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Written by Moshe Amon
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The TV company I subscribe to in my city (Vancouver BC) has many channels, maybe 100, maybe 200. It really doesn’t matter, as far as I’m concerned there is little worth watching on any of them. There are exceptions, not many. It is said that exceptions verify a rule and it seems in this case the rule is that watching TV (at least in Vancouver BC) is mostly a waste of time. However, being old, sick and living alone I let it be. Yet, there is one program on the BBC channel, The Secret Millionaire, that I enjoy watching. In this program, a self-made millionaire spends 9 days in a very shabby neighborhood somewhere in England, and then leaves some of his own money for what he considers to be worthy causes. That they are self-made is evident also by their houses which, typical of nouveau-riche, most are kitschy, flashy, tasteless and ostentatious. Yet, there is something very nice and humane in each of the millionaires, even if only for the fact that they agreed to go through such an experience. They are always accompanied by a TV crew under the pretext of shooting a documentary for this or that cause, and just the mere presence of the camera probably causes people to be more open and factual, as if, subconsciously, speaking to eternity.
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Written by Moshe Amon
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About eighty years ago, Zalman Shazar, a writer, scholar and politician who later became President of Israel, was sitting dumfounded in front of the news desk of the daily paper Davar that was jam-packed with news about wars, revolutions, earthquakes, floods and political violence. The question before him had been which item was important enough to place on top, as the opening headline of the front page? At last he decided on one title that spread through the width of the whole paper: THE WORLD IS IN TURMOIL![1]
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On The Edge Of The "World of The Dialogue" |
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Written by Moshe Amon
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Historical periods and social processes are given specific labels. The significance of the labels is not only to draw vague boundaries in regard to historical dates and periods but mainly to define the spirit, values, morals and rituals of certain ages in history. Huge social changes during the Middle Ages are commonly referred to as Renaissance, presumably signifying a revival of previous ideal forms. Thus we have the Renaissances of the 9th, the 12th the 14th and 15th centuries. From the 16th century onward radical changes began to be labeled Revolutions, e.g. the American, French, Industrial, Liberal, and so on. During the European Middle Ages people expected the Second Coming and the installment of heaven upon earth – there was no point in revolting against the current order that had been grasped as installed by God and managed by kings who were scions of gods or anointed by people who represented God on this earth. Allegedly there were only distortions of the right forms. Hence – renaissance and reviviscence. |
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