BUILDING A WORK BENCH

  For some time, this morning, I have been putting aside chores that need to be done but not very appetizing ones. Lots of bending. Lots of shifting. Lots of carrying. Not my favorite activities. So why did I not do them when I had the time to do them? I guess because I'm somewhat of a lazy being. I prefer not to do those things which I really do not like to do! What I did instead was the following: I made a mess with those things which I had to put in order, as if I was actually doing something constructive. Next, I did a little earnest work and then decided I had enough. I must say though that it was not a total loss as I did leave it all in a place where it had to get done by bedtime because the items are all over the bed and I really don't want to carry them out into another room, only to have to carry them back the next day. Too much work.

Next, I did something that I enjoy. I watched some videos having to do with thrifting, art and woodworking. Thrifting has been a trusted and tried pleasure experience. I've been away from it for some years but have returned in small doses, and I'm enjoying it very much. Even if I find nothing, it is the pleasure of the hunt. 

With art, I ventured, tentatively at first, to expose more for my eyes and soul to see and feel and began to paint on my own. My style has changed, (hopefully for the better), and I enjoy myself. I do not care if others like it or not - it is for me that I dabble with the paints and the styles. I like to see what people are capable of doing with paint and I always emerge from the session with enthusiasm, encouragement and the knowledge that try as I might, I will never reach that level. But I do enjoy it and that is key.

The final videos I watch have to do with woodworking. I got into this years ago probably just a bit after the painting and this allowed me to give people some beautiful, exotic wood creations such as trays and cutting boards. I have even ventured to the more complicated area of combining these passions. Some of the results are actually pretty good and others went back to the drawing board.

However, I did learn about being prepared and being equipped and being in the right state of mind for these are important components of these projects. I went along, of course. The importance of knowing that one had to clean up after one was done, this necessity for planning for order, for cleanup, oozed over the rest of my life. Now I find myself more receptive to and aware of the need and the order to know what one is doing and to be prepared for possibilities, unplanned, unexpected, but still there they are.

This is all leading into the outside world. Many of the videos I watched this time around had to do with taking pallet wood, usually not the best of the bunch, and salvaging from it pieces which were able to be turned into beautiful combinations with patterns clear and smooth, years of usage ahead. Desks and furniture of all types and sizes. Different styles of legs and sizes. Dining room tables.  Kitchen tables. Coffee tables. Chairs. Items for decor and storage. We even made a table and rolling cart along with smaller items, useful items and never, never, did I ever think that I would be able to do something like that.

It is all in the planning. The preplanning. It is all the desire to know that one wants to come out with a usable and beautiful piece of work, of utility and/or of beauty or expression. It is allowing for ideas to percolate in one's head. I have an idea and allow it to grow and then act upon the fulfillment of that idea. Always to remember that there will be snags some anticipated, some not. But it is a fact that there will be some snags, and one must be prepared to deal with them.

And that is where the negotiators of the world have failed. Two states of being are the current go to's. The first is a state of silence. They mimic the three monkeys. See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. Except that they forget that last one as they indulge in the speaking of evil regarding Israel, regarding Jews. With full speed ahead. The other state of being is when the mouths are opened wide, very wide, to continue speaking bad. Apparently disregarding all the contributions of Jews to the world as in their quite loud voices they roar out what they think, what they know. In fact, it is a crock! All the problems that bedevil this world of ours are laid at our feet. Unfortunately, what emerges, for the most part, is more self-interest blather as they try to get one up, or two up or three up over their opponents, even over their allies.  

The original planning here has no sign, even of a pre planning preparation for the Waterloo which will inevitably arise in some form. So certainly the planning sessions of these various nations, these various leaders of nations all come to nothing. The only thing that remains is to stand aside as an onlooker, powerless, awaiting what nasty words emerge from their mouths. Trusting them that is a never to be reached point and thus we have a nothing comes from nothing reality, actually more of a nightmare than anything else.

Failure in these critical sessions is a critical problem for the entire world. There is no such thing anymore as a local war. Even in these supposedly tiny wars it doesn't work. Too many people involved. For whatever reason, usually to gain influence, strong influence in that area of the world and nothing comes from nothing, except the something that we don't want to see.

Perhaps we can hire a few of these woodworkers, these artists even thrifters, for they all plan ahead for what they are going to look for. For what they are going to do. To make sure they have the proper mindset. The proper materials. They've done all they could to align with the possibility of a positive result. Something to sell. Something to admire. Something with a value that comes out of hard work, honest work and true international cooperation.

 Perhaps they can call in our woodworkers to build a workbench for them using their material and ideas. Then they will know what they had been missing in all, for all, of their futile meetings. Nothing happens except the nothing that always happens. 

It gives rise to the tension in wrapping up every day with no positive outcome, no progress, maybe even regression, until all participants in this matter are all riled up, accusing each other of bad faith. What I see in these people is no desire for truth and compromise. They all have bought useless faulty workbenches of their own, incompatible with the others. The end result is a nothing, a waste of wood, a waste of nails, wasted hopes and dreams of the little people. We who stand in harm's way. We do not have the bunkers. We have only the workbench on top of us protecting us from falling debris from the buildings in which we are in.

Nothing comes from disorder. Other than more disorder, or even worse, as it builds up a negative synergy until it is impossible to drain, to deflate and to begin again. However sometimes it is quite difficult to surmount the effects of what has gone before - the negativity, even the hate that has been allowed to build up into insane proportions when and when there should be none at all.

I have no ability to come up with the answers or map as to where we need to go and how to get there safely. All I can do is point out the cracks in the wood. The shaky legs, the unfinished appearance of those workbenches which entered the halls of discussion already set up for failure. One cannot build a sure and lasting peace until and unless all those negotiating can buy into this peace. If we intend to get much for the world we need to get at least a little for the nations involved. 

Each nation must feel that they have skin in the game and are respected by the other nations. They have a position of that need, and their itch must be scratched, their honor upheld. So far I see nothing happening that way and unfortunately nor do most people of the world and certainly those who are supposed to represent us to get us the best bang for the buck. They are not up to the task No one willing to put in the elbow grease necessary to, in fact, get up to the peace. Until that happens, if it ever happens, if there is a possibility of it happening, we all must sit and wait and these days there is a lot to worry about. Every day we hear that Iran might start again and threatens they will do their worst. Trump blows his winds. We, the people, are left wondering and worrying

What I can tell you, my own observations, is that Israel, this noisy nation of Jews along with other groups who make up the people and the government of this nation are quieter than ever. The children are not outside as often. Nor as long nor as noisy. The adults are tired, not giving up but tired of the stress, of the worry, of the uncertainty. Of their loved ones going back into the army again.

It is best that those who threaten, know that Israel is a nation that cannot and will not be beat. It knows where it has been. It knows where it is, and it knows where it must be tomorrow, for all the tomorrows to come. Nothing and no one will ever change that. No more, not ever. Not again.

 Yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

Why can we not come to a positive outcome? Why can we not build the workbench that the entire world needs?    

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Please note that tonight is the semifinal contest. Where Israel has been taunted, threatened, teased, booed, protested, whatever the worst people can think of, that has been done. Member nations have made this into a political contest, rather than a simple one of song and voice and talent. Those of you have read my blog nowhere of I speak Follow the directions on the screen of the Eurovision presentation and vote for Israel. As many as 10 times, just as other nations are begging their citizens to do as well. But only Israel is called on the carpet.

VOTE FOR ISRAEL IN SEMI FINAL EUROVISION.

THANK YOU.

THEOPOLITICS - SAY WHAT?!

  G-d and politics. In the same word no less. Never mind in the same breath or sentence. Sounds blasphemous to me. When one thinks of what these words actually mean, in connotation and denotation, in understanding and mis or dis understanding, willful or not, one can see a huge vista opening before one's eyes. This Vista sends a clarion call out to the onlookers, demanding to be addressed, to be understood and perhaps to find within a clear set of directions and instructions for life as it should be lived. 

What is the meaning of the term G-d? Do we accept G-d as that one figure Alone in His kingdom and/or surrounded by His angels, or is that word G-d actually referring to many gods, a pantheon of them rather than the one soul supreme? Is G-d or the gods rule(d) by human emotions? Or does the Divine in any format merely use them in order to make the actions and the emotions of these entities, however many or single, more understandable to the human mind? In that case must not there be a clear pathway distinct and understandable directions as to how to ensure that we connect with that L(l)ord above in the best way possible? Is there, in fact, such a set of directions, but we have not yet managed to completely understand them or use them, as they remain mysterious to us, unseen and not comprehended? Lots of questions. Lots of answers to be found. Unfortunately, as stated yesterday, much violence arising from the nebulous clarity of this matter.

Furthermore, the question remains as to whether the term G-d demands a formal religion or is it in fact, a faith, uncluttered by the machinations of the human mind. But the minds of mankind need something tangible to which they can cling, to know that they are indeed approaching that goal of perfect worship and befitting actions. We clearly are far away from proper culmination of that search. Will we ever understand the total Truth or are we doomed to forever fail in our seeking, keeping violence always nearby?  

Personally, I believe that over the millennia humankind in its fallibilities has so cluttered and clogged the path to true and complete understanding, that they cannot now distinguish between the pure Faith, the Belief and the Truth, the unifying knowledge of it and all of the extraneous irritating and antagonizing extras which they have super glued onto the pillars of pure faith, until those pillars are totally obscured and what remains beneath fades away from the minds and memories of mankind. Through the millennia they have fought and killed over the extras, not understanding that if they would stop and think for a while, a good long while and a good long think, they would at least get a glimmer of truth peeking through. On that glimmer they can expand and build. Perhaps, when we understand that, the time of the Messiah, the Mashiach, will truly be enabled and deserved.

Now that we understand the pollution of true faith that has taken place, we can better understand why and how 'theo', having to do with G-d, can be tacked onto the ugliness of politics which most often gives rise to the vilest of traits and thoughts of mankind - Politics. In fact, it is a total antithesis, and we continue to eschew understanding and practice of faith as it should be, and remain so off far away from that knowledge, the internalization of that knowledge and understanding. Perhaps now we can better understand how indeed to distinguish between that which is and that which is not, that which we should indeed believe and know and feel and that which we should recognize as dross of the worst kind. Kick it aside and make room for the Truth.

But humanity is stubborn. It insists on clinging to that which is not right. Instead of discarding the trash, more camouflage of the worst kind is added to the problem, hindering possibility of ever understanding how to live and believe properly, peacefully, and truly enjoy the privilege of the gift of the Creator - this beautiful planet of ours which we are systematically destroying in our constant maniacal chase after that from which we should have fled. In reality we have done exactly the opposite and we demean and debase ourselves and our planet almost to the point of no return. Can we change? Will we ever? Or will we allow the stink and the disgrace of politics to pollute clarity of vision and constantly lower the boom of war down upon inhabitants of this planet?

Theopolitics is the mixing of two that should never be mixed. It bodes for inevitable failure in cataclysmic manner. It is when we seek replacement for the godly part of us, for the goodness of the world, and move further and further away from true faith and true recognition of what that means. We pollute the playing fields of Earth with new false gods and thicken the crust over the true tenets of Faith with the pollutants inherent in man-made and created religions. 

Who are these new gods, these substitutes that draw us further and further away from that which we should struggle to get ever closer to? These new gods are of flesh and bone. They and others have elevated them to the status of god and godliness. Never to be criticized. To be feared. To be obeyed. Without question. To follow behind, to double back on ourselves, for thus, the new gods have demanded of us.

 Along with these flesh and bone demigods of the universe we have godliness attached to ideas. These ideas consume the world with their flames of extremism, too far gone, lost and strayed far from the initial goodness of the kernel of the ideas to better the conditions of life for all living upon this planet. Communism. Socialism. Democracy. Monarchy. Nihilism. Libertarianism. All such terms which begin well but rapidly sour when fused with the egos of mankind proud of and then insisting upon their ideas to be recognized and acclaimed as the be all and end all, the final truth and answer to all questions. Ensconced upon manmade thrones and seats of power.

Theopolitics at its worst. Theopolitics, as it is consuming our world right now. Scan the list of leaders of nations who have claimed thrones said and placed themselves in ranks of the gods over the lowly inhabitants of their nations. Those who have glaringly gratingly used religion, not faith, to further constrict, to further restrict, to lessen and worsen the lives of all over which they rule. Placed in their high positions of power by themselves and the enabling of others - all on us once again.

Theopolitics. For those who think that it is only there and not here, elsewhere, and not where you live, think again. Are you comfortable with the new presentations of Trump in Jesus likeness? Are you comfortable with the leaders of this nation which has held proudly up to the world the goodness, the righteousness, the rightfulness, of the separation of church and state now boldly not only connecting the two but mixing it to the point where separation is nigh onto impossible, and the line of division is nowhere.

I, you, we, we all do not need to hear the pronunciations of faiths read by politicians who are clearly far away from godliness and righteousness. We do not need to hear 'religious' leaders who have given of themselves over to the devil and his representatives. They have lost their ability, their desire, to pursue the good over the bad and have given way to ambitions and desires which should be unknown to them. When passages from the Bibles of faith of the religions of the world are read aloud, mouthed by false people, their meaning is defiled, for these voices negate the words. They mouth the words but never the true faith that lies beneath.

The dirt, the pollution of theopolitics. We have enabled it. We have given it to ourselves. We have given of ourselves to it. There is nary a nation in this world that is not suffering from this. Even when one arises, man or idea, that appears to be able to resolve these awful conditions which afflict us, it inevitably turns sour. Those who have risen do not wish to fall to another level. Theopolitics is what happens when we think the more of ourselves and the less of others, even as we truly make less of ourselves by our very actions and thoughts.

 Theopolitics in a world which is crying out loud for a reboot. But how to reboot, not merely changes one bad for another. One twisted idea for another. I do not know how to get that proper reboot in place. What I do know for sure is the fear which should be in all of us, that one day the Lord G-d will look down and say to His angels thus:

 Humanity has failed again They are past the sins of Adam and Eve. They have gone way beyond the arrogance of those creating the Tower of Babel. They have forgotten the waters of the Flood. They have forgotten the history of mankind. They have twisted the freedom and the opportunities I have given them. It is time to reboot yet again.

YesterdayTodayTomorrow.

All appear to be merging into one ugly mass. No distinction between.

How? Why?

Look in the mirror. No escape from that truth.

NOPE! ONE CANNOT EVER TRULY SAY HE HAS HEARD AND/OR SEEN IT AL.L

    Nope, not in this crazy world of ours. Nor can one ever say one knows it all, for on some days simply scrolling idly through those oh so important reportings and videos, it is ever so amazing and 'enlightening'. What is happening round the world? Bet you did not know it all until, you clicked on that arrow, and oh, what enlightenment and edification you received. 

The vocabulary enrichment, the evidently unknown pieces of critical and world-shaking information presented to you on your own personal machine. Most unfortunately, having some of your worst fears and the worst echoes of the history of mankind up front and center for your very frightening moments of validation and verification, with huge dollops of fear and heartfelt hopes of no way! Unfortunately, it can and it is, at ever increasing pace and pressure.

 Worst of all is the deep knowing inside that there is just about no way possible, certainly not at present, to stop these ever-recurring moments of horror, of the worst of mankind. They seem to forever return, worse than ever, particularly so as we know that we have so 'wonderfully' enhanced our powers of hate, of inducing fear, of ramping up ugly deaths and fearsome methods of torture. All to gain our way. All to indulge in our own twisted dreams and create nightmares in living daylight and bloody color for the sane people of this world. For those who have become the eternal foci of irrational hatred and enmity, deemed most worthy and deserving of the worst that can happen. Nor do we ever run out of the chosen victims, nor do we ever get bored, for after all variety is the spice of life and we are so deserving of that, are we not!

One of the most frightening things in the world for people of sanity and for people whose religion, or level of observance, might not meet the standards and desires of the prevailing religion in that nation at that time. So often the violence within the world arises from these religious clashes and differing opinions, ironically, the very cataclysmic opposite of what the religion purportedly preaches in its words, though carryover into deeds is rare, if ever. 

For the entire history of mankind these turbulent times resulting from religious incompatibilities have ruled the atmosphere. They have drenched the thinking process and drowned out words of sanity, compromise and accommodation. Hence, it made sense that when the movements for democracy and freedom of the individual arose, most of them were unfriendly to the excess demands of religion.   Religion was downplayed and its importance, even its acceptance, within " advanced” society at times, too many times, even when religion originally played a positive role within these advancements, it often turned sour and became repressive, oppressive and exclusionary once again. So much so, that default 'religions' such as extreme communism, fascism even democracy became the new "religions” of the time and adopted the same characteristics and traits of the "old” religion.

These changes amounting to the same old, same old were and remain more prevalent during times of uncertainty and tension. When societies begin to unravel and the threads that wove between them linking them together become frayed and the strands broke, allowing for a growing sense of anomie and desperation. In turn, that gave rise to new formats and presentation of what was and remains as old as time. Religions of various types, secular and religious, adapted new gods, most of whom were manifestly false in their presentation, but provided for if only temporary, places of supposed reassurance of better times, of a god whom the leaders could be in contact with for the benefit of the people of the land or the belief, whatever worked for them, that this religion provided for a hope of positivity and a retreat from the agonies and uncertainties of the times.

It appears to be a cycle of a never-ending spiral of violence, with a bit of respite, even if oppressive, and then possibly a rebellion of hope. Mostly the rebellion merely changed clothing and names but beneath it all was the same old ugliness, awaiting it's time to devour the inhabitants of the land and create a time ripe for the ascension of a man or woman who claimed to be a messenger of Hope from the relevant god of that time. But inevitably, with differing amounts of time, each proved to be as patently false as were most of those who came before with the same false promises and tragic outcomes.  

And now take a look around. Wherever you are on this planet or above or below. Is it not the same thing happening? Are we not falling prey to the angst of the times, admittedly serious, but still, why have we not learned? Why have we not taken heed of lessons of the past? Why do we continue to place our faith in false prophets blaring false promises?

 Why do we continue to believe or force ourselves to believe that violence is the answer wreaked upon those who disagree with us? One way or another, be it a manner of dress or worship, of belief or disbelief, violence is wrongly proclaimed to be the answer to all the problems and woes which beset humanity of all times. Why do we persist in trusting to that which has always failed? Why do we buy heavily into its falsehoods only to see even worse arise, until the cycle restarts once again. 

This has been given a 'new' name but is actually well known. It is called theopolitics, a 'new' belief of that which is not new at all, for in fact it is the same old premise that only one belief, one god, one manner of belief and observance is correct, and all the rest are to be discarded, even if violently.  

And so here we are, once again, always again.

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

We had better break this destructive suicidal chain of repetition if we are to ever truly know a better, more permanent, condition of life for all humanity.

More on this tomorrow.

MR. SANDMAN

 Can we all remember or dredge up from the past Mr. Sandman, who came to us at night to lull us to sleep. Who sent us sweet dreams allowing us to wake up nice and refreshed and ready to take on the day? Well, Mr. Sandman has not been so generous in his visits of late, and it has proven very difficult to get to sleep, thus making the days to follow difficult as well. In any case, Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night of this week, I literally did not sleep. I may have closed my eyes just to rest them, but I literally did not sleep. And so, when we arrived at our destination at 3:30 in the morning, new country time, there was no time to sleep either. Finally, home again, home again, in my beloved place in the land of my faith, I have finally been able to sleep. Mr. Sandman has stayed with me and I have been making up for my sleep debt.

  That is one of the reasons why my blog has not been written these past few days. Actually, even putting that problem aside, it would have been delayed anyway, because we have made one of our several times a year moves to spend some time in Israel where the air is different. Where despite all the woes and ills that befall it, it is a place of joy, happiness and fulfillment. 

It is a place where I once again can feel at home, welcomed, not looked upon with sidelong glances or eyes of suspicion by one who is not Jewish or not understanding of the situation or simply neutral in a matter that cannot be neutral. Worse even, a fellow member of the tribe who refuses to see his/her own situation - standing on the edge of the rim of the cliff under a delusion that he will be immune through all that follows.  

What is to be said? The change in life here is immense. We flew over the Atlantic, overflew the countries of Europe where an ancient hate continues to reside. Where it is engaged in a new era of strengthening regrowth of this ancient trope of ugliness. Worse even, despite the many generations before me - those immigrating to the United States which gave them room to live, to dream again,, to raise families in peace, and despite the following generations well ensconced within their homes in this nation, the United States, there has been a definite growing feeling of ill will, of unwelcome within my native born nation.

Please note that I have felt more of this hate, this unreasonable insanity, from those who do not know me. Those people with whom I come into contact who are not of the Jewish faith have been warm, welcoming, encouraging and are now integral parts of my life here in America. In fact, they have been one of the most positive aspects of my life here as a Jewish American, but is that enough to keep me and mine safe, to cover us with an umbrella of sorts when the acidic drops of antisemitism and intense, deep JewHatred fall upon us? Are there enough people within this nation, within the world, to stand up to and against the revitalization of that which has been long dead and gone and is now alive and well once again? We unfortunately are finding that there are many more out there more than willing and capable of joining the barbarians or of standing by silently as the world gives rebirth to that which should never have been born in the first place.

In the meantime, I stand here on my beautiful porch overlooking a new development and I watch the children at play. I see the shelters that unfortunately, had to be built beside every playground so that children at play would have a place to run to quickly when the siren sounds. And please be under no delusions that the sirens have quit, for they have not. 

Northern Israel continues to be battered by missiles from the enemy. The enemies of Israel, the enemies of all Jews, wherever, in this world, continue to rearm, refuse to give up their arms, to admit defeat and shed tears of falseness whenever their violations lead to a retaliation, claiming innocence even as we bury yet another victim of terrorism, rebuild yet another building. Our homes and lives which the world conveniently ignores, as if never was, never is, never will be.

I love America, my homeland, my native-born home which gave me a good life, which enabled me to raise my children sure and confident, able to build lives and raise their families. But then... But then there was that damn ugly face again. That dragon that lives beside us, floating offshore, awaiting its opportunity to come ashore and wreak its havoc long building within its stone heart. I resented even more that it has enabled the growth of seeds of hate within me. The most uncomfortable and unwanted growth one could imagine, and I wish it to be gone, never to find welcome or fertile soil again, in me, or in anyone else.

Why? Because hate is destructive. It is degenerative. It is when the worst of humanity comes to the surface, reeking and stinking of ugliness, of blood, of greed, of insane desire to accumulate wealth and power beyond any rational level or rightful level at all. So far, the annals of history of mankind tell us that humanity been lucky, able to overcome its worst and regenerate new lives and new hopes, new dreams. But too often and far more often of late, we have given way before the tide of bitter acidic hate and inhumanity which bodes no good for any nor for all.

There is great concern and unrest within both countries of mine. Whither goes the government? From whence will come the wise leaders and statesmen and women that we so desperately need? Will humanity be able to wend its way back? Find some kind of positive growth area where we will be able to look at each other once again, as fellow citizens, more importantly, as fellow human beings and most important, most critical, is the when of it? There is no time to waste, for the pressure of time is against us. We need all to look deep within ourselves, examine our true feelings, admit them, at least to ourselves and seek ways within which we can work comfortably and positively towards   making this world a better place for all. No matter the religion, no matter the ethnicity, no matter any details which should actually count for naught at all, yet we have allowed to drown all else out, overwhelming positive instincts and drives.  

I am hoping that I will be able to return to a steady blog and I thank for your patience and for your loyalty.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow. All the same and all different. What we make of them is up to us. What becomes of us is also up to us.

WORDS OF THE HEART

  It's May. The lovely month of May, as Guinevere and Arthur sang, in memory of what was and is no longer. So many items and thoughts in those two categories and with them they carry the opposite of happiness - sadness, even as much of the glaringly missing happiness of the heart remains - in memories, in love, forever. One runs to embrace it, to keep it close, able to be felt, emotionally, yet at some times with such overwhelming emotion, there is almost a physical memory, vital, intact and felt. In body, mind, soul, and heart, there is at one and the same time a gladdening, a blossoming within oneself, andd a groaning, weeping, mammoth hole.

And we cry out to the Lord Above. Why? Why have you taken them? Why have you left us bereft? Why must we struggle through waters of grief, dodge boulders of anguish? An anguish bearing down upon our shoulders, heavy, weeping; why did you have to double it in so short of time, not allowing for the memory and grief of and for one to dissipate at least somewhat before the next rogue wave rolls upon us and drives us deeper into a quagmire of griefs? Waiting, as it does every year, from 2005, 21 years of longing, for answers to questions going begging, of advice not forthcoming.

But Daddy, Pops, we could have and indeed did wish for you to have had a longer life, to remain enmeshed, as one, as you were with Mommy, ever since you were 16. The joy you took in life as you watched your kids, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren, as they refused to allow you to not be a part of their lives and playtimes, your discussions with your older grandchildren. The respect and honor all kinds and types of people, from all walks of life, all ethnicities, all religions, all ages, even those who had differing opinions, all directed at you, for you. At your funeral they stood in the streets. So special a person you were. So special a friend. So special a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, son, uncle, brother and brother-in-law. A contributing member of the community. A lawyer. A judge known for his honesty.

Born on May 8, 1920. Died on the fourth candle of Chanukah, and one of the last things you did was to light a candle, say the brachot and sing Maozcc Tzur. Those of us in the room, including his wonderful aide, sang along, with tears running down our faces. And you left us, to go and argue with your G-d how to correct the world, to be understanding and merciful to His Creations. And you watched over your family, kept track of them, even as we felt your continued eyes and love upon us.

The joy you shared with us as we welcomed the   beautiful youngest great-grandson into the family. Little did we know at that time the special and unique boy he was to be. A boy like you, Pop, who won over all and any he met. Equally as modest and straight in his ways, other than for two things. When he wished to hide his extra early morning hours on the computer, a pro even at an amazingly early age, his sympathy for me when I consistency lost games to him and I was trying! The other was when he, (we) conspired (I was an active participant in these 'crimes') to raise the number of opportunities to eat chocolate, with me even agreeing with his declaration at three that chocolate was not 'cendy'. He shared that knowledge with his mother trying so very hard trying not to laugh at his chocolate smeared face. 

Yitzy was confused and bewildered, not understanding of the admiration and praise heaped upon him by children and adults alike, his amazing athletic abilities, especially in baseball, his sportsmanship, his high standing in  school in wisdom and enthusiasm, a brilliant mind, a great student, and one with whom all wanted to be best  friends, even as he made sure to befriend and welcome all outliers into his ever widening, ever warmer, ever growing circle in life. Most unusual, he was the favorite of all members of the family, not a whit of jealously; in fact, it was the opposite, with all showering him with love and attention, with together time. They even tolerated his love of nature, his enormous fund of knowledge re birds, and creatures of Nature, and accepted his crested lizard, Cresty, and a rather long snake he called Creamsicle. (Please note that this is the one point where we differed.  I do not particularly care for creatures other than the 2-legged ones called humans, and even then ...!)

Disaster! No way! Why him! Why not me? G-d, what are you doing? How could you do this? One of the best human beings, certainly of our time and most probably of all times. We were all frightened, heartbroken, and searched high and low for a cure, for an extension of time, for him to heal. 

At the very end I came across a trial for him, hope to heal, to be shed of his rare and aggressive cancer. I contacted the scientists, explained the situation, and that I was a grieving desperate heartbroken grandmother and they were wonderful. Alas, it was too late, for even with the amazingly rapid   communication and special approval for the drug - it was too late. 

His body was exhausted, riddled with cancer, his liver failed. He was ready and thus explained to his family, and they stayed at the hospital from then on, celebrating the Festival of Lights, Chanukah, even as his light was fading. He spent his last conscious hours singing the songs of the holiday, reciting the blessings, and singing along with the guitar his brother-in-law was playing, as the family   gathered, singing with tears and fear and tortured love. 

The nurses were there as well, those who had been by his side from the beginning, loving  him, admiring Yitzy and the amazing humor and spirit and courage he evidenced  as he underwent difficult and painful chemo and radiation, the crippling nausea, the pain, the disappointments so difficult to withstand, the grief of his loved ones as they remained  in his room, as they awaited the inevitable, the bravely fought, the loss  unbearable, yet there it was. 

Another Festival of Light bedimmed by grief, always to remain so, even as we continue to talk of Yitzy, of my father. Both born in the month of May, days apart, doubling the grief, the good and the bittersweet memories, the now not so merry month of May. And at another time of the year when our   lights are lit in the menorah they are lesser in light, dimmer in joy, for both were taken from us on Chanukah, a day apart. my Pop and our Yitzy.

Words of and from the heart.

Forever.

YES, I AM MOST CERTAINLY SO!

  Read the following article about the state of education in NYC. Now tell me you are not scared. NYC- the most populous Jewish city after Tel Aviv.

How can this be - yet it is.

The Trump administration is investigating the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for allegedly violating federal civil rights laws by failing to stop K-12 teachers from procuring students for membership in anti-Zionist study groups, an enterprise which the government says will flood public school classrooms with antisemitism.

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said last week that reports regarding the activities of a group which calls itself “NYC Educators for Palestine” prompted its inquiry.

First publicized by the North American Values Institute (NAVI), they range from teaching extracurricular courses on “Palestinian resistance” to holding “Palestine teach-ins” on federal holidays.

NAVI has noted that public sector union leaders enrolled in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) are some of the group’s most eager participants and endorsers.

The problem, according to critics, is that their affiliation implies the approval of a city government that the Trump administration says should be ending the practice.

NYC Educators for Palestine targets children as young as five, the US Education Department alleged in a press release announcing the action, describing long sessions in which teachers drill into them the notions that Israelis are “genocidal white supremacists” and that Hamas terrorists are “martyrs.”

The group also targets high school students preparing to transition to college and the workplace as well. In January, it held a “teach in” on the Martin Luther King holiday, casting a wide net for children “ages 6-18.”

The inexorable outcome of the group’s indoctrination is the radicalization of students who will point to disinformation confected by anti-Zionist activists as cause to abuse their Jewish classmates, the Education Department said.

“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers. Neither should Jewish children be taught that being Jewish somehow makes them inherently guilty or proponents of hate and violence,” Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement.

“Discrimination has no place in our schools, and, unlike the previous administration, the Trump administration will not turn a blind eye to antisemitic harassment. [The Office for Civil Rights] will investigate these appalling allegations to ensure the equal treatment of all students.”

According to NAVI, the leading supplier of money and support for the NYC Educators for Palestine’s initiatives is a little-known nonprofit titled “Rethinking Schools,” which describes its mission as “strengthening public education through social justice teaching and education activism.”

Rethinking Schools in turn is a beneficiary of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the country, and the Lannan Foundation — a benefactor of Mohammed El-Kurd, an anti-Zionist activist who has trafficked in antisemitic tropes, demonized Zionism, and falsely accused Israelis of eating Palestinians’ organs.

The Schwab Charitable Fund, founded by investment banker Charles Schwab in 1999, has also donated some $78,000 to Rethinking Schools, according to NAVI.

In an exclusive interview with The Algemeiner, NAVI chief strategy officer Josh Weiner said that NYC Educators for Palestine’s activities clearly violate civil rights laws even as they transgress professional ethics.

“First off, they’re actively advertising and speaking at these events and sharing their status as New York City public school teachers to attract attendance, which is misleading for suggesting that they are sponsored by the Department of Education or New York City,” he explained, noting that the group will hold at least six more events before the end of the academic year.

“Essentially what they’re doing is training students to be hostile toward fellow students based on their identity as Jews as Israelis. That likely creates a hostile environment at school and limits their access to an equal education.”

The federal government’s intervention in the matter is “long overdue,” Yael Lerman, executive director of StandWithUs Saidoff Law, a legal advocacy group based in California, told The Algemeiner in a statement.

Jewish and Israeli students are afforded the same protections as every other child under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” Lerman said.

“Schools are not free for all political activism — especially when that activism creates a hostile environment for students based on their identity. When educators blur the line between instruction and indoctrination, and when repeated warnings from parents and advocacy groups go unaddressed, federal intervention becomes necessary. This case matters not just for New York City but for school systems across the country.”

DO WE NEED SACKCLOTH AND ASHES?

  Is it truly that time or is it past the time when we need to or are forced to say goodbye to the world as we knew it. As we still know it in some ways. But as we in great magnitude cannot imagine in a world of the near future. What is ugly from the past has returned. Too often refreshed and reinvigorated by the nastiness of the world of today. To it is added new scrolls of hate put forth and unrolled by those who should know better, who in fact do know better. but could care less. Why? Because that is not where their heads and minds and hearts are. Their souls are already blackened to a point of no return. They revel in the muck and filth of their hate, and of their willingness to break a country which once stood at the head of the world.

Thus, it might indeed be the right time for those signs of mourning. For sure, there is very little to take joy in, to see positive signs. The past, the signs of the past and recent today, which had pointed to and led us in the right directions, which we mostly followed willingly, perhaps even eagerly at times, are now gone. They have been absorbed into the negative and nasty proliferating atmosphere of current times. Too few have caught on in sufficient time to make it easier to turn it around. We denied it. We refused to see it or to hear the words of ugliness spew forth from our misfit leaders.

And so, we watch and wait. Will there be any hero to ride in on a white horse to save us? I doubt it, though Bonnie Tyler's song of needing a hero is quite apt for the times. We need all of us, all the standard issue people of the world to decide on their own that they are the movers and shakers; they are the ones who are to determine the fates of all. There is no default move here, for absence merely adds to the weight and complexity of the problem. Perhaps we need to stream the movies of old, the TV series, which though not perfect, did underline the principles we upheld as positive, open and welcoming. Clear white hats and black hats. When and why did we think we had outgrown them, that we had become too sophisticated to live by and uphold them?

This nation worked so hard to rid itself of old-world faults and fallacies. We passed laws for equality and moved forward when they weren't enough. We pursued justice and made great efforts to share that justice. We fought against the corruption within governments. Where nepotism favoritism had no place. And here we are, 2026, and governments at all levels are rife with corruption, with favoritism. With the power of bribery. With whom you know. And not what you know, what you can contribute. 

We have politicians who have aged out. Do they see it only in others and not in themselves? We have leaders who have passed over the border into dementia, into physical and mental deterioration. But we refuse at will to acknowledge it. 

We have shattered the dreams of those such as Horatio Alger who went from rags to riches. For those who went from log cabin to White House. Or those who stood in front of the nation that they had led to independence and refuse the crown. He said, we had enough of monarchs. We were to be a democratic, independent nation. 

Why today do we have those who seek the Crown? Who have already crowned themselves in their own minds. Who have taken upon themselves the privileges of rank and royalty. Coining currency with their faces imprinted. Placing their name and face where it definitely does not belong, with no right to be there. Why have our laws been flouted by the very ones who should be upholding them? Standing firm for them. For this nation. For the people of this nation. To enable dreams to come true. To enable the have nots to make their way up, to better educate their children. To have better lives. Why do we now, rather than welcoming immigrants who enrich this nation turn upon them. Jack boots and awful warehouses of humans. 

I cannot answer these questions. I do not understand why these circumstances have made their way into our lives. All I know is that it is ugly. It is outlining a world where nobody looks after and out for the little guy.

We have a situation where freedom of speech, freedom of thought are in perilous stance. When the head of government meddles in the media of the nation, threatens them and forces them to do as he wishes, as he wills, we are not in a good place. When the appointees of this administration are absolutely incompetent. Have roles as Baa, Baa Black Sheep. We are not in a good place. When unqualified people are appointed to positions where they know not what to do and engage in that which harms the people, danger is blasting us loud and clear. When we have lost the courage and the righteousness to uphold that which should be upheld and turn aside from that which should not be - where do we go from here?

When we celebrate those who have brought AI online into our lives allowing, even encouraging nasty situations. When the evil residing within people is able to appear and grow quite ugly roots into the lives of people, even to the point of despair and suicide, the question is why? Why have we now reached a point where children commit suicide because they are being bullied online. Why have we reached the point where scientists are warning us that these ever-increasing AI programs are able to and wanting to and even perhaps wishing to send forth horrible facts and instructions. How to create nuclear bombs? How to take pathogens, insert them into genetic material and create epidemics with no cure. It is there. It is there for us to see. It is there for us to know. But we do not.

We have lost our way. We have lost our ethics. We have lost all that made us Americans. Citizens in, of, and to the world. Is it any wonder that curators of museums of art, of life, feel they are responding to the "sad state of the world. Full of darkness and strife. And recurring collective trauma".

This is the world we have bequeathed unto ourselves. 

Are we proud?

 

STILL HERE!

  Into each life some rain must fall. Or so the saying goes. And unexpectedly, I had a bit of a rainstorm. It made it impossible for me to write my standard or regular posting. And I think that I will have to do my writing in the afternoon rather than in the early morning hours. It also might or might not be a posting every day, but I will certainly do my best. Although I will tell you in advance that on Sunday there will be none as it is a travel day for us. So, thank you for your patience and your loyalty and checking back most days. I will endeavor to do my best not to disappoint you. 

Much has gone on over the days during which my site was quiet. In fact, it seems as if one logs on for online updates, there is always a plethora of events. heartwarming or spine chilling, even soul   depressing. Enough to write a book about. Well, too tired to write that book, so we'll have to be content with a regular post. But what to write about? 

The first thing I saw today upon opening the computer was yet another series of comments re Trump's rather odd times for posting. One after the other. Ranting on about his enemies who are “out to get him,” or his plans for retribution and revenge upon those who dare to oppose him, such as Comey. Or the next steps he will take, all emerging from his clear as glass ambition to rule the world, one way or another. It makes no difference as to what the world thinks. He will simply do what he thinks, or wants, for he knows what is best for Donald is what is best for the world.

Herein lies a big problem for myself. I have often written about the rending of this nation into separate parts. Unable to be meshed together. A jigsaw puzzle that has been miscut, edges and inner pieces misshapen, impossible to reunite so as to enable a clear scene to emerge from the energy expended. Frustration gives way to anger, to a sense of traveling upon the path one knows is wrong but cannot find an exit from.

That is how I feel these days, for many days, even weeks. I too am rendered into two pieces, more even, when I think of Trump, of the political situation within this nation. It makes me tired, body and soul. It makes me feel in a state of confusion as to where this nation has wended its way and how, if, we can retrace our footsteps and come upon the exit needed to enable a reordering of the soul of this nation. Personally, I wonder how I can possibly reorder reality and return to a situation which I can remake or at least reorder in some way so as to make sense, even partially, of the current mess.

To put it plainly, I am split in my support of policies of this nation, of various states, of people purporting to be spokesmen for the people of the nation, and I can see no way clear and possible to reconcile these differences. I despise Trump. I think he is definitely on a steep downslope in mentality, in sanity, deeply immersed in his own fog of confusion as to what being President means and entails, other than to increase his own profile as he reconstructs the nation in so many ugly ways.

 As did and do most dictators, authoritarian figures, they construct statues of themselves. Rename places for themselves. Strike coins as if they are the regal rulers of a nation. The laws which rule the nation have been openly flouted by him. Security and confidence in this administration is bleeding away. The musical chairs of the administration grow ever more frantic. I intensely dislike his brutal immigration policy and enforcement of such. Desirous of creating human warehouses. His social policies are cruel, uncaring. They enable the haves to have more even as have nots grow in number, grow in depths of struggle, with passages out of their stations more and more difficult.    

So where do I find that at least for me is a point of favor for Trump? It is in his policy towards Israel. He does, as most Americans have done, as most American presidents and administrations have done, certainly as Democrats have done, is to support Israel. As a primary ally. A loyal ally. But even within this positive attitude there is a fracturing of the surface veneer. There is a huge. deep well of uncertainty. Mistrust. Distrust. That he can be relied upon to continue that support. I am sure that even as he maintains his right to use his Presidency on what he thinks is right, there is also a political awareness within him. He does need to keep the support he has and regain that which he has lost. Hence who is next to be thrown under the bus?

Furthermore. I get very uneasy when I see the manner in which he has tackled the universities on their much abused and misused diversity policies.  In a mad rush to take advantage of these policies, when they came to a fork in the road, they inevitably chose the wrong fork. They allowed. long planned incursion of the ranks of professors with pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic viewpoints. In their classes they stomped upon Jewish students, pro-Israel viewpoints, anything that has even a wisp of a flavor of pro Jewish feeling or support.  

Rightfully attacking that, Trump's administration, in their rather clumsy ham-handed attention to the matter, laid heavy emphasis on "combating antisemitism".  This rather backfired, for it opened a door for those with nefarious plans for the State of Israel, for Jews in general thus justifying in the crooked minds of many to join in the fun. Even one tiny seed of hate for Jews inevitably grows a giant overflowing crop. Certainly, when the administration asked for lists of Jews within the university, both students and all employees, it sent chills down my back. Lists of Jews given to a government bodes no good for Jews. We have learned that via bitter historical memory and trauma. No matter what reason is given for justifying it.

But it is more than that. When the party that most Jews followed and voted for, the Democratic Party. began to turn its back on Israel and sanctioned anti Semitism, hackles are raised. Self-preservation policies become part of one's daily thoughts. Even more terrifying is when Jews, particularly those in seats of power and influence, desirous of more, give in to the filth of antisemitism, turn upon their own selves in a false expectation, that they will be excused from any consequences of these policies. Calling oneself Jew-ish, is not a ticket out. To the world you are a Jew. And if we do not stick together, if we do not stand up, back-to-back, with and for each other, then yes, there is that awful possibility.

A return to times which we most definitely do not wish to return to. And so, we look to the Republican Party. But even there, present is an erosion of support for Israel in its continuous battle for survival. A war which did not begin in June. It began decades ago. Millennia ago. It continued in outbursts of blood and evil throughout the centuries. And once again burst into ugly thistle blooms on October 7, 2023, merely a continuation of that war. 

That understanding escapes the minds of politicos. Now we have from the left and from the right a growing horror. Call it by any name you want. Anti Zionism. Anti Semitism. Claims "justifying" this hatred. It matters not. It is all stemming from sheer ugly, bitter JewHatred.

Thus, here I am. No straight ticket voting for me. Perhaps not even casting a vote in some cases.   When both choices are anathema, perilous in meaning, in action, in intent. To my survival and the survival of my people.

This is not a world to which I ever believed we were to return to after the horror of the Holocaust. This is a world we should have by now cleansed itself of its ugliness. It is a world where once again Jews have one foot in and one foot out the door. It is a world once again when nation of our birth, nation of our faith, nation of our adoption are trying to adopt us out.

So, I am still here. So too are my two countries. And I hope and pray that never will there be a hostile crack creating an abyss between them. But all this hoping and praying for the good to triumph over evil, well, it is tiring to body and soul.

Yesterday.

Today.

Tomorrow.

Why can we not improve upon all these times. 

In recognition. 

In understanding. 

And in anticipation.

Why?

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

   Such was part of the advice given by Falstaff to his son Laertes. It is interesting that this statement and much of the rest of the advice given has gone down through the ages as bits of wise advice for those stepping out into the world, taking on the task of living the right way. Strange it was, and strange it is, for this wise advice is dispensed by one of Shakespeare's characters who come across as a fool. Perhaps it is to remind us that we should never spurn right off the bat words and statements of those who appeared to play the fool's role in life but in actuality are not as foolish as one might think. The saying is along the lines of an old piece of advice from within the Jewish people. Basically, it cautions us, warning us, not to judge people by their outside but by what makes up their inside.

However, it appears to be that there are times when to thine old self be true is a task impossible to fulfill. The principle cannot be followed for several reasons. One is at such a time when to follow that line in life is to put oneself in the crosshairs of those who vehemently oppose, even hate, those principles. To the point where one's life is actually threatened. 

Another cause might be that the life of the times makes it impossible to be firm on one's principles, to stand united with oneself and other like thinkers. This comes around when society itself is fractured. broken to the point where one is hard put to remain whole in belief, whole in maintaining that belief. It is when important beliefs meshing well with your own are held by others whose other opinions and rules in life are glaringly different than one's own.

In fact, these times, our times are such a time. Once divisions of opinion, particularly in America, were able to be voiced. Be it in quiet voice or vehemently. In slow steps or giant strides. But never have political opinions and values in life been so diametrically opposed that any sort of compromise, any sort of cross discussion, is off the table. Never even allowed to approach.

I hear the voices of protest. There have indeed been such times. Due to their rarity, it is easier to look back and understand how such situations arose. When this nation fought for its independence from England, there were two distinct groups of thoughts and violence between the two erupted. However, when we became independent, we became Americans.  A mixing bowl, a melting pot, whatever worked, until it did no longer. The issues became so critical, so emotional, so demanding of prompt attention and we had a Civil War of disastrous consequences.

That does not mean that there was no disagreement within the citizens of this nation. There were many. but none of them rose to the feverish point where this country needed to split once again. Even vehement disagreements between philosophy and laws did not reach that point of violence. Yes, there remained points of tempers risen to an extreme, but for the most part sensibility prevailed. The country remained as one nation. Yes, there have been groups of extremity which pulled away and declared their own government. But these sects are few and far between, certainly not of the mainstream. When push came to shove, they were required and continued to be required to adhere to the laws of this nation. If not. the consequences of the law await them.

Today this nation, though, is at crisis point. The political parties within refuse to hear each other. Refuse to talk with each other. They talk at, they yell at. They turn a deaf ear to any and all who differ from their supposed platforms. The leaders they have chosen are more and more antithetical to the principles of this nation as set forth by our Founding Fathers, by the Declaration and the Constitution, the Amendments and the laws of state and local levels passed to keep forward in the movement necessary to keep us on a moral and even keel.  

 But now it has come to a sudden stop. We have met rogue waves harmful to our ship of state. The vehicles of the nation have come to sudden sharp stops restricting forward movement.  Circumstances amenable and lending themselves to correcting these situations are scarce, growing scarcer, and are ignored by those with the power and influence to restart the engines of America the way they should be running. 

We are so at odds with each other, even with ourselves and frankly, it grows more despairing every day. We are tying knots tighter and more complicated with heavier ropes and there is no one apparently ready and willing and able to take the first steps toward ameliorating the situation. We need to remind ourselves of the words of the Pledge: "one nation, under G-d, with liberty and justice for all". We have lost the meaning and the truth of those words. 

How to solve it? Where to find the energy to quick start the engines, smoothly and on target and state to the world in word and action that we are back. Will keep coming back and will heal ourselves as the word goes - "forthwith". How to do this exactly beats me, but for sure somewhere within the thousands of people with brilliant minds there can be found at least one or two or three able to influence the nation, inform the world of our return and determination to take the right turns, to endeavor to make and take the proper paths, with beneficial decisions.

Would it be possible somehow to halt this nation's frantic weaving back and forth, achieving nothing but aggravation and more dissension? If we could put this nation into a state of stasis, take time to breathe, to think and rethink and understand, comprehend deeply how we have reached this point, then perhaps we can actually begin to solve and resolve it. But to freeze a nation is impossible. To do so with force is treason. January 6th was such a day. But if we could somehow gather that energy and aim it in the proper direction, without violence, without the ugliness evidenced on that day, drowning in bloodlust and mob mentality, we could turn this nation and this world around. In a positive way. In an American way. 

Could we indeed call a halt to the madness now enveloping our government and its process of governing, remind us to reset our valuation of the guiding principles of this very nation, this wounded and bedraggled country of ours? Do we have enough statesmen remaining in office to call a halt, even unspoken, to the mad passing and not passing the same laws, going nowhere other than ever faster on the treadmills we have created. 

That is a revolutionary thought and could we trust ourselves to indeed call a halt to the madness and sit down together, to talk with, not at. To understand the points of view that are legitimate and dump by the wayside all that stands in the way of a reunited and properly functioning nation. No one person to indulge his/herself, toy with the nation, gather the reins of government into the hands of the One who will then dictate to all his desires, his plans, his attacks on the very fabric of this nation, down to the very last stich holding it together?

 Can we find within ourselves the energy, the understanding and determination to walk this nation into a cool down process? During that time members of these now opposing forces rather than competing political parties, will also cool down. They will seek and hopefully find new leaders   who will talk sense, compromise, and discussion. Who will put away the knives with which we are rending this nation, and we will have peace in the nation, a good and justified and justifiable peace. When we can resume our task in life - to create and make opportunities for all, to lead the world properly and never to return to the overheated situation we have allow to fester to the point of burning this nation along with the rest of the world. To be American in every positive sense of the word and history. Being American again.

Is this even possible? I have not a clue. Nor do I have any kind of a glimmer of a plan as to how to make this possible. How to do this reset without involving power hungry individuals, people who do not want America back. However, for sure, if we do not cure ourselves of this rampant infection within the body politic, within the body American, we are doomed. This nation will join the ranks of those ancient empires of the past and even those of today which trembled and failed and fell. When governments forget or disregard and/or trash the principles of responsibility to the nation and its people, then that government has lost its legitimacy and the failure, and its fall is on the way.

 All I know or feel is that we are at a point of no return. If we do not shake ourselves and wake ourselves up, become aware of the "Dragons" awaiting us, then this nation and the world, are in ever quicker pace leading us into a point where the road ends. Leading us and the world into destructive war and enmity impossible to ameliorate. To scars and scabs and wounds which never heal.  

   Where we will be then? What will be then? Only the good Lord Above knows, and I'm not sure even He can figure us out.

 Why can we not, do we not, take the value of the lessons of yesterday, merge them with the abilities and comprehension of today, and make possible   good tomorrows for us all.

Why? Why not? You must find someone way higher than I am to totally figure this out, lead properly, and tend to the business of keeping this planet, this tiny orb in space, and the people living upon its surface, intact, healed, and safely on the correct path of life. A pipe dream? Perhaps. But we had better do something, in the right way and manner, if we are to continue to have a future rife with possibilities of goodness rather than war and more war, within and without the nations of the world.

Not a pretty thought. Certainly not a life to seek. 

But it takes all of us to work to create the life we desire.

All on us.

Always and forever on us.

More tomorrow.

WHAT WOULD THE SPIES HAVE TO SAY?

  In the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Old Testament, scouts, or spies, are sent to take a look and make an evaluation of the land promised to the Israelites, waiting for them to return, to the land of their ancestors. After 210 years of slavery in Egypt and 40 years trekking through the desert, they were finally reaching home, the same home we are still, after millennia, having to defend against the enemies arrayed against us. Through it all, we maintained our unity, our definition as a nation, a people who are here for the long run, despite all that we faced, from enemies both within the nation and those without.

Through it all we managed to overcome all that was thrust against us. Against those enemies who wished to annihilate us to the last babe in arms and those who told us that to lose our distinctions, for it would be better for our long-term survival. But in so doing, we would weaken ourselves, stretch the bonds of unity and identification to the breaking point. That would not go well, and it did not go well. Simply look at the facts of history. There is a reason why there is a saying through the ages. which states "When it is good for the Jews, it is bad for the Jews". Conversely, "when it is bad for the Jews, it is good for the Jews". In one situation. we lose ourselves, even as we prosper. And in the other, others conspire to make us gone. This leads to a strengthening of bonds of ancient times and modern times, and for all time. They are renewed and refreshed and we overcome those who would see us gone, in one way or another.

The meraglim, or scouts, returned with a fearful report re the physical size and prowess of those who had moved in when the Israelites had moved to Egypt to reunite with Joseph and his family, always with the intentions to return to their homeland. This return was delayed for many, many years. For as the saying goes, it was good for the Jews there. They had land, food, back up and protection via those of their nation in positions of importance and influence. However, because life was easy and good, too many forgot their origins, the true final destination of the nation. 

And even as life became good in one way, it became bad in another as our bonds of unity, our allegiance to our Lord, were weakened and shed along the years. It was only when the jealousy of the Egyptians grew strong, and the regime changed, that the Israelites were subjected to more and more restrictions, demanded more from them, and soon life reversed. Bad for the Jews in their day to day lives, but better for they were reunited and reclaimed their past and their true fate. They returned to their true G-d, to their people, and thus, good for them as a nation distinct and determined. 

Today, our history is proving once again the truth of that adage. Life had become much better for Jews, particularly throughout the Western nations. Jewish citizens were, are, contributing members to the lands where they resided. They fought in the armed forces of the nations, staffed hospitals and educational facilities and were on the cutting edge of the sciences and the arts, as well as in the fields dedicated to improving the lives of so many. We were well represented in the body politic.

And then the boom fell again. Israel did very well for herself. Punching far, far above her weight. Contributing to technology, to business, to all fields.  As did the Jewish people, for themselves, and for others around the world, intricate and integral parts of a world improving. So well placed were we that too many began to lose their connections to their history and heritage, to history as it always revealed itself and as ancient memes of hate and viciousness once again grew by leaps and bounds. The world began to turn against us again, feeling far more comfortable with a weak and needy Israel unable to defend itself. Unlike citizens, hyphenated as is the custom, citizens of the Jewish faith were accused of disloyalty to the nations where they resided.

The worst element of these changes was to watch Jews turn upon themselves, joining with those who hated them, who wished them harm, driven by a falsehood that cooperating with the enemies of their people would keep it far from their own lives. Highly fallacious, proven incorrect, tragically so, throughout the calamitous history of our people over the centuries. The more they strove to prove their loyalty, standing on lines calling for the death of fellow Jews, of the only nation which welcomed and defended Jews round the world, providing   haven for them, the more vocal and threatening grew the false suspicions and accusations. and so, it is becoming once again, "good for the Jews" as they once again realize and accept that we are one and the looser the bonds the more danger we face. Together we can remain strong, loyal to both our lands, content to do the best for themselves and the world, sharing with all their inventions and forward steps in all fields. 

It has now become more frightening than ever.  The statement of warning of the Israelites, that the land which they were to enter, their Promised Land. appeared to be a land which ate its inhabitants. The slave mentality of weakness, of powerlessness, carried them to false conclusions and thankfully they woke up, the Lord held their hands and we were home, continuing that struggle over the next few millennia. No end in sight. But always with the knowledge and the firmness of mind and body, that never again will support its own truth. Never again will we stand by as we are targeted for harm and murder. Never again will we allow ourselves to be systematically hunted and slaughtered. Never again will we have to search for a place to live, for we have that place.

But there is another nation among our people and for people round the world. Their body politics are eating their own inhabitants. There is an ugly slant in two mis-directions. The Extreme Right and the Extreme Left. Their visions of a government for the nations include Dictatorship. Authoritarianism. Repression and Suppression. Huge numbers Imprisoned. And Sealed Borders, a policy so oppositional to the roots of this nation. Even so-called moderates purported to claim the middle have moved toward the extremes. Even to the more extreme than that. 

All is right for what they want, and all is wrong with their opposition. The issues and concerns of the nation dissolve and instead we have selfish issues of lust for power and wealth, for influence, for a return to corruption of home, hearth and nation, for the ending of the Nation as it breaks into factions and fractions beneficial to no others but themselves. Compromise and discussion, necessities of a Nation that will prosper, are sorely missing. Glaring in their absence. All seek the advantage for themselves, and in so doing, inflict great harm. existential harm to this nation as well as to other nations of the world. 

All is apparently game for the slaughter. All nations are being torn asunder. and that would include both of my countries, the one of faith, and the one of   birth. The one of several generations preceding me and the three that follow, even as we hope for more to do the same. But the doubts grow heavy and strong. The nation of my birth, the nation to which I once proudly and securely pledged allegiance, sang the national anthem, and other patriotic ballads, is no more that nation. 

It has taken a wrong step from the Bible. and chosen to eat its own inhabitants. It disregards and disrespects its citizens and residents and does worse for others who wish to join in the dream, just as our ancestors did. No, the USA is not the only nation devouring itself, but it is the land with which I am most concerned as I live here. along with family before and after me. I can no longer see that vison clearly anymore, so corrupted, distorted by selfish people, by crazed and malicious and severely unworthy people now assuming seats of power, wreaking harm upon this nation and the world too.

Even more frightening in another yet similar manner, is the dissension within my other homeland. When they are not waging defensive wars, trying to rescue hostages, to live normal and contributing lives, they fall to fighting amongst themselves. Faith, patriotism, secular government and the separation from faith, the competing sects of Judaism, and the various levels of corruption and power-seeking individuals within the government     all bodes no good for them as well. We too forget that we are one nation in a hostile world and the more we bicker within ourselves, the weaker we appear and become. We must retain the unity we now have, not forget its importance, its absolute necessity. or we place the nation in even more existential peril. Been there, done that, in our history and it never turns out well, does it?

As good and promising as the world is at present, equally so is it threatening. It is up to us, the people of the world to recognize realities. While the Good Lord Above holds the fates of the nations of the world within His hands, we must remember to convince Him that we are worthy of His Arms and Hands, His protection, and we can and will do better, be better. 

We had better take that to heart.

This is the way it has been in all our yesterdays.

It looks as if our todays are trailing along unfortunately, in the same paths.

Can we make our tomorrows better?

Will there indeed be tomorrows for us, good ones?

I hope so.

All on us, folks, all and only upon us.

DO WE, WILL WE, EVER MAKE TRUE PROGRESS?

  First and foremost, I must apologize for yesterday's posting which included material, or rather letters and words which were of their own doing. And then carelessly spoken into my posting. Again, my apologies. I also apologize for the rather abrupt ending as the second half of this posting was cut off. and made to disappear. And thus, I am resurrecting it to the best of my ability.

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We are at present, unfortunately so, creating a society, changing our society into that which it should not be. We have turned our backs on it,  changing our society. into that which it should not be. We have turned our backs on the principles of this nation. Equality. Justice, Freedom. Opportunity For dreams to become reality. A country which enabled a boy from a log cabin to rise to a seat in the Oval Office as president of this nation. A nation which was the pride of its citizens. and in turn valued its citizens? A nation which strove mightily, with some errors or backward steps, for it is not perfect, to raise the level of living of life for all its inhabitants. To share it with those who wish to come and help build. To know that we all have contributions, we all have gifts to share. And we all deserve an equal chance.

There were ugly moments. There were brutal times when prejudice raised its nasty head and rained down blows upon this nation. Even unto the point of civil war. Even unto the point where leaders of this nation, secular and religious called out vicious statements of hate. urging the people to act upon them. But always we managed to find our way back to the more righteous paths of life. Turning from the bad to the better. To the more positive and generous. To all that the founders of this nation aspired to. To which we continue to strive. For we have not yet achieved all that we should over the 250 years of existence. 

In fact, in recent years we have moved backwards. Allowed for an ugliness to sink deep roots into the fabric of our nation. We have enabled an atmosphere which encourages gaps between Americans. Between the haves and the have nots. In the lives they lead. In the dreams they can dream. And in the dreams they can bring to reality. We have created a class of the uber wealthy who think of themselves as entitled., as the betters of society. We have placed limits on all that we deemed limitless. And each and every day the gap between the segments of society of America grows deeper and wider. Now we are at the point of wondering how and where and when we can attempt to make successful efforts to reunite this nation. To fill in the gaps and pave over the cracks. 

 This confused world of weakening values, with a severe lack of working directional devices, lures us   onto erroneous pathways, and consciously or subconsciously we glom onto them. Use them as false roads, inflicting harm to the best of us.  t America from the inside. We have tossed away much of what gave us value. Of what inspired us. We went from the principle that education for all   is a necessity, that which enables us to guarantee a proper society. 

Now we do not have that. Nor do we have a sense of unity among the nation. We have become segmented. Tribes, cults, sects which create their own rules. Who toss away the memes and principles written into our Declaration and our Constitution.  We have enabled education vastly different, thus engendering a nation of people which does not know its own history. And a group of people who consider themselves to be entitled. To be the leaders. Even as they forget their fellow Americans, neglect to share with them the glory of this country and its history. Principles of the structure of American society are lost, more and more so, leaving nothing good in its place, more so than ever before. As an educator, as a proud American, I am distressed by the path this country has taken. has chosen to follow these past few years. With little to no sign of regret or reform.      

Why is this so?

It is so because we allowed it to become so.

It is so because we neglected our responsibilities to ourselves, to our nation, to our allies, to all mankind. Given much, we now take and take more, rather than giving. We throw allies in the dustpan and act more as rulers of the world, its ruling dictator, rather than as a partner of the globe, of mankind.

 Yesterday, today, tomorrow. We seem never to learn from our errors. At times we seem to purposely reenergize, regrow, larger and more toxic the poison of our yesterdays and todays, and allow it to seep into our tomorrows.

Rather foolish, don't you think?

OLD SLOGANS AND CURRENT TIMES

  Probably showing my age, but then again, I have never denied it, I ask myself, I ask all of us, what is new about this? Perhaps not even so new, this revived importance, of 'relevancy' of old slogans, old movie lines, book lines? They have returned, often from the 'stockrooms of the awful', the unthinkable. Repaired and reinvigorated, their inner dross recoated in outwardly more attractive memes and coatings and carry much weight these days. It is well worth a look for. To look at some of them and then question ourselves as to why they suddenly have a place within our intellectual and or emotional makeup. Two lines are now more often to be found in my head as I think about the world today. One is the old movie title "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The other is the line I don't even remember from whence it came: "Stop the world. I want to get off".

How many of us feel that way, more so every day in this world turned upside down and inside out. With no sense to be made of it. When one has an administration led by a clearly deteriorating man at the helm, there is certainly room for fear and concern. When the nations of the world. Increasingly allow themselves to be ruled by a dictator, one is rightfully concerned. A high degree of concern, far more than should be there. The nation, many nations, are regressing ever faster under the leadership of such people and their coterie of enablers. It matters not whether they claim to be from the Right or the Left or the new Middle. Corruption off government and private industry. Business done with a handshake filled with dollar bills, whatever currency is demanded as payment.  Who do you know, rather than what do you know, what can you do?

In the midst of this ugliness, this base corruption eroding our basis of foundation, of our ethics and ethos as a nation, reached over the 250 years of its. inception going, going, almost gone.  Sadly, the movement towards, to improvement, to keep their society on the straight and narrow. is now endangered. We now have is a return to all the old memes and tropes we read about and studied in history class. Where are the muckrakers to defend the nation? Where is that most important distinction and separation between church and state? In fact, what has happened to the religions of giving and charity and compassion?  Yellow journalism. Bribery. Nepotism. Favoritism. Rampant and ever growing, ever more solidified. Prejudice and bias against those who are considered as "Others”, deemed 'dangerous' to the rest of society, whatever its definition is.

This confused world of weakening values, with a severe lack of working directional devices, lures us   onto erroneous pathways, and consciously or subconsciously we glom onto them. Use them as excuses. Use them as justifications for things that should not and cannot be justified, ever. We swear to slogans that we never intend to keep. We use the laws to break the laws. We encourage the lowest to achieve the highest positions in the nation. And we suffer as a result. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. But it is a growing reality. One that lends itself to growing pessimism and a growing carelessness how we speak and how we comport ourselves. Certainly, we have degraded ourselves and our societies of the day.  Even as we grow technologically, we decay morally. That is on us, folks. All on us.

AND THE WINNER IS ....

  ... No one. The original precept says no one in a war is a winner. There are those who are victors for a time. until another conflict arrives ready and steady and too often eager for the next blow.  Whatever is achieved on the battlefield is not necessarily carried over into the civilian world. The short-term effects of being on the "winning" side are often turned over, as what is achieved on the battlefield is too often shed in the civilian milieu.   A 'let's fix those we defeated" arises, and in so doing the victors defeat themselves as the loser prospers and the winners struggle to pay the bills.

Nor, ironically, is there a true long-term decisive winner, for the issues that led to the war are rarely summarily healed, solved. and scabbed over. Inevitably, there are those on both sides of the issues who will demand some kind of compensation or apology, atonement of some sort and it is never enough. The history of mankind is paved over or unpaved, time and time again with never ending issues between nations, and thus we have the constant recurring wars fought time and time again over the same issues, to change the results, The next war is held in abeyance until such time as it is are needed, to serve one ruler or another, one nation or another. whose pride has been piqued and the duels rsultant unsatisfactory in result. It never fails. Or is it rather that it always fails.

Most aggravating is the dangerous stupidity plaguing mankind. We are blind to the truth. Perhaps it is a reality we do not like. Or we feel that we can improve upon that reality. If only we beat the crap out of some other nation. Or concentrate on downgrading some group of people as convenient scapegoats and perennial victim of false accusations. The emotions and the thought process within the human mind is so twisted and tangled that even as they talk peace for the current war, behind the scenes, there are already plans being drawn up as to how to wage and win the next war. And the one after that and the one after that. Ad  infinitem, ad nauseam. End result? We are all losers.

Ever more exasperating is that we are not dealing with new issues. It is the same old, same old. With perhaps a new weapon or two here or there, for always the brains and money are found to fulfill those tasks. Always there is the warmonger never satisfied until the vision of bloodshed reappears and morphs into a reality mankind had been better off without. Evidently, we are slow learners in this matter. Doomed to war and death. Because we cannot simply grasp the truth. War. It's stupidity. It's definite lack of success in any kind of permanent manner. Hence, the eternal preparation for the next war. Yet another war. Unable to fulfill its supposed chores and assignments.

This would be greatly confusing to a visitor from another place or time, from the past or future, one which has learned its lesson. He will look upon this time on earth as a tragic time. Constant needless wars between “tribes”. The denial of the similarities. The exaggeration of the differences.    The constant game of musical chairs for allies and enemies as one becomes the other and the other takes the vacated chair.  Winner 0. In fact, there were never any winners. Its evaluation is always on the debit side. It's red ink mirrors the redness of the bloodshed. 

The visitors of the path mourned the failure of mankind, for its frailties and errors cause great damage in the future until we finally put aside all of our needless hostilities and learned to live together. Those who came visiting from the past are horrified. They had thought that by now people would have learned better. That people would have known what to stress and what not. How to have peace and not make war? How to share our similarities. How together we could complement. our lives and dreams. 

The visitor from the future made his way back to his times, sadly, shaking his head. Swearing to devote his life to ensuring that mankind does not return to such thinking and endangered lives. The visitors from the past hang heads in despair. How long will it take for humankind to understand. How long will it take for them to know, to believe, that to shed blood, to try to overpower others is clearly not the way to create. Better to live in a world of positivity for all.  

Are we not tired of all this horror? Can we not invest our time, our energies, our resources into the difficult but infinitely better times of peace, true peace?

Evidently, this is not within our power. At least not for now. Those of us who have war waged upon us. will be forced to resist those whose is to annihilate them. Wiser leaders will have to be found from among us, the people of this world. Nor must we fall into the trap of solving external affairs of a nation while allowing for the rot of internal dissension to eat us up from within,  

It has replicated itself in our todays.

Please G-d:

Look down upon your creations now struggling so hard. Mired in confusion. 

May You enable us to see through to the truth, thus enabling us, Your servants, to find the wisdom we so desperately need if we are to find within us, the ability and faith to bring about better tomorrows.