While George Washington wrote his famous Letter to the Jews, making it very clear that this newfound country was going to welcome them as it would all religions, unfortunately it has not always been so - not for Jews nor for members of other minorities, be it racially, ethnically or religiously targeted. But never, never, did I think that I would ever live to see the day when I would be shot at, yes, shot at, while sitting on the property of the synagogue across the street from Century Village in West Palm Beach.
I guess I was being a bit naïve, as this has gone on and even had a member of my family shot at years ago as he drove home from Yeshiva University. There have been Jews targeted, from Halberstam, shot and killed while on the ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, to Meir Kahane, to many other incidents, However, this time it was me and the friends we were sitting with, in the sukkah, the hut built to commemorate the journeys of the Israelites thru the desert on their way to Canaan.
We heard a crack! then another one and another and when we looked towards the area behind the synagogue we heard a fusillade of shots, a large volley and we went inside and called the PBSO which came a tad slow, but did send a number of deputies and cars. To top it off, I now understand that an American flag desecrated with anti Semitic slogans was thrown at a large synagogue in Tampa. And not to forget the rabbi slain in Miami two years ago.
Furthermore, there has been a campaign of anti Semitic intimidation of reporters of the Jewish faith. From Jeffrey Goldberg to the latest it is quite atrocious but definitely here. The latest involves a reporter, Hadas Gold, who was shown with a bullet hole in her head and a yellow star pinned to her chest. She was told, “Don’t mess with our boy Trump or you will be first in line for the camp,” read a message accompanying the photo. “Aliyah or line up by the wall, your choice.” (Aliyah is the moving to Israel)
There have been other targets, such as Julie Ioffe, who was shown with her face inside an oven, the oven being one that would have burned the Jews during the Nazi regime. I could go on and on but the point is that it is, it was and seemingly always will be but has increased of late and in Europe, where the right wingers seem to have come out on top lately, but here, in this country, I believe we need to look directly at Trump and many of his supporters.
There is a nasty attitude coming down directly from the top, from the candidate himself, that encourages this outrageous behavior. He is a man of no morals, no manners, and watch tonite to see his latest dirty tricks that he will try and then whine about when they do not work and he comes off looking even more like an ass than he has before! Watch him interrupt, hulk around the stage, make ridiculous accusations, even dangerous ones such as the need to challenge the system for it is "rigged" or so he says - against him, of course! And watch his ugly faces that he makes. And yet, in reality, it is not his rabid fans that are blocked but rather those who would support Clinton and Democratic candidates down ballot, whose rights to register are challenged, blocked and trampled upon, like the 60's all over again. In fact, his statements and behavior reminds one too closely of Hitler and his antics.
Both Trump and Hitler were and are considered buffoons. Both were thought unlikely to win and yet one caused a conflagration which engulfed the world and the other is a presidential candidate who could, should enough unthinking or foolish people vote for him. They both use the technique of the Big Lie, the Outrageous Lie, and the followers just parrot it all. I even ran into several who cite as proof positive of his statements that "everyone says so!" Really? Is that how we prove things, how we believe things now?
And how anyone can vote for this moral pig, (sorry, pigs of the world), is beyond me. Shall we all go home and stay there, safe from the likes of him and his adherents, keep our daughters stuffed in a back room and our sons - G-d alone knows how we could raise decent boys and men were he to be elected. The mere fact that there are still people who will vote for him is shocking. The people who support him are the same people who shot at us two days ago - the very same deplorable people of whom Clinton spoke. No, she was not wrong there, for many are deplorable and unfortunately many are fooled or have blinders on and are not taking the long look down the road at all. The proof, the pudding and all, is right there so why can people not see? How can they discount all who have come forward and so, and while I too despise the behavior of Bill Clinton during his heyday, he is not running for President and you should excuse me, Hillary Clinton is not running around pulling men by their johnsons, is she!!!
I came across a phrase the other day which I like very much. It talks of the gift of possibility, that which allows us to look into the future and hope, for the possible is there and the impossible we can make possible. We seem to have lost that gift, that optimism which enabled that gift of possibility. We seem to have come across the two paths of Robert Frost and too many have seemingly chosen the wrong one. We need to rectify that error, to look down the long road ahead of us no matter who is president and learn to make the right decisions. The world and our country are in big trouble and it is incumbent upon us to make the right decision, to make a proper and informed choice and yes, while there have been more appetizing candidates, I have come to believe that Hillary Clinton has been maligned more than should be and I have come to appreciate her preparedness, her insistence on knowing the facts, on the depth of her position papers from her website, from her desire to talk of the issues even whilst that man rambles around both physically, mentally and orally. His backers have withdrawn, a tad too late, but hers have increased. She is of presidential material while he, oof! don't make me say it in polite company. Listen tonite to the last debate and watch how he has been prepared by a liar, Chris Christie, perhaps even an alleged criminal, and by Giuliani who has lost the luster of his post 9/11 behavior for sure. He has been tutored to attack, attack and attack, interrupt and overshout, accuse with outrageous comments and go after health issues because the woman had pneumonia. So what? and if this is the issue, health, then why does he sniffle and snuffle so much on stage. Does he have a coke habit? A constant head cold - and perhaps that would explain the stuffiness of his thinking - or does he has an esoteric virus which he cannot shed? See, the ridiculous accusations can work both ways. Issues. That is what we need and that is what we will never get from him, never.
So we need to all make a choice.
"The thin grey line of a road, winding across the plain and up and down hills, was the fixed materialization of human longing, and of the human notion that it is better to be in one place than another." Isak Dinesen
Let us choose the right road, the correct path, that will take us to the other place we need to be, the other place which will allow us to find and exercise the gift of possibility in a proper and enriching manner. Please G-d, let it be so - or else all the people who have been threatening to emigrate to Canada will be a long line for sure!!
And in a postscript to Gracie, not so amazing Grace - what the hell was that - another nasty note confirming even more the serious issues you have? Please see a doctor to discuss your nastiness in depth. Perhaps there is still hope for you. Maybe.
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