I HAD A DREAM - ANATEVKA AND BEYOND

  And a similar theme throughout, all speaking of a dream that has united all of Jewry, even as some of the facets have sent this nation in different directions. However, when push comes to shove, we are all one. Even if it takes us into overtime, to realize, understand and accept that forever truth.  

We are Am Echad, Lev Achad - one nation, one heart. Even as other nations and peoples of the world have an apparent difficulty in accepting that truth, in acceptance of the Promise made to us and documented in the very same Book most religions acknowledge as Holy, a basis in their religions as well as in ours.

The eternal nation, a people of The Lord, has gone through many long and difficult existentially threatening eras of history. Always, no matter how bad it got or even how good it was, there was and always is, that niggling thought, that itch in our psyches that reminded us of one fact. That our stay in any country of the world, even in our eternal Homeland, our ancestral Homeland, no matter who denies that Truth, is not permanent until such time as the world comes to its senses. 

Until such a time, there are rules and regularities which encompass our world, our very being. Always, there is that Dream, mostly to be found in western nations, but certainly, as we now live through difficult times, that someday, somehow, we will find a permanent acceptance and even welcome of the Jewish people, in any and all guises, and the gifts they share with the world.

That dream is now to be found in broken shards, sharp edged remnants. It has been found to be flawed and must be trod upon and with steps varying from strong to delicate. Why that persists in being so is an eternal question for which there seemingly have been no answers, certainly not any of trust in permanence.

We know that the final answer will derive from the Lord Above when He has either lost patience with the world or reminded Himself to renew His promise to His people. He is the final decision maker, and so it has always been. And so, it will always be. But, until such time comes upon us, we    must do what is best to live in a world whose acceptance, temporary at best, along with its awful ages of harsh derision and Hate, will always batter away at the dream.

I recently came across a quote from Yuri Foreman which tells us clearly of the Dream of the Goldeneh Medina, the Golden Land, America to us.  "That's what the American Dream is: you first do the work, then you talk."

How apt is that statement for our lives today? Our self-appointed and/or our chosen leaders have forgotten that missive. They talk without backing, without achievement, without oral commitment graduating into actual deeds and actions. That way leads only to disappointment, disruption and devolution. It leads to a hypocrisy glaring in bright sunlight yet evidently the words addressing this hypocrisy are false, contradictory, and action never follows in its footsteps. Certainly not the actions necessary to delve into a problem and learn what must be done, what steps must be taken in order to bring the problem to a possible and optimistic solution.

It is most disheartening that scores of years after November 9-10, 1938, we have returned to that same JewHatred. To that same premise that Jews and their friends belong nowhere on this earth. They are to be deemed irrelevant yet are accused at the same time of being the cause of all that is wrong in the world. They are to be killed in any and all manner, with any and all matter of humanity and the rules of civilization glaring in their absence. It is a time, once again when the world wishes us to once again "go as sheep to the slaughter” even as the falsehood of that statement and its derivation are ignored. 

But the survivors and the descendants of survivors thumb their noses at their haters. Even as we know the battle will be fought on hostile territory. We know from history that we can and always will pull ourselves together and rebuild and thrive and face all problems in optimistic manner for we know that this one nation is an eternal nation and can survive any journey of any length.

So even as the world speaks critically of the Holocaust of the past, who set up memorials and speeches of the Holocaust that was, we do not hear nor see words and actions in which to halt those who would replicate the Holocaust.  Those wishing to bring this horror back to the world are encouraged by the moral vacuum of those who claim to mourn what was, yet do nothing to oppose its reincarnation, already clearly seen. Who mourns what was, or so they say, but do nothing, and in fact, even encourage its return. 

Why must this seemingly be an eternal truth? An eternal reality in which we relive history ongoing in repetition. Why must the Jewish people always be called upon to "prove" themselves, to face doubts about their loyalty to the nation in they reside? Why must it always be a time of Anatevka, a place where homes have been established and lives have been lived, hard as it must have been and then receive orders to vacate their Anatevkas, wherever they might be. To leave their homes.

Why must the Jews be the people always consigned to the ranks of uncertainty? Walk on crumbling perilous paths and shaky rope bridges in order to survive? And always to be prepared for the emergence of hatred and hostilities from former 'allies and friends' or thought to have been so.

And yet we are also lucky. There is, was, and always will be, our G-d given ancestral homeland, standing there with open arms and welcoming heart to those of the brethren returning. Even more so these days as we have seen the past, seen the past edging to the present, we categorically refuse to allow it to cross all borders and move into the future. 

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

Yes, unfortunately the Past has a tendency to replicate itself, to invade the Present and to disrupt Tomorrow.

However, it must be recalled  and remind all that that is not necessarily a must. We know and have done so many times to halt, even reverse, if only for a time, the poisons of the past, cleanse them from the present, and deny them a place in the future.

We have done so many times, and we'll continue to do so no matter how many times the evil within some people come to the fore.

We are a people knowing of the perils of a long road and are impatient to reach our destination, but always with the will and the power and the knowledge with which to beat back all those would deny us. All those who espouse Hate.

So it has been. 

So it sadly continues to be so. 

But so it will not remain in that which is to be.

Am Yisroel Chai!!

I HAVE OFTEN WALKED ... DA DA DA DA DA...

  ... " ...down this street before ..." and that is exactly the feeling today in many an Israeli heart. For once, so many of us thought we actually were on the verge of finding more points of unity than disunity.  For once, in a very long time, we would put aside the fighting, the discontent, the disagreement and yes, even the hate, and break out of the mold. That which has imprisoned Israel these past few years within a cracked no good container.

It appears that this container with the state of Israel within turned back the clock to the day of elections and the results are disappointing. The Israeli electorate couldn't let go of its dangerous hold on nastiness and the result? Take a look at the title. The same discord and disunity with nasty overtones as the day before the elections. Apparently, there is some kind of an inertia within this nation that does not present the best side of Israel. The pride of Israel in its enormous contributions to the world, its history as the People of the Book, the determination and resilience of the Jewish nation, remaining always within its Biblical territories and returning in ever growing numbers to its always and forever ancestral homeland. 

Why is it that we can never seem to be able to put aside the rancor within the ranks of Israeli politicians and the confusion rampant among its population?  Why is it in fact the terrible, ever returning situation wherin one group not only turns its back on another, but unsheathes its claws in order to gain the upper hand, the next level?

We appear to have lost sight of the facts. They ignore the rather brutal reality in which Israel, its population, and the Jews living abroad are to be found these days. There appears to be an eternal truth. That no matter what path the Jewish nation chooses, be it new or time worn, no matter how we vote, how many concessions we make, how much of our blood is continuously shed upon the lands of the Earth. No matter what is the truth of the matter.

The world resents our absolute clinging to survival and even thriving. It conflates the Jews abroad and criticisms within one ugly knot. And we here in Israel forget, even as we seek unity, we cannot allow it to deteriorate into a state of brutal and stifling uniformity. 

It is a genetic truth that we Jews have arguments within themselves and find at least one more opinion than there are people dispensing those opinions. That, in fact, has contributed to our resilience. The good Lord knew we would need strength to make our way through the opposition to our existence and so he has endowed us with stubbornness, a refusal to quit, and an intellect which always finds a way through. Which ensures our survival and thriving in all situations and our contributions to every field of interest among humanity.

 This annoys people. Those overflowing with the ugliness of hate and murder in heart. Whose days are not complete without contributing to an ever-growing Anti Semitism, a rabid JewHatred. Worse is the growing concern and acknowledgement that much of this rampant and growing murderous hatred is encouraged and brought about by those who have found the way through to an ugly unity among the haters. Created well-funded organizations which rapidly increase the spread of this existential danger. And make no mistake about it - it is clearly existential.

All of this rancor among the people encourages the foes to strive even harder, ever so, until their godless goals are met. The nation of Israel has found itself in this situation before. It does not and will not defeat us. The Being with the final sayso over the fate of all has long been our sworn Protector.

 However, as it has been in all of our history...

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

We must pay attention to all that is around us.

We must be careful lest our love of oral discussions and opinions lead us down the wrong paths.

We must be careful not to allow those who hate us to gain the upperhand.

We miss watch and understand and see clearly the hands of those who would smack us.

In all the nations of the world even as antisemitism, and Jew hatred grows. Ever more acidic.

And ever more dangerous. The power and influence of those who would see us weakened, the existence of a State of Israel teetering on the edge of yet another destruction.

As the power of the foes within, the wrong thinking, grows ever more powerful, until we realize too late what we have done.

So, to those who have proclaimed themselves to be our leaders, must now stand tall, erect and righteous in manner and thought, in action and deed.

In optimistic and fruitful unity and coalition of all the various  segments within the nation.

Only this way will we survive.

Only if we remember that we are all sisters and brothers. Family.

Only if we remember and put our faith and trust in the One Above.

FOR WHOM, FOR WHAT?

  A somewhat modified saying told us, "You pay your money and you make your choice". But these days before we can even get to choose, to make a decision, we have to make our way over, even around, so many hurdles. We need to learn to pick ourselves up when we inevitably fall or trip over those same hurdles. In addition, not every hurdle is of the same height and width, nor spaced at even intervals, and thus we cannot even measure our steps and prepare for the jumps and whatever one needs to make one's way in this world.

The world itself is not conducive to figuring out how to run this race of crazed hurdles. Even with money in hand, it is impossible to make that choice. To whom do we offer our funding? To whom, in whom, do we place our trust, our very hopes, our chances for a fruitful life ahead, for us personally, and for the world in general? 

In fact, even when we believe we have made our choice, our final choice, be it happily or reluctantly, suddenly the moderator of that choice and his presentation will veer one way or another. Sideways, forwards or backwards, in such a way as to becloud and question the correctness and the durability of these choices. In this mixed-up unsteady world, the choices and consequences are so interwoven that even as one sets out on the proper path, at least at that time, that proper path can lead us to the edge of a cliff with no way to move in any direction. 

That situation leads to a hardening of viewpoint out of desperation and a hard crust forming over all that that choice would engender. Too often within that crust we lose the very essence of what the choice would have meant, and what it does mean right now. The end result is one standing there with cash in hand, mind made up, and then the world inverts itself and all standing there, ready to make the choices, are confounded and left back at the start. Perhaps even moving further backwards and we find ourselves back at the races with all sensible and productive choices moving way ahead of us at a pace which makes catching up almost impossible.

So, making a choice is not so easy.  Paying one's money could even prove to be dangerous and nasty consequences befall us without warning and without any solution as to how we get back on track. And that unfortunately is the state of the world today. Not only Israel whose critical Election Day is today. A day which has the possibility, even sadly, the probability of driving deep blades into the cracks formed within this nation. Leading those who wish us harm to cast their eyes upon us and once again and again and again attempt to destroy us. We know that try as they might they will never reach that point that is their goal. We have proven that to hit us hard is merely a sign for us to rebound and reunite, even if it takes time.

However, to further complicate matters, what if the situation is worse than we had thought? What if all the countries of the world, so many of them facing election choices right now, have lost their own way? In desperation they seek out their past   almost consistently bypassing the positive aspects and adhering to the negative ones. Thus, confounding and compounding the worst, leaving us far worse than ever. More hopeless that we can ever again seek gainfully the proper ways and bypass all the traps in the road ahead, all the pitfalls, all the tricky hurdles awaiting their success. 

Is there a way out? Is there any which way, manner, shape or form that we could find true hands and the wise heads which indeed do deserve to be our choices? But with the mess in the USA right now also at this critical moment trying to resolve the questions of its identity and the true meaning of its history, with Europe now burning its roots tossing aside its history and its contributions to mankind, to the growth of Western civilization in positive manner, is there a reliable, trustworthy answer to the questions of the title?

I am not sure of that any longer. I see the worst elements of societies pushing their way past all those before them. I see the worst of those once great civilizations coming to the fore and all of its tenets being misinterpreted, which only brings out the worst for productive life in the world. Why? Why have the believers of Islam, of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, all the sects within, turned their heads away from the true essence of these religions and instead adhered to misinterpretations and contradictions?

The lexicon of words of positive aspects of beliefs   are shrinking fast, leaving only the growing worst of humanity to be the management of the world today. It bodes no good for anyone. It squeezes all the positive juices, all the joys of the various religions, leaving instead a concentrated compound of all that makes it ugly and impossible to survive.

Yesterday and today and tomorrow.

 Why does humanity continue in those paths of missteps and danger and bloody hate?

So, before you indeed pay your money and make your choice, think. Look back, look around and look forward before you pay that money and make that choice.

The world indeed, teeters on the wrong choices we persist in making.

EVERYONE FROM ALL OVER

  When my siblings and I were young but old enough to make our own "play dates” we still had to answer to the two who ruled our lives. To them we had to say explicitly every detail of that social engagement: who, when, for how long. What was the purpose? Make sure you call and remember, that if there was any problem, just give them a call and we would be picked up. 

Most of the time we would moan and groan as if the direst of requirements and limitations were placed upon us. We would claim we were old enough to make these decisions without reporting every detail. Without giving them a 'certified' list of who is going to be there. Most of the time we tried to get away with an answer of 'everyone from all over' is going to be there. Hence, we were entitled to be part of that everyone from all over. Most of the time, there were no issues but sometimes there were, and we would huff and puff re their cramping of our social lives. 'Unentitled' to the usage of their privileges as parents. Unnecessary. Yet there were times even as we demanded independence       without checks, there were times when we were forbidden to do something and even as we sulked, we breathed a sigh of relief because we ourselves were not sure exactly what and whom we would find in that ubiquitous 'everyone from all over'.

Saved from ourselves.

 Not surprisingly, we and our friends who also had been the 'victims' subjected to this 'nosiness', replicated it all when our children thought they were independent enough though not in the eyes of their parents. In fact, I will confess that to this very day when my children with fully grown children of their own, and these children have their own little ones, history repeats itself. The tendency for us is to ask, where are they going that day? What will they be doing? Who will be there? And what is the purpose of this event or meeting. Be sure to call us when you get there. And be sure to call us when you leave and are on your way home. And then, of course, when you get home. These days it does not necessarily have to be a phone call for texts work just as well.

At times we tried to rebel and sometimes succeeded. But it should be understood that to the very day of their death, in the last moments of their independent thoughts and thinking. those questions still arose and answers had to be given. We never, I never, at that point in time refused to answer. I gave them all the information they requested and explained what they did not understand. As for my own children well, read the above again.

So why am I writing this? Am I intending to give advice as to how to raise children? No, I am not. That is for the book that my son wrote "Parenting with a Plan" and quite successful at that.

No, I am writing this with a wider and grander scene in mind. That all ranks, all strata of society owe each other the sessions of questions and answers. It induces trust and reliability. It gives reassurance or provides the impetus to improve upon that which is projected into the worlds contained within the larger world which encompasses us all. It is in fact a necessity which is more ignored in the breach than in the keep. 

The fact is that there is a mutual responsibility for questions to be asked and answers to be given. Along with further explication of the import of those very same questions and answers. Without those sessions societies will tend to waver and wander off-road into dangerous situations which become difficult to improve upon. That is not good for humanity at all.

Look at the alliances of the nations of the world today. It can be clearly seen when nations are hobnobbing with the worst of the nations, choosing bad friends likely to exacerbate hostile situations on all sides. There must be ways of clarifying which nations, which leaders, which are the ones that everyone from all over should choose to hang with.

Take the nations of the world today. Look at their current situations and then think: have we, the inhabitants of the nations of the world, enforced the necessity to ask these questions? To answer these questions and to be satisfied in beneficial and thoughtful manner? To have an evolving understanding which works for most, if not all?

  The fact is that those who could fill the ranks of everyone from all over are not necessarily the ones from all over that we need to emulate, to be in contact with, to share and to learn with each other, for each other. There must be someone in charge. Yes, but whom and how? Is this a good person, a "Charles in Charge" who will save all with proper answers and solutions? Or have we joined ourselves, chained ourselves to those who do not ask the proper questions, who do not give proper answers to questions that are asked and who, in fact, refuse to engage in any proper give and take with any good endings possible. 

 This person in charge must have the benefit of the people relying upon him in mind They must be able to ask questions that might arouse some resentment which yet are questions that must be answered sometimes willingly, sometimes not.

The answer to and from those leaders must not be that same answer that avoids truth and allows for cover ups. That everyone from all over answer which ickles the bones of every parent I know. To give those answers hopefully in thoughtful and respectful manner with good intent in mind.

When we engage in that rather desperate way of governmental politics we end up with the nations of the world today. In these countries there is no good leader or committee in charge who will respectfully answer questions and pose proper questions. And respond with thought.

Where are those leaders, everyone from all over' which are touted about but are rather lacking and cannot fulfill the desperate need of mankind for these good people.

 France. The UK. Ireland. Scotland. Spain. Portugal.

The United States of America. Israel. Etal.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Why must we all be attracted to that which is wrong, to those who are incompetent, to those who have selfish ideas in mind.

Is this an inborn fallacy, a flaw within human nature, or is it the result of a free will given to us by the Lord Above who hopes to see His creations improve upon themselves rather than fall down to the depths of those evil everyones from all over.

So far humanity has been on the wrong track, way far off track. If we do not get our act together soon, immediately, if not sooner, the portents for this, for the future of this world, for a beneficial positive future for humanity are short. perhaps not even worth a solid bet.

Questions anyone?

Even better - answers anyone?  

DO WE REMEMBER WHAT WE MUST?

  Trust is a rare commodity these days. No one seems to have any, certainly not any to spare and certainly not even an adequate supply, as is right now. We do not even trust those in whom we should have trust, to whom we have given trust. Even though there is good reason these days to be able to track a loved one as violence can develop spontaneously, unexpectedly, all too often that lack of trust has developed due to other reasons. 

Can I trust my child to be where he/she said they would be? Can I trust my spouse or partner to be at the proper place as promised? Employers track their employees along with the process, the progress of that process these employees are supposed to be dealing with. Is there that little niggling pinch inside us on the premise that, better to know than to trust stupidly. The almost unseeable shake or nod of the head even among discussions among friends. This lack of trust has become part of our daily lives and evaluations, all the worse for it.

This implicit or explicit lack of trust has indeed presented society with a conundrum. How can we possibly move forward in the proper manner when we do not have trust in the person with whom we are negotiating or asking to do something that demands moral courage and open defiance against those who have not the best of motives at play. Is it even possible anymore to have trust that the partners at play here, from a child's pinky swear to the signing of national and international documents?

We want to know what exactly the final goals and motivations are and can they even be found and understood in the rather murky and threatening world of AI? What do we do with all the emails and what's apps which thrust supposed cures and defenses against possible and probable and existing threats to us and to our lives via AI? This dense coating of AI driven mistrust actually appears to be growing in manner, not conducive to the progress of humanity. Certainly not in the proper direction, not like the menus proffered to us which stressed the goodness that was supposed to emerge from the growing capabilities of AI machinery.

Yes, there are many good things which have emerged that cannot be denied. However, there is that creeping at ever faster rate of intrusion into the basic foundational pillars of societies around the world, from democracies to authoritarian which do not bode well for humanity. For me, in fact, after my first Terminator movie, it actually began to dawn on me that this new disguised Western carried far and more away of consequencesthan had been in other sci-fi movies.

These new machines were not R2-D2. Always in supportive role and manner to and for the humans with whom they were involved. The inevitable growth of independent intelligence of these machineries, and yet we continue to insist on growing their liberty to make decisions on their own and to implement those decisions in manner and speed that are inimical to mankind. There were many who scoffed at my fears, but baby, look at us now!

Mounting warnings and examples of AI gone rogue. Not only from AI ignorant people such as I am but also from the heads of the corporations engaging in this behavior, in these developments all the way through to the directives and chief s of AI monitoring governmental departments with ever growing pessimistic observations and predictions. With words warning us that perhaps not only are we at the point of no return but have actually gone way past it. We take our instructions from these AI beings. We too often base our plans of action and no action upon their instructions.

On October 8th the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) Chief told world leaders and heads of other cyber defense organizations that the risk of losing control over these AI beings is quite intense. He called upon other nations to immediately establish clear and immutable boundaries of sovereign authority .Yet today there is a steady diet, a flow of incidents where AI hacking and interference within the computer systems is ever more rampant.

His report stated thus:" as cyber-attacks become faster, more automated and more targeted, defensive systems will also need to detect, decide and act at machine speed, beyond the point at which human approval can be obtained for every action."

He further stated that " The paradox, however, is that the more autonomy a system is given the harder it becomes to understand its decisions and actions in time and determine who is accountable when something goes wrong."

There are many current attacks which exploit vulnerabilities within the systems of a nation for which there is no security patch. This is known as "zero day” vulnerability and beyond that we are at the point from whence there is no return. The question which is now upon us is how we recover, if possible. How do we tap into the innate brilliance and capabilities of the human race with urgent yet benign intentions to rescue us from what seems to be unstoppable?

The answers to this are not within my brain which has an inborn opposition to the reliance we have been growing, upon the use of AI in our lives. Yes, to spread proper information - not misinformation. Yes, to help doctors and lawyers perhaps find means by which they can help their clients. The same in any field but certainly not cripple the creativity of the creators, the artists, the musicians, the authors, the poets, the essayists who are often among the best of humanity and most critical in a genuine growth of a nation and civilization.

This scenario is almost unimaginable in the existential threat it presents  to humanity. In its causalities and effects and growing usage of soulless decisions by soulless AI equipment - and yes, absent the aspects of humanity, of the restraint of humanity, more frightening and threatening to the continuation of this race, this species which has the power to enhance or destroy.

Perhaps on the more human scale we can emphasize the further damage done to humanity by making trust in other humanity, the rest of humanity, almost impossible in any kind of long-term manner. The world has lost the concept of trust, its importance to the development of a world at peace, internationally and nationally within. We must earn that trust from others, even as they can trust us.

It is a difficult concept to understand and to implement. But without it we will continue to cut each other apart, ourselves and our enemies from within and without. Humanity will inherit nothing of any worth and inevitably will destroy humanity amidst the rubble  remaining.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Why must we constantly repeat the past without its lessons being used for better futures and better presents. I can't remember who said it, but in fact there remains only the past and the future. Nothing at present, for we have already lived it or are awaiting it to be lived. The decision for that existence is upon us to make. Unfortunately, we always tend to be on the roads of wrong decisions.

 Is it not time to grow up to assume responsibility for what has been and for what would be? Is it not time that we return to cohesive units aiming only for the betterment of the people and nations and the world at large?

"Firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something:"

"Acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation:"

"the state of being responsible for someone or something""

 The world of choice and the state of the world is upon us

Hopefully we'll make the right choice and find the proper trust.

Tick-tock.

HAUNTED

  Weird dream last night. Each time I went back to sleep hoping that the dream had disappeared, but it had not. In a way, I could understand. What happened? Ever since October 7th, 2023, and the horror, the multiple horrors of that day, that week, and the months and years that followed, the repeated portrayal of a beautiful young woman Shani Louk, tossed like trash on top of a heap of other captives, epitomized it all for me. 

A young woman, at the beginning of a life awaiting, cut off from that life in a most disrespectful manner. A death of debasement, a death most horrific, a death which has haunted me since my very first sight of that barbaric scene. A death which has represented the innate cruelty of the foe. 

And the hopelessness of trying to make a meaningful peace with those who have spurned the rest and the best of humanity. Who have engaged in cruel magnification and implementation of the worst of humanity. Those whose connection to truth and justice, to a lasting peace, are and were always in glaring absence, even as the world refused and continues to refuse to accept that basic building block of a regime dedicated to blood and hate. To the complete elimination not only of the State of Israel, but of the entire Jewish nation.

That photo of Hamas and it's "innocent civilian" abettors doing their best to do their worst, to drag a half clothed young woman who had done nothing to them but had offended them for one reason only, in the fact that she was Jewish. That rather concrete and early portrayal of the atrocities already taking place - it is for me, even as there were others filtering through, the very clear delineation between normal human frailties and wrong thinking and doing to the bestial behavior we expect only of animals and not humans.

We went to the Gaza envelope communities along with the site of the slaughter at Nova to pay our respects, to light memorial candles, to daven at the sites. To think, to feel, to cry, and to be heartened by those who had avoided the slaughter of the killing fields, by those who had died giving aid to others, complete strangers.

There were myriad sites to see. To feel. To allow our tears to drip into the grounds. But the memory burned into my brain of Shani Louk in the back of that truck on top of that obscene and godless heap of trashed bodies and raised guns of those oh so proud of their ugliness and inhumanity. Along with the memorial site and the incredible saga of those 16 little girls, observers, whose diligent devotion to duty had them calling out warnings of what they saw. Barely soldiers, newly inducted, and those taken hostage to live a death in life until freed.   Beaten, abused, made fun of, ridiculed along with the picture. And the story of those 16 little girls observers whose observations were denied and downplayed. The bravery with which they fought and met their end and the arrogance of those who had denied the truth they presented. 

These pictures, these stories of heroism and courage, the arrogance of those who thought they knew better - all rolled up into one ugly ball of the best and the worst of mankind. The best shone through to give us encouragement that all was not lost. We had our own brave and beautiful souls whose voices called out to us in the darkness, in the truths of our dreams. Not to forget them nor their sacrifices. To keep them alive in the history of Israel. 

And so, when I felt the deep inner need to somehow capture my emotions of that visit to the memorial to brave souls, to those who died once again Al Kiddush Hashem, a too frequent event in our history as a People, in prominent placement were these young ladies. In picture and words. In emotion and in tears and in awe.

And so occasionally, Shani visits me in my dreams reminding me to remember them and why they had been massacred. To remind all of what we had lost, but also of what we had gained. A signpost throughout to remind us of what we had to do, in whose footsteps we must of necessity, walk. Till the end of time. Till there is no more of these horrors. To remain strong and determined. To remain as the best of humanity even in the midst of the very worst of humanity.

Thus it has always been.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

 Should I ever, G-d forbid, forget my duties, to write, to speak, Shani will remind me.

As will the items on the wall that are Oct7 to me.

WAZE FOR LIFE

 Personally, it makes a no never mind for me whether we use Waze or GPS or any format which gives us directions as to how to arrive safely and in good time to the destination we desired. And to understand at the same time that it is OK if a segment of direction is a bit astray and we venture into new areas, provided that these new areas have something to contribute to our life rather than imperil it. At present that is not the case. Not at all.

That is why we check the directions and peruse the route suggested before we actually set out on our journey. We prefer to avoid areas of possible strife and trouble. We prefer to take the roads which are not cutting edge cliff ones or unpaved or rutted by time and enmity, of an uncaring attitude. We prefer to avoid the troubles. But too often we do not understand that in order to understand that possibility of danger and peril we must delve into the why it exists and the ways in which we can eliminate that peril. Unfortunately, that is not the case and we remain mired in a world posing danger seen and unseen. Foreseen and unforeseen.

In doing so we are actually cutting our own throat. We are diminishing the quality of our lives and the lives of others who would benefit from intermixing, from the sharing of commonalities and the understanding of differences. Richness in life comes from reaching out into new areas of interest, into possible areas of accomplishment which had never been expected. Sharing does not mean emulating oneself in a forced repression of that which is different, but rather an understanding and an advantage which provides an understanding is rather important if we are to keep this cockeyed wobbly world of ours on a steady and maintainable route, one which allows for the glories of it to be revealed and shared with all of humanity.

Unfortunately, we have gone way in the polar opposite direction. We hoard discoveries. We hide them in cupboards of government and poor intellectual thinking. We do not accept realization that to place a piece of this world in eminent danger is to place the pieces of their world in as much danger, perhaps even more. We seek out that which separates us rather than that which unites us. Instead of solving the equations for possible, profitable, positive solutions we throw in quirks, additions and ginned up conditions out of nowhere, hence making solving that equation just about impossible. 

And we are all the worse off for that situation.

I do not believe I am a non-seeing Pollyana whose vision of what could be, should be, somehow magically transforms in one's mind to what is reality. Forcing that misconception only leads to misunderstandings unable to be resolved by any other means other than war. We humans have too many flaws within us that we all share and it will be difficult indeed to try to mesh those flaws into a repairable net which encompasses all of humanity. A net which creates a womb of safety and from which we all feel safe to exercise our minds to not only think beyond the box but go out of that box and find new positivity, new solutions to the negatives of life. Of all, not only our own but of the rest of the world as well.

Yet I wonder if this is possible. I wonder if there is any new or repairable app which will help us weave our ways into the log jams of humanity. Aiding those refusing to see the way out and the way we then find each other and create new routes and new destinations. Think about a world that could be and should be, if only. If only.

And I pick up a daily newspaper or magazine, articles that have been highlighted, so as to catch more eyes and settle more attention upon them and the despair rises up. It permeates every breath we take, as we wonder if that is the real truth out there.  Why do we all deny that which is glaringly present, that which would make our world so much better in so many ways?

Why is it that we must always find groups that somehow differ in style, in thinking and take those differences that we often have managed to create and exaggerate and use them as hammers to drive deeply and viciously and/or stupidly into the differences within society rather than find the willpower, the knowledge and the ability to close those gaps? Why do we not actually discover the powers we have within ourselves to better the human condition? Why do we instead use these very same attributes and turn them into deficits?

I certainly cannot speak for anyone other than myself. But I ask, why do we not look around and see the truth? Why are we so opposed to it? I just read of a big festival for movies highlighting both the differences and the similarities of people assigned to the bubble of "gay” and the people outside that bubble. Why have we not yet acknowledged the identical angst as people of all bubbles attempt to find a good place for themselves. A place where they can share life with friends and family and loved ones, partners to make a life together. 

Why do we not see that all the bubbles of the world contain all the peoples of the world, and we all have the same assets and liabilities, the same flaws and positive traits. Prone to making similar errors in life and dreaming of the same as we all do. No matter the bubble into which we have been placed, with or without our consent. What would be, could be and should be, if, instead of outlining and demeaning those who are different from us in some conceivable area, we accepted those differences and accentuated the similarities within.

My enemy across the border or over the sea also has similar dreams. Why is it impossible for us and for them to acknowledge that we all have people we love being placed into eminent danger even to the point of death. Do we find the death of an enemy more satisfying to us, more enriching of our lives than watching with open and happy eyes the progress of our children, of our own lives? Why is it that within our own flaws along with the flaws contained within the others, we cannot find that point wherein we can eliminate those flaws, minimize them, allowing for link up and an end, a stop to the slaughter and bloodshed. To disappear the fear which pervades our life. The fear which precludes our thinking of all that would enhance life for all of humanity rather than that which restricts it.

No, I am not suggesting we all go out and Jew and Muslim hug each other and think that is all that is needed. Nor am I suggesting that the targets of hate of the Squad donate funds to them. Nor am I suggesting thinking that all Americans and Chinese, and all Russians and Ukrainians, will find the commonalities and dismiss the separations overnight. That would be a miracle highly desired, but I doubt that possibility will ever arise.

It will take time, a great deal of time and I am not so stupid as to think that there will not be further bloodshed and more battles. It is within the nature of mankind, but why cannot we educate, and think, and talk of the better, more positive aspirations and abilities of humanity and set goals in that direction, rather than continue to use the broken roads we already have traversed so many, many times?

Meyer Rothschild sang his plaintive plea "In My Own Lifetime". The movie Exodus caught the imagination and the emotions of the world. Yet today, those emotions are foregone, deposited somewhere in the trash heap of humanity, where all good ideas and possibilities are discarded.  

The names are interchangeable. The goals of domination are the same. Inevitable conflict and vicious opposition are glaring. Why do persist in taking the broken ways rather that the new ones outlined clearly, merely demanding that we have the courage to begin at the start and prepare for the miles ahead, difficult, yet rewarding, if only we make the effort and are ready to begin again and maintain course until the changes become permanent.

If only. 

If only Waze and GPS would work better. If only the paper maps of old would have been clearer in highlighting the areas fraught with danger, steering us clear of peril.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

If only.

If only we were more agile and astute in knowing where to step forward, where to retreat and where to find alternate passages bringing us closer to the best we could be.

If only we would understand that each and every one of us, in one degree or another, share the same goals, the same ambitions, the same love of family, the same sense of sacrifice, willing to be exploited if there is a positive outcome.

Yesterday I had occasion to meet a young Arab man who proudly showed me the picture of his 4-month-old little beautiful baby boy as I shared with him the picture of my beautiful little baby boy great-grandson, also 4 months old.

A beautiful dream if these two little, beautiful baby boys, these innocent little beings, were able to grow up to be best buddies. Or business partners. Whatever can come of a positive relationship.

It is the job of adults who must enable that dream to become reality.

One day.

And always to remember

We are AM.

Always and forever.

BANQUETS AND SUCH

 We all know about those rubber chicken dinners called banquets we 'must' attend because they are in support of organizations we ourselves support or are honoring a friend or family member. We hope that our efforts have been worthwhile and simply suck up the annoyance and the burden as it is an intimate part of our lives as people living in a community and more particularly, as Jews living all over the world and especially in Israel, our eternal homeland.

However, banquets have another purpose in life. I believe this use of the term banquets is the best I have seen and a message of warning to those who believe they are immune to the consequences of their actions. It originates from Robert Louis Stevenson.

"Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences."

We so often go blithely through life thinking we are free as a bird, no thoughts of consequences unpleasant - at least till we are on the other side of life wherein we are supposed to have a "din v'chesbon", an evaluation of our assets and liabilities of the soul. There it is expected to be the place where we pay the bills outstanding, the balances due, the consequences of and for what we have done or not done in our lives on this earth. Truthfully, the exact consequences are unknown, as no one has been there and come back to tell us. 

However, there will be definite ones taking place on the physical world of our lives and we are warned not to be so arrogant as to think one is immune from the consequences of our actions. Literature and history are realms of consequences coming back to bite one in sensitive places, and so many of these effects are presented as warnings, or as lessons to be internalized within and for those in similar situation. Banquets are notoriously effective in relaying the truths to those who would deny it.

Queen Esther gathered her wits and knew there would be consequences, quite probably of great harm to her and her people, but still, she "screwed her courage to the sticking point" and went to the King's feast in a brave attempt to save her people. There indeed were consequences. Positive ones for our people and certainly negative ones for Haman and sons and his acolytes as they earned the permanent consequence of death. 

One might have hoped that the message would be taken but unfortunately, its lesson was minimized and further banquets were required. That nothing is for nothing and something is always for something, is a precept of life we must understand. Shakespeare understood that as can be seen in the visit of the ghost of Banquo to Macbeth at a royal feast.

The lessons about banquets and feasts and feeding people, from Abraham and the three angels all the way through to Daniel when the warning was written on the wall (giving rise to the saying that the words are written on the wall), the consequences clearly resultant from that which came before. Even in our times, 2026, how many speeches are given which contain threats due to what came before or that which is now, and that which might come tomorrow. Yet the ties and the knots of common sense and wisdom often come undone and all that remains are the knots of anger and hate giving rise to more ugliness. So much of the time conveyed to us at times of 'feasting, rubber chicken dinners and the like. Too often with nothing good to eat, no good thoughts to think, and no path to positive achievement to be seen.  

Why is it that only the wiser elements of society, and I am not talking about economic divisions, but rather of those with the willingness and capability to actually delve into matters deeper than the surface. To indeed find answers, to find questions that need to be asked and then find the answers to them. And why is it when those who raise the alarms, blow the whistles calling attention to the issues, are ignored. The ears of the rest of the world deaf to them. Their hearts locked tight even as their souls blacken daily and the ugly consequences, or the absence of good consequences, are glaringly in our faces.

The worst takes place when the momentum of the negativity speeds up and we actually buy into it. We accept the poisoned words spewed out. Hate served along with every course; the sour aromas inhaled along with the tainted air of the room dyed deeply with the hatred to be found in these words.  The words and thoughts and actions of hate. 

The consequences are clear. The negativity, the hatred, the bigotry, and all the harm incumbent upon their definition and activation, even unto violence and death are 'generously' shared with those who will walk along that path of hatred and bloodshed. Words are mouthed with nothing behind them but a vacuum of truth and honesty and a nest of welcome for the ugly of souls. Acts of violence are perpetrated mostly upon the chief target, in this case, and too often throughout history, the people of the nation of Jews. Pathetic words are mouthed concerning combating these types of hatreds, even perhaps going to the point of supposedly assigning some funds to combat it. Out of their split tongues at the very same moment come the very same words which have in truth incited, through the centuries, the very JewHatred they claim to be combating.

Mamdani and his accomplices along with those of the Jewish nation who cannot see past the nose on their face and join with the enemies. They think that they are immune to the Hatred wafting through the air, smacking the objects of the hatred. Falling for, agreeing with, the demand to be the "accepted” Jew. To amputate an integral part of their body and soul. To bear and even laugh with the snide Jewish   jokes. To support stereotype characters of Jewish people. To deny the unity of the Jewish people. To deny vigorously their support of Israel as our indigenous homeland, from the first Jew, Abraham, to the newest newborn. To deny peoplehood when something good arises but to fall in with dirty claims of peoplehood when something negative happens. To do as they wish, when they wish, without consequence.

We all know that consequences are an immutable part of the human condition. Nothing done or undone goes unnoticed. There is no 'scott free' of consequences. Be it in this world or in the world to come. In life, or in life after death, to deny that is to deny a Truth never to be erased.

Yes, there will be a banquet for us all. Some of us will have sirloin steak while others will have undercooked chicken. Where would you rather be? What would you desire on your plate? And what will you say when beneath your dinner plate lies a list of the payments due, even overdue, And the deadline already passed.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

It makes for a no, never mind outlook on life. We know that consequences and their respective feasts will always be there and hide as one might, those consequences will find the ones meant to be the recipients of them, good and bad, serious or inconsequential.

And we know always that as the Lord is our Protector we will never be defeated.

WE  ARE  AM.

AM YISROEL

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

LANETZACH

FOREVER

AM YISROEL CHAI.

WORDS OF TRUTH, FROM THE HEART TO THE HEARTS

 Please that the bold print is my addition.

 Many there are of those who wish to twist and even deny a history, as we find in Obama's obscene speech. Many who support Israel, all Jews, often do so in well-meaning words but they are dry and do not catch nor transmit the true depth of feeling within this 'topic'. It too often misses the target and falls by the wayside.  

Read the words below spoken by Noa Tishby at an October 7th memorial. The mere fact that we have to have a memorial in the year 2026 is frightening and embarrassing and deadly. Read the words below. Simple. No heavy philosophical words that no one understands. Just plain language that speaks to the heart. An issue in an excellent presentation. Pass the speech on to those who hate, and to our people as well who need some clarification and words of truth. There are some will finally hear the truth and act accordingly. 

"On the third anniversary of Oct. 7, Noa Tishby delivered a speech at the memorial event at the Saban Theatre. Here is her introduction, followed by the speech. 

This speech is my honest look at where we are as a Jewish community. We’ve spent three years grappling with the aftermath of Oct. 7, and it has left a mark on us. I see Jews who are hurting, tired, and unsure of themselves, and I wanted to explain how we got here. That’s why it’s so important that we remember who we are. We are Am. And nobody else gets to tell us otherwise."

---

"Good evening. Thank you, StandWithUs, thank you, Soroka Hospital, and thank you for the incredible doctors that are present here with us, Dr. Abd Abu Ganim and Dr. Zvi Perry. You were there on Oct. 7, at Soroka. You took care of the wounded and the dead, you embody for us what love and coexistence is and what the future of the Middle East looks like.

Three years. Three years since the worst day in the history of the State of Israel and the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Tonight, we honor the memory of those slaughtered on Oct. 7 and those who have fallen since. We will never forget them, or the broken hearts of the families who mourn them.

We remember, even in a world where far too many seem determined to forget, or to twist the truth of that day and everything that followed upside down.

In addition to the evil and barbarism of Hamas, something else was unleashed that day. Terrorists were still slaughtering their way through southern Israel when Jews around the world were hit with a barrage of hatred so seething, so violent, it caught many by surprise.

And as the years went by since that horrific day the hatred and the danger got worse. I want to unpack it.

Within hours of the massacre, we saw organized demonstrations, student groups, NGOs and social media accounts blaming Israel for the attack, immediately accusing Israel of genocide, and calling kidnapping Holocaust survivors a matter of “context.” We heard chants to “Free Palestine,” “by all means necessary,” “from the river to the sea,” and even calls to “gas the Jews.”

This hate was preplanned. It was the product of a deliberate campaign, decades in the making, that brought together a bizarre range of social and political movements, aided and abetted by Islamist states and groups, over one cause: destroying the Jewish state.

After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel’s enemies realized that they would not be able to take it down militarily. So they shifted their strategy to geopolitics and started playing a long game, creating a worldwide campaign to delegitimize Israel’s existence.

An entire infrastructure of anti-Israel, antisemitic, antizionist hate had been built over decades. A powerful propaganda ecosystem was primed and ready to be activated.

By the time Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, many in academia, media and post-colonial studies all over the Western world already knew who to blame. For every evil.

It was simple for them. Israel is an apartheid state, the last bastion of colonialism. The Jews, or “Zionists,” are agents of evil, and the Palestinians are the perfect underdogs, without any agency of their own, and immune to any moral scrutiny.

On Oct. 8, 33 Harvard student groups signed a letter that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” That’s not a normal response when terrorists have massacred and kidnapped young people at a music festival and murdered families in their homes. It’s a moral inversion.

At that point in time, many people could still see reality clearly: Hamas committed a despicable atrocity, Israel was attacked and, like any other country in its place, would have to fight back and fight back hard. But as the war in Gaza continued, many people got confused. The country attacked became portrayed as the aggressor.

And the same people who on Oct. 7 refused to call Hamas terrorists now demand that we call the war that followed a “genocide.”

So let me say this clearly: There is no genocide in Gaza. There has been a war in Gaza that Israel did not choose but was forced to fight. Is war ugly? Yes. Do innocent civilians who have suffered deserve our compassion? Yes. Have mistakes been made? Most likely, and they should be investigated. Does that constitute a genocide? Absolutely not, and saying it over and over again will not make it a reality.

This abuse of language is not rational or moral: it is becoming the latest in a long line of purity tests: call it a genocide or get harassed, attacked and canceled. Once again, like so many times in history, Jews are being pushed out of the public sphere.

We cannot become confused. Not about this lie and not about the other lies they tell about us.

We need to remember who we are. On Oct. 7, many Jews around the world were jolted into remembering. Even if they had never set foot in Israel, they felt the attack was happening to them. They knew it. But since that day, and as this war that was forced on us continued, many Jews got confused. They started believing the lies, the genocide lie, and again forgot who they are.

So here is a reminder. The Jews, we are not a religion. We have a religion.

Like the author Dara Horn says, “It’s not complicated, it’s just old. Jews are a joinable tribal group with a shared history, homeland and culture. That’s a whole sentence in English. But in Hebrew, it’s just two letters: Am. We are Am Yisrael.”

They will tell you that they love Jews, it’s just Zionism that they hate. They will tell you that if you call the war a genocide, call Israel evil and agree that it should be destroyed, only then, as a Jew, you will be accepted. They will tell you that they love Jews individually, they just don’t like us in a group. But we are a group. We are a people. We are Am.

Throughout history, Jews have been told that we will be accepted as individuals if only we renounce the reality of who we actually are, and throughout history, some Jews have gone along with it. Some are going along with it now.

This isn’t about whether Israel is perfect, no country is. It isn’t about whether you can criticize its government – you can, and we do.

But that is not what the antizionist hate movement is asking you to do. What they demand is that you separate yourself from your people, your history and your land. They are asking you to define your Jewish identity on THEIR terms and not your own. But who are they to tell us who we are? It is up to us to remember who we are.

Do not get confused. Do not internalize the hate. They want to shame you into saying what they want you to say and being who they want you to be, but that is not who you are. That is not who we are.

We are Jews. We are a people with an indigenous homeland in the Land of Israel. Always have been and always will be.

We have stood against tyrannies for millennia and outlived them all, and we will outlive the current tyranny as well, whether it’s Hamas terrorists, their keffiyeh-wearing fans on college campuses or their supporters running or holding office. As long as we remember who we are, they will never win.

Stay strong. Be proud. Be AM Israel.

And Am Yisrael Chai."

ENOCHIAN

  Are you now scratching your head wondering what the title means? Well, before I undertook to finally read an old novel written by Dan Brown I also was confused. Basically, it is what some call it - the "angelic tongue", a  language that was 'discovered' in Prague in 1583 by two English Mystics. It was a language in which angels conversed with each other. Moreover, when in a mood to share, they did so with special humans as they transferred wisdom from one realm to another.

Can you imagine having a problem, divine or otherwise, and being able to turn to some special people who had the ability, the gift, perhaps the curse, of being able to talk with the beings on high. Only one intermediary level between humans and the Lord? Personally, I would be extremely frightened, and I certainly wouldn't want that responsibility, nor the 'gift' for certainly there would be many out there who would claim witchcraft. Charlatan. Challenger of any and all recognized religions. Whatever negative applicative would be out there front and center. For sure not an easy life. I believe we can see that when we read of the Prophets and the doubts and troubles laid upon them even as they were transmitting the words of the Lord to the people down below.

On the other hand, think what it could mean, what it would mean, if humans were gifted with the power of angelic language as angelic words were transferred from the mouth of one to the ears of another. Surely there would be at least a temporary halt to the nastiness that we often find in conversations and challenges from one side to another among human discourse. 

Think what it would mean if elections were conducted in an atmosphere of shared responsibility and commitment. Not to themselves and their positions but to all the others for which they hold responsibility. All the inhabitants of their lands and among the rest of the world as well, for the decisions and actions and words of humanity too often have consequences of such evil durability that we never know, nor realize that due to these actions and deeds and thoughts and words spoken, we have closed doors too many times on possibilities of hope and righteousness. In our arrogance and thoughtlessness, in our blindness, in our disability of refusing to see points of commonality, we mire ourselves deeper into enmity and conceit as we ride roughshod over the good and rush headlong into combat via words and deeds arising from those words. We cavalierly toss away so many possibilities to engage together to repair the conditions of mankind.

Surely, if we spoke Enochian and were able to put aside all that divides humanity, the gathering ugliness from the words of humans designed to challenge, to threaten, to rally the troops. To immerse them in a swamp of bloodlust, drowning all possibilities of protection against the inundation of minds and souls of the combatants.

Perhaps it would be placing the bar too high, impossible to attain as we learn of the battles between Angels or the jealousies of the gods of Greece and Rome. Perhaps we humans actually are meant to teach the angels and take them with us and together, we will share in the goodness and reject the evil, the violence, the many wars fought due to selfishness and greed.  

Brick by brick, we will dismantle the walls between humans and replace them with bricks with the purpose of building not walls of separation but rather walls outlining new and wide pathways for humanity to tread, for angels to add to the graces and the beauty and together build a world much better than that world in which we now reside. That world constantly under clouds of possible, even imminent threats of destruction.  Where humans deny the humanity of other humans.  

We need to find, even create, those bricks meant to help the creation of a new world, a better world where humans can thrive and advance together with all of mankind rather than separately, bashing all those claimed as enemies. Even as they too struggle with the same thoughts and needs Most important is that we find leaders who are devoted to rebuild to remake this world gifted to us by the One on High. The very world which we have twisted and demeaned perhaps so much so that the "angelic language" cannot pierce the walls of hate that Humanity has built, separating us all.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Perhaps we can create our own Enochian language. A language which will have no words of war and hate, of conflict and destruction. Only words and processes leading to good and fair solutions to the problems which afflict mankind, even though we ourelves built those problems with malice at heart, ideas which would create pathways to the dismantling of broken edged walls and replacing them with ones of beauty, allowing for the parts to return to a whole, as it was meant to be. To walk together as a unit rather than as divisions designed to fight wars. 

A world designed to foster life and creativity rather than bloodshed and destruction.

Enochian.

       

AND HOW ABOUT THAT!

   It never fails. Just about every time you think you've got to an understanding of an issue, of a situation, out of left field or right, comes an event or a statement which informs you of how much you don't know. In other words, you are gobsmacked, sometimes for the better, and sometimes simply impossible to understand in any reasonable manner. It cannot be and yet, it is. And so, as usual, we must take it as it comes and squeeze all that we can from it. All that benefits us, that helps us, even perhaps revealing before us some new paths, some new hopes upon which we can build.

It is no surprise to anyone right now that to be Jewish, to think in positive manner about your obligations as a Jewish friend, neighbor, is perhaps at the nadir in living as a Jew at this point in history. Traditional enemies of long-time standing have joined with once upon a time friends, once even allies. In other words, the climate for Jew and Jewish, for Zionist beliefs, is not necessarily the best of times, even as it is also at the peak of good relations.

Such a contradictory state of being. How can we be at the worst of times and yet also, at the best of times? It is always a good thing to know exactly where you are, where you stand with others. Where you stand with your people and where you stand with your G-d. It is good to know who truly your friends are or are they instead only fair-weather ones and in foul weather manage to turn away, deny any good connections and even intensify the negative possibilities.  

Recently I have read some interesting thoughts which have led me to think that perhaps all is not as bad as we think it is, as it could be. In fact, as it was in the past, though I am not denying the horrors of the past three years since October 7. I am not denying the rampant and ugly growth of Anti Semitism and the virulent JewHatrred that appears to be inundating the minds and souls and thoughts of too many people on this earth.

What I am saying is that we do have friends where we thought not. We do have people who will claim positive relationships, boast of the Jewish nation and what it has given to the world. We have people, who have come to Israel to march on our streets and support Zionism, the right of the Jewish people to live in Israel, to support Israel, and that idea that Israel is ours by right, by tradition, and straight from the words of the Lord. These are the people who now sign on to sites with a belief in Zionism, though they are not Jewish.

It is in the more unreal expectation of Jews as abnormal people, of perfection. But they have no more or less faults and virtues than other inhabitants on this earth. Their burden is to be a role model as a nation and as a people, whole and individually. It has led to many troubling moments in history. Held to a different standard, a double standard with no break given for any error in judgment, no step taken without being examined, undergoing powerful scrutiny. So many times, overwhelmingly critical and unaccepting of what took place. And why.

So many times bringing down hell on earth upon the Jews, snide comments, accusations. Jews have gone through many such times of terror, of expulsion, temporary and/or meant to be everlasting, softened only by needs of a nation for the advice and contributions the Jewish nation brought forth for them. It mattered not the country, nor the century or should I say, centuries. For no reasoning other than this. It all came down to one fact: that Jews are not welcome. 

All the canards down through the ages, constantly bombarded with accusations of dual loyalty, of attempts to bring down the nation in which they reside. It all boils down to that accusation. All else is merely secondary, attached to the interaction, to false and deadly accusation. When acted upon, of course, along with it come the "fringe" benefits - the acquisition of the combined wealth from the Jewish people within their nation and any other nation in which they reside. In the literature of history, fiction and nonfiction alike, many are the pages of description of how the enemies of the Jewish people ransacked their homes and businesses. Ripped jewelry from their necks and fingers and did anything and everything in order to appropriate or more likely misappropriate that which they desired.

We all know of the expulsion from Spain in 1492. We all know the history of the Holocaust wherein Jews were robbed of anything and everything they owned, including their own selves. (even as the haters deny it). However, many of us do not know all the other expulsions throughout history in many nations and are all within underlying "religious justification" - as if! the legend of the "Wandering Jew" condemned to wander the Earth until the 2nd coming, as punishment for harassing Jesus on his way to crucifixion. That accusation and guilt have been passed on and hung around the necks of Jews around the world and down through the years. It has never been fully retracted and hence, unfortunately, remains alive and well. 

England originated that horrific blood libel of 1144. The same blood libel that afflicted Mendel Ballis centuries later.

England burning alive Jews in the Tower of York.

England, expelling all of its Jews in 1290 in obedience to the commands of Edward II.

France - 1182, 1306, 1394. The miserable event of the Dreyfus affair wherein the accusation of dual loyalty rang loud and clear. French cops enthusiastically rounded up Jews in France to send them off to death. Vichy France which did not exactly provide haven for French Jews and other refugees on the run.

Various expulsions from German states and principalities, forced to find refuge in another state, which eventually expelled them too.

There are many more such atrocities, but there is no room to tag them all.Once we might have thought that all the above was ancient history. Yes, to be learned from and not to repeat and yet here we are, all over again, even to the point of enmity and hatred rising again with exponential force and speed. Jews living in Canada, in France, in Denmark, in Norway, in Iceland, in America are now asking themselves the eternal Jewish question. Where do we go now?   Why is this happening all over again? Why is Jew hatred in global manner supported and encouraged by supposed members and leaders of NGOS who seem to find their only justification for life, for existence, is to prosecute and persecute Jews as their most favorite target.

These are eternal questions for the Jewish people. I wish the answer would be equally as eternal, in  welcome, in recognition and acceptance as a nation of people only wishing to live in peace. Not desiring the lands of others, not desiring the wealth of others, but merely to live life in justice, in harmony and unity with all the peoples of the world. We have all been gifted with this world and we have most assuredly not been thankful enough for it. We have distressed it. We have abused it. We have even ignored its needs in the name of our own, leading to disaster for all.

When will the peoples of the world understand that none of us, nothing in this world, lives in a vacuum? What happens in one side of the world will eventually have an effect upon the other side. As long as we deny that, as long as we refuse to accept that and understand its inevitability, we will be living with the wrong goals, the wrong ambitions and the wrong behaviors. Our roads traveled will take us in the wrong direction and leave us at destinations which we should never approach. Certainly not if we were all of one sane mind and understanding of the Truth of our existence.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

It appears that we never learn. Not from the past, not from the present, and not for the future too, as foretold by our times.

It is all on us. Every single one of us. To see through the fog to the basic truths of life and not pick and choose as befits our desires, for upon that road remains only disaster.

SAYS WHO?

   Any source of news in print or online, on podcast, wherever, seems to be choosing to pass on news that is news only in their eyes and compromised by falsehoods. Anything which will convince its patrons to walk with them rather than seek out, if possible, a more nonpartisan source. Mind you that it is not only the purveyors of the news who promote this kind of misbehavior, but also those who patronize it, those who seek out it out. Clicking over and over again until they find the news that suits their taste.

Moreover, it has been found over the centuries that the better speaker, not necessarily the truth speaker, will be the one who carries the audience. Adding insult to injury, much of what it is contained in the words of those more talented orators are far from the truth. The truth would not be pleasing to the ears of those listening, to the ears and mindsets of those who devalue the truth and support the words crafted to attract and sooth, to confuse and to induce them to follow the wrong Pied Piper.

And it works. Too well. And for too long. 

Why does nobody form a union of brilliant minds dedicated to the truth rather than to opinions? Leaving behind their personal preferences or wishes of what would be, what should be. Why can they not come to an agreement actually defined and understandable in manner? What motivates humans? Do they have the wherewithal to create, or must they merely understand what is created, has been created for them and live together in a comfortable plane of compromise, understanding and acceptance. Can we not live a good life based on that which was created and then branch out with thoughts and processes emanating from that initial tree of creation and find a unity within? Room within for all? 

We know there is a possibility. We know because we have engaged in both sides of that argument.  Proof of that arises from within my life and yours and is both secular and religious in manner and application. Daily, we pick up a book, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and it matters not. Whatever it is the author has created from his mind, the minds of his readers will interpret as they wish. As they find meaning within that connects to their individual selves. As new creation grows from the initial creation.   

There is another side to creation. The Lord G-d has created a world for us to live upon, to improve upon, even as we improve ourselves. Sadly, we have been seriously lacking in fulfilling that task. From those very clear explications, we messed up. We interpreted using the arrogance of mankind. We remained willfully blind to the truths within. Instead of following the words and profound truths and thoughts of the creator, of taking lesson and meaning from all that was relayed to us, via this initial creation, we decided to become the creators ourselves, thinking we had to leave the original words to others as we chose new ones for ourselves. 

The initially created words set upon us the responsibility to grow these words and to create from them the bloom of new creations, positive in tone and intent and meaning. We, humanity, did so many times as we sought for justice and rights for all, for a society which benefitted its population rather than oppressed it. Those who interpreted the words correctly, tried and strived to imbue their new creations, the branches of the initial one, with intelligence and compassion, with honor and respect to all living beings. 

Those who did not, created and imposed their own false creations as an overlay to the true and original ones. Hence, they thereby diminished within the minds of all the truth of that original Creator and His creations. The first line of the Bible "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth." It does not say that he did so with the idea in mind of a stasis of disorder, crime and bloodshed. He rather allowed for new branches, new ideas, new creations stemming from the original, hewing close to it in its intent and goals.

Humanity, being overfull of hubris and self-importance, decided they cannot mesh all the thoughts within one theme. They claim a mammoth abyss which precludes the ability, the desire, with which to comprehend and build to greater depths and heights and widths all that could be found and brought to life. Ideas of creation which would infuse the original Creation with the gifts of new levels of creation, in thought and deeds.

One of the very first things we must do to improve the state of life upon this planet is to emphasize its glories rather than its apparent flaws and try as hard as one can. To find the point where differing ideas actually meet and touch and set forth new blooms, leading to creations which will enhance the original one and allow us to understand its possibilities and probabilities of proper and noble ideas rather than for self-glory and enhancement of one's own wealth. 

If we are to do that, we must explore further the meaning and the manifestations of human consciousness. We must find ways wherein those who are supporters of one theory as opposed to another, learn to delve deeper, to understand better and actually see within their own mind the unity that can be found in these seemingly opposing theories. It can be done. Yes, sometimes with great difficulty, but available, even new ones which had never before made themselves known to us, rise to the surface.

Read some of the following quotes which I assure you come from very different sources and see if and where you can find the possibilities, at least a way to start trying to work together to improve the situation and conditions of mankind, the lives of all including oneself.

"Coincidence is G-d's way of staying anonymous"

"With our thoughts we create the world."

"Whatever you ask for in prayers it will be yours."

"You have the power of G-d."

"Everything is created twice; first in the mind and then in reality"

"Everything you can imagine is real"

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

For all eternity.

Thinking within the minds of man and woman is a good thing. As long as we understand where the energy, the power to create new blooms according to truth and the best part of humankind originally arise.

Says who?

All of us.

But only with the truth.

V'ACHSHAV? AND NOW?

  So, in fact, what do we expect of the world today? Will there be a strong and unbreakable link between the current events and the events that will be taking place in the near future? Is there something now wherein I can actually have some effect in a positive manner on the fate of the world and its inhabitants?  Or is it the case of "farfallen"? No use. What will be will be. We will have to remain here in a stasis, unable truly to have any effect upon this troubled world of ours. Is the only thing left for us to do in any kind of positive and penetrating effect is the deepening of the depth of our fears? In our turning to our Creator and pleading in sincere manner, in sincere repentance and thusly to effect change upon the future spreading itself out before our very eyes.

Is this what we have to see? Is this what we must know deep inside the veins and arteries and sinews of our bodies and minds? To truly understand that we are the determiners of our own fate? That our Lord above acts as a recording secretary and mathematician who frequently adds up the summary of all that we have done and spoken? Who then takes on the difficult task to decide whether we have crossed a line of no return or in fact does there remain a single, small, narrow, rocky path back to where we should be, to what we should be, to all that the world should be.  

The responsibility of what will be the inevitable non-returnable non-reversible state of the here and now does not reside only upon the shoulders of one or two, or thousands of a particular state of mind in body, biological, physical, and political. It is an onus of duty which devolves upon the world.

 It calls for an understanding and acceptance that we now, via our actions and words, in our understanding of the power of the individual and the masses, internalize the ability and the duty to never give up, and move forth, both individually and en-masse, to never give up. This we learn from Avraham Avinu who challenges the Lord on His decision to destroy sinful cities. Perhaps, Abraham  thought, there are enough of the few to overcome the faults of the many and hence inject a new possibility of new and better futures for all. Of all.

 Whether we are successful or not is not the point. The point is never to throw our hands up in the air and say there was no other way. There was no other fate. We are to be doomed to wither away on the poisons we have sowed. There remains that possibility of the Lord who not only records, but who also understands and forgives and allows for yet another chance to do the right thing. To live in the right as we are meant to do. In fact, just as a few good deeds can redeem an individual, so too can the few righteous people among evil doers. It need not necessarily mean the redemption of all, but even the few can reseed and revive the barren earth. Revive the greenery that must be part of every person's life. 

This wondering and questioning, the seeking of the answer to what now, devolves not only upon the leaders of nations but also upon the individuals of those nations. If there is enough resistance to evil plans, to selfish policies, to harmful mindsets, possibilities of redemption can arise. But there is also the question, v'achshav, which lingers in the air. When something happens in the life of an individual, causing one to stop, to take the time to think and understand the meaning of what has happened, we must hear the knocking on the door and react and behave accordingly.

Sometimes we human beings lose our way. We realize we are now offroad. Groping in the dark. Tripping on the pebbles and rocks. Falling into   holes of the roadway. We're wondering in that darkness in those frightening moments whether we have indeed reached the point of too little, too late? We send up our pleading words to the heavens above and beg for forgiveness. We make promises to do better, to be better, but even within those moments we also know the frailty of humans and try though we might, fight as hard as we can, we will inevitably fail and fall down once again in the darkness. But we also hang our hopes that enough of us, our individual self, will be better. Will learn from the moments of fright, at least enough to rethink, reevaluate and rebuild in the "what now”.

The past few days, even a few weeks, have been a tad frightening for me and for family with me. It was a painful time for me, both physically and emotionally. Nor is it over yet, as lasting effects will remain for some time. However, at one point, thinking the worst was happening, I had to think long and hard about the "and what now" in my life. There have been dismaying changes, backwards steps taken, but I am determined to come back, if not better, than at least approaching it and always on the way forwards.

I am extremely grateful for the care and concern and aid I have been given and the chance to at least improve myself.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

We are always facing challenges. The question is, will we be able to meet the challenges, better ourselves, and better the world around us. To create not only a good v'achshav, but also a hopeful positive Atid - future in as best a manner as we can.