[A davidka mortar*]
I will begin with two anecdotes. Scene 1: Yanetz Levi, the writer of Uncle Leo’s
Adventures ((הרפתקאות דוד אריה was invited to South Korea to
launch the Korean version of one of his books and welcome by no less than a
senior Korean government Minister, who asked him seriously if this book would
help Korean children to be more creative and inventive. Scene 2: A middle aged
person walks into the post office, sees a mass of people waiting for their
turn, many of them of the third age, quietly approaches clerk and is then
verbally assaulted by cries in at least three different languages of “there’s a
line”. Seeing that the response “I just have a question” is not going to work,
that person quickly retreats and sits down.
These two
incidents illustrate, albeit in different ways, the Israeli technique of “Mazliach,
imperfectly translated into English as nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Its name is derived from the verb לחצליח [lahazliach], meaning to
succeed. The term came from a joke
about a diner that asks the waiter why an unordered dish appearing on a restaurant
bill is called “mazliach”. The answer of the waiter is “if the diner pays for
it, it is successful.” In practice, it
means that any and all obstacles, written or understood, must be tested and should
not be taken for granted. Its origins are deep as in the diaspora both the official
and informal laws were stacked against Jews in almost all societies while
its existence was reinforced with the founding of modern Israel because the
country was materially poor and lacking basic material resources for some 25
years. Israelis were required to be inventive and think outside the box,
whether it was in agriculture with drip immigration or the military with the
Davidka, an improvised mortar in the War of Independence in 1948. Even today, overobedient
children are ridiculed by their peers. Accepting the status quo has never been
the key to success.
Of course,
Israelis are both famous and infamous for using this technique. Israel is known
as the leading startup company in the world and a leader in many technologies,
including agriculture, desalination, IT and medicine. It is quite possible that
many future breakthroughs in identifying and combatting the corona virus will
come from this small country. On the other hand, people from more formal,
rule-bound cultures frown upon the behavior of Israeli tourists and business
people and view them as brazen. The ugly Israeli is as notorious as ugly
American even if not all Israelis behave in this manner. However, to be fair, it
should be noted that most Israelis do retreat and accept reality as occurs in
the Post Office. For good or bad, the approach is often if it succeeds, it
succeeds; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
Back to the
question posed by the South Korean Minister, the answer is positive but in a
different way. The stories were made up by a desperate baby-sitting uncle
trying to keep four children of different ages entertained. He then compiled his
amusing tales and published six books in the series, which have been translated
into numerous languages. The fact is that the unwitting writer improvised a solution,
tested it and then created a worldwide success is a testament to the unbounded
ambition of Israelis even if that does have a price. For foreigners, it is
unsure how much this approach can be copied or reproduced but understanding it
does help them to succeed in dealing with Israelis.
* To allow the blind to enjoy your posts, put captions below pictures.
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