israel's safety.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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