arib: (Default)
arib ([personal profile] arib) wrote2003-02-07 01:35 pm

Wow...

Was poking around Israeli news-stuff, and found something interesting.

Preface material.

Col. Ramon was a secular Israeli, not usually religious, and adopted certain religious practices while in space as, among other things, a show of respect, a statement of his Judaism, and showcasing that Israel is a Jewish state.

Usually, the Hareidi ("ultra-Orthodox") population doesn't get along with the secular population, and vice-versa. There are many reasons for this, I'll discuss them at another time if people are interested.

I found this translated headline in an article on Arutz-7, an independent, rather right-wing Israeli news channel:

"This past week, the entire world was occupied with just one thing,
something that was painful, uniting, and even uplifting: the Columbia space
shuttle disaster. Everyone is talking about it. For us, though, our
representative - Col. Ilan Ramon of blessed memory - was an admirable and
constructive symbol of our national unity. I saw a hareidi-sector
newspaper this morning, possibly the largest newspaper in that community,
with a full-page picture of Ilan Ramon, with the words, "Shma Yisrael: Col.
Ilan Ramon of blessed memory, who sanctified G-d's Name before the entire
world."

Wow.

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