Dora Pertesi
 

The impetus for this piece was the death of 25 people in a field while the fire raged. Everything seems to indicate that they fled to the field following the decision of one of the people in charge of the post.
 
 
This summer in Greece was marked by 100 deaths caused by the fire in Mati [1], very near Athens. The information that circulated everywhere: “The eye cannot see itself.”
 
A fire, like an earthquake or a terrorist act such as those in Paris or Brussels, or even the mass murder carried out by the Norwegian killer, constitutes a social urgency that affects the lives of citizens.
 
In psychoanalytic terms one speaks of the real, of something unsayable, of something that makes a hole in discourse.
 
It is not by chance that the etymology of the word epigon (urgent) in Greek comes from the verb epigo (something that presses in the sense of making a decision quickly / to act quickly) which comes from the ancient verb ignimi meaning to open, to make a hole.
 
How then to situate the subject before the encounter with this hole, with the real of the fire that resulted in the death of so many people?
 
In the face of a fire, the subject must make decisions quickly. So there is something urgent that propels us to act, that pushes to a passage to the act. What pushes is the drive.
 
Either the subject makes a decision in urgency, one precipitated without doubt – to leave, to stay, or something else – or the subject is prevented from making a decision.
 
In both cases, faced with the urgency of the fire, in front of this rupture of time, in front of what cannot wait, escape can constitute a solution.
 
In the first case, the escape, as a decision, obeys a logic of contingency that includes risk taking; it is an attempt.
 
In the second case, on the other hand, the subject is prevented from making a decision and reacts in the panic by fleeing. This routed flight is a passage to the act.
 
In this case the subject follows the leader, according to the psychology of the group that Freud described, namely that the subject obeys the voice of someone who decides in his place and says, for example, “Let’s go this way”. Freud does not hesitate to compare group psychology to the hypnotist / hypnotised couple, or to the state of being in love. Furthermore, he distinguishes two types of crowds: by identification to, or by the substitution of an external object for, the ego ideal.
 
We can tentatively conclude: if the subject identifies with the leader, he does not think. He submits, without taking any risk, to the decision of the leader. On the contrary if he thinks, he takes the risk of making a mistake, but in this case, he acts as a subject responsible for his act.
 
 
Translated by Joanne Conway     

Yaron Gilat and Malka Shein*
 

On Wednesday, March 20^th and on Thursday, March 21^st of this year, Jews all over the world celebrated the holiday of Purim (פּוּרִים), a Hebrew word which means “lots” or “destinies”. This holiday commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, the chief advisor of King Ahasuerus (commonly identified as Xerxes I), who was planning to kill all of the Jews in the Persian Empire. The story is recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. In the book, Esther is described as a Jewish queen of the king. Her uncle Mordecai tells her of this evil plan and asks her to reveal to the king that she is Jewish and to ask him to repeal the order. Esther hesitates, saying that she could be put to death if she goes to the king without being summoned. Mordecai urges her to try. She goes to the king. But before she goes she is quoted saying to Mordechai: “Go and gather all the Jews who are in Shushan and fast for my sake, do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day. My maids and I shall also fast in the same way. Then I shall go to the king, though it is unlawful, and if I perish, I perish”. Esther went to the king, he listened and the decree was annulled.

In her deed, Esther exemplifies an ethical decision which led to an act. [1] Indeed, the time to understand precedes a moment of certainty regarding action, followed by verification: “Fast for my sake.” [2] But furthermore, she demonstrates how any act worthy of its name is linked to a wager and to death. Not only a chance of losing one’s life, but also a symbolic death, an inherent unconscious agreement to “die” while acting, to leave something of oneself behind, a residue. “If I perish, I perish.” It was a matter of urgency. Urgency compressed to a moment of conclusion. Genocide was about to ensue.
 
Whether Purim does or does not actually have a historical basis, it is a historical fact that in many years to come after the tale in the Book of Esther, no king willing to listen will be there to talk to, and the urgent warnings about another impending genocide will be left almost unnoticed. And today, do we listen to the urgent pleas of peoples on the verge of disaster?
 
^* Members of “Matvim,” a team in the clinical section “Reshet Lacanianit” in Tel Aviv, which organizes special teachers/participants evening meetings.