"The Lev Tahor Spokeman: Ariel Yosef Goldman."

The Lev Tahor Spokeman: Ariel Yosef Goldman. | AMI Magazine | April 9, 2104 9 NISSAN 5774. pp. 180-186.

To be quite honest I have delayed reviewing this interview, preferring to give the outsiders the exposure for a change. I am sick on behalf of members of this community at how they have been forced to expose themselves to the world. I remember watching a video of some of the female members showing how they were "improving" by sewing sleeping sacks. "What? Is this National Geographic?" I remember thinking. "How other people sleep at night is absolutely none of our business."

So I am just going to make some general observations. In Ariel Yosef Goldman's interview with AMI, one of the feelings conveyed is incredulity. How can this be happening to us? There is something else and I don't want to use the word stoicism because it would not capture the trusting faith that I believe is the source of his calm. From what source, if not the otherworldly, could such composure emanate? Many of us in the same situation would be roaring, climbing tall buildings and ripping aircraft out of the sky but Ariel Yosef Goldman opens the door to his community's situation and quietly and patiently takes us once more through the details that brought them to the present painful impasse.

This interview is worth reading because it covers a wide range of subjects and is therefore difficult to summarise. There is frequent use of Yiddish or Hebrew words and phrases and although you can get a sense of what is being said, many readers will feel that they are being excluded. Still, I welcomed this exclusion because it conveyed two positive messages. The first is that this community will retain its heritage despite the society's intention to bleach it down to dreary sameness, and the second is that the exclusion brought about by his use of a language that is not familiar to most Gentiles, might be one of the few ways left to them of ensuring a modicum of privacy as they continue to endure the humiliation and invasion of years of continuous surveillance by investigators, media personnel and the general public.

Do read Ariel Yosef Goldman's interview here.

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