Sad end, no answers
Topaz’s death will contribute nothing to our understanding of the human soul
The temptation to tell the tale of TV superstar Dudu Topaz’ life and death
as a story with tragic implications for all of us has great and immediate appeal. But let’s not give in to it.
If there is indeed a tragedy here, it belongs to the children of Topaz whose father’s death will accompany their lives from now on. Hopefully they will not know any more misery.
Aftermath
Eran Bar-On
TV veteran's fellow entertainers shocked by news of his suicide. 'The situation was very difficult and evidently he couldn't take it,' says friend and entertainer Tzipi Shavit. Topaz's lawyer: He was desperate, saying jail stripped him of his free will
Topaz’s death can be interpreted as the classic story of a star’s rise and fall, as if it is impossible to reach the zenith of success without experiencing a lethal plunge at the end. Yet such understanding of his life and death is incredibly shallow and banal.
We never quite know why people choose to take their own lives.
Is it a genetic defect found among some people who suffer from depression? Is it a matter of shame? Is it about the fear of contending with what can be expected with certainty in the future? Or is deciding whether or not life is worth living a case of answering the “fundamental question in philosophy,” as Albert Camus once said? There is no way to know.
Today and in the coming days, too many news papers and television channels and radio stations will be dedicating shows and articles to this death. People will say it was expected to happen, people will be shocked, people will shed a tear, or experience a strange sense of glee at one’s misfortune.
Yet all of it, just like the life of Dudu Topaz, will not contribute anything to understanding the human soul, on all its diversity and caprices.
At the end of the day, all that is left is to pity those who died and are no longer with us. There really is no need to hire violent thugs or envelope oneself in the bogus love of the entire nation of Israel in order to be deserving of this statement. It’s simply a pity, and that’s it.
