farmdoc's blog post number 168

A frequent discussion topic between Sweetheart Vivienne and me, is the difference between sentimentality and genuine emotion. Wikipedia says sentimentality induces an emotional response disproportionate to the situation, thus substituting heightened and generally uncritical feeling for normal ethical and intellectual judgments. In modern times, Wikipedia adds, ‘sentimental’ is a pejorative term, with ‘excessiveness’ the criterion. This came to my mind last Wednesday as I read this article in the Jerusalem Post: ‘On September 4, 2003, three Israeli F-15s swept in just below the dark grey clouds over Auschwitz, flying in low enough so the Stars of David on their wings were visible as they thundered over the train tracks in the middle of the camp. The lead pilot in the formation was Major-General Amir Eshel. As his plane ducked in low over the Nazi death camp, Eshel, the son of Holocaust survivors, read out the following statement which was broadcast on the ground: ‘We pilots of the Israeli Air Force, flying in the skies above the camp of horrors, arose from the ashes of the millions of victims and shoulder their silent cries, salute their courage and promise to be the shield of the Jewish people and its nation Israel’’. Reading this sends shivers down my spine, so for me it’s not sentimental but rather genuinely emotive. What do you think of it – and the YouTube clip?