Harry Potter and the Secular-Religious Debate

Since the year 2000, every Harry Potter book release has been around the same time that I took a trip abroad. Sure, I have flown without reference to the Nimbus 2000 in my bag, but once again, Harry Potter is the name of the moment – or so I am told. Potter fever hasn’t reached my life this time. I remember seeing a poster for the new book in Steimatzky offering the British or American version at a ridiculously overpriced rate, and of course, Amazon.com have been reminding me to pre-order the book at a crazy 50% discount.

This is my first Potter release in Israel (perhaps second, but I was new back then!), and it’s different. Rather than trying to hide from the over hyped Christmas-esque marketing that started months before the release date, it was this mornings headlines that reminded my that my copy of The Deathly Hollows will arrive at my friend’s London home on Shabbat morning.

Around the world, people are planning their Friday night round the midnight launch. Pirate copies are already available for download on torrent sites, but here, memebers of the Knesset are eager to make sure stores keep their doors locked out of respect for Shabbat. Does this mean no Israeli will get their hands on Harry until 24 hours after the rest of the world?

This is the second article in as many days that caught my attention.

Yesterday, authorities in Netanya passed a bylaw banning the sale of pork in the city. These two news stories have reignited the age old debate of where to draw the line. What aspects of Judaism deserve to be upheld? Which Jewish Laws should be ignored for the development of the state?

I certainly do not advocate a halachic-state. It would be unrealistic to run the country based on the letter of Jewish Law, but I feel there is a strong argument for acting in line with the flavor Judaism. Pork is considered taboo. Many Jews who do not keep the laws of Kosher, still refuse to eat the meat from a pig. It is the ultimate symbol of treif, and yet there are those who want to allow it’s sale in the name of religious freedom.

Shabbat is even trickier. There is no chance of forcing the country to shut down on Saturday. It would be a bad idea. Judaism is so splintered, what one considers permissible on Shabbat, another would burn you at the stake for, but I feel that we have a good medium. Public transport doesn’t operate, and many businesses shut up shop. Many secular Israeli’s enjoy shabat as time to be with the family, have a good meal, and re-charge. So what if they do that on the beach and not in the shul?

The Modern day State of Israel set out to be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel. [Full text of the Declaration of Independence] Our country wasn’t established as a Orthodox homeland, but a place where the Jews could live freely, without the need to hide their Judaism.

Be it because of the pork, or down to J.K. Rowling’s latest masterpiece, this argument will never be resolved. The far right will always want to impose halacha and the far left will fight for the right to live and let live. Personally, I love the ability to walk through the city center on Shabbat afternoon and see it everything closed and resting, and if we have to wait an extra 24 hours for the next dose of Hogwarts and Wizardry, so be it.

By the time the weekend is over, some will have read the book cover to cover. I’m not going to see my copy for another few weeks. As for who will live, who will die, the book isn’t going to change, not at this stage.