LIGHT AND DARK

     As a good grandmother and former Language Arts teacher, I generally read or have read and taught the books that the kids are assigned, especially the summer reading which has no instructor input or guidance. In that capacity, I recently read Anthony Doerr's book All the Light We Cannot See. It is a different book, a bit difficult to get into or catch its rhythm, but once involved in the story, it holds the interest, reads quickly and has an afterpunch. Once the reader is done there are many thoughts that come to the fore. It is that aftereffect that causes me to recommend it if you have not yet read it.
     In wonderful discussions with my 15 year old, the meaning of light and dark, where are they, are these concepts necessarily oppositional or can they live symbiotically, can we use light, can it be engendered, can we fight off the dark or negate it - all these questions and more arose.
     The story has many threads and in my opinion would have been a better book to have been read during the school year rather than during the summer, but the threads of the plot, of the lives of the characters, with the two main ones being children and then teenagers, these threads weave themselves into a good strong and meaningful story. The rest of the plot - find out for yourselves. The library has many copies available as it is a bestseller.
     But the question remains as to where light and dark are in this world and in the recent past. How long do we hold on to these concepts and instances or can we leave them behind? Should we leave them behind? Can we reimagine and recreate the light or the protective dark or will we just confound ourselves and find a good solid morass which enmeshes us in more troubles than we had thought possible. The biggest question of all is what will people do? Will they grow into their roles and see the light which cannot be seen or will they flounder and give in not to the protective dark or the enlightened thoughts but will they fall and creep into the evil dark, not even actively, but by sheer shutting of the mouth allow the dark to overwhelm the world. And oneself.
     And now look at our world, 70 years after one of the darkest periods of history, though trust me, there have been other dark periods as well. The Crusades for one killed more people in Europe than it did the "enemy" in the Holy Land. So much for that. We profess to be enlightened now, learned from the past and the errors made then but really and truly? Nope. A definite nope.
     Perhaps I am ultra sensitive. I attended day schools, had courses in Jewish history throughout my school career and have read widely and continue to do so, though thank G-d I do not have to read the cereal boxes any more! But all kidding aside, what is one to think of the debacle of the University of California which has allowed and perhaps even encouraged the rise of anti Semitism on its campuses, a virulent anti Semitism which physically threatens its targets - Jew and non Jew alike and the latest story is the shameful targeting of an Indian American Hindu, so targeted that he has been driven from his position of President of the Graduate Students Association and his law school at UCLA and he will finish his studies at NYU School of Law. The administrators allegedly were as cowardly as those of Nazi Germany, taking refuge in mushy language, in excuses and in simply disappearing when a question was asked or an answer challenged. Hate speech is not free speech. Hate speech leads to acts of hate and to death, to burning, to disaster. I quote from an article about this topic. The article is entitled: UCLA: No place for Jews and the paragraph is: "Milan Chatterjee is a brave man who took a stand against taking a stand.  He will be paying for that decision for a long time.  If there is anything positive in this charade, it is the realization that anti-Semitism is a virulent form of hate that masquerades as social reform.  BDS is anti-Semitism.  Milan Chatterjee needn’t be Jewish to experience anti-Semitism."
     It is amazing, in a bad way, that this vicious sentiment, this virus, flourishes again. In Serbia there are gangs roaming spouting anti Jewish statements and plots and yet almost the entire population of Jews was wiped out in WWII and most of these screamers have not even met one in their entire lives. Poles are burning Jews in effigy and denying that any Poles killed Jews in and after WWII. Jedwabne and Kielce any one? The neo Nazis flourish in Germany and the ultra right wingers flourish in many European countries once more. An MSNBC host, Christopher Hayes, posted on Twitter, encouraging some nasty stuff. He is the editor of The Nation, a far left magazine and left a  Twitter comment to say this:"perfect time to start a good, frank BDS convo." Really? I think not.
     There is much that is dark and if one thinks that there is no anti Semitism here in the
USA think again, for you do not even have to leave the Village.  How many times have I walked past a conversational group or overheard at the pool and what I heard was not exactly loving comments re Jews and Jewish practices. I myself have received anti Semitic statements and unfortunately there are Jews themselves who participate in this activity, forgetting that others will never forget who they are.
     Yesterday I asked if we had all become figurative Sunni or Shiite, devolving into non negotiable camps of thoughts. I truly hope not but if we allow all the light we cannot see to continue to remain unseen and unfelt then we indeed will have mortgaged our future to hate and evil, to a dark and penetrating darkness that is not easily overcome.
     Read the book, think and choose where you wish to be. It is that simple and remember - it starts with one group and continues on and on until there is no one left but the perpetrators of evil.