ARE WE THERE YET?

  The iconic dreaded question asked of every parent. At least once during every car trip or trek via planes, the question will be asked - and the answer is generally "soon". That is the only sanity keeping answer possible. Details do not help. Explaining does not help. Only the passage of time, the traffic and the plane delays will provide the true answer - not within an adult's understanding, let alone a young child - or the impatient, frustrated adult waiting through two cancellations, three delays, a switch in aircraft, and then an interminable wait on the runaway. Yup. Are we there yet?

Unfortunately, we are almost there right now - or getting too damned close. In fact, I am not sure whether or not we have the impetus and the talent and the desire to truly stop this trip before we "get there". Reading the reports of the day and the week, there are three lines that stick out and quite adequately present the answer to the question. I believe the answer now must include the time delays inserted into the trip by stubborn, self-hating Americans who cry, long for, an authoritarian government which will eliminate the burden, the need for them to think for themselves.

Take a trip into the frightening reality that is now ours. Who'd a thunk! And yet, here we are, the 'there" morphing, top speed, into the "here" today.

"Code Red" is one. That is the universal designation for disaster hitting us right now. Thomas Friedman, a noted columnist and author, with whom I carry on a love/hate relationship depending on the topic of his column, warns us that this election, in so many ways, is ringing that CODE RED alarm. If the Democratics and all democrats, do not win this election, well, wave goodbye to alternative trips. We will have reached the dreaded "here"; the one with lack of traditional American taken for granted rights. The one which touts "parents'" rights even as they are disappearing. The world of lost rights will be bloated. It will be the former United States of America as small breakaways will take place and violence will become the status quo. We have already seen previews of that along with the sheer gall of an American sitting President trying to turn back the tides of truth and history and retain and remain in office. George turned down the offer to be King of America while Doanld wants to be Ruler for Life, with his tainted progeny right behind.

Code Red. Biden is old. Yes. But so is Trump and he has already lost his marbles long ago, if he ever truly had any. Kamala Harris has been sidelined publicly even as she has traveled the world on missions tamping down the violence, the disagreements - doing her job. It is the Biden administration which must place her strengths and abilities front and center along with the push to remind all that Trump is four years younger chronologically, but well advanced into dangerous dementia afflicted thinking, for years already. Code Red indeed.

Whoopi said it even better, clearly and in her plainspoken language. Read the excerpts and ask - what is the answer to that ubiquitous question of exactly where we are on our trip.

"What the hell is going on in this country?":

, “I don’t have to agree with everything you agree with. You don’t have to agree with everything I agree with. That’s why we have two parties! That’s why we have the Constitution!”

 Simple words, deep meaning. Clear presentation of the 'here' we are approaching at Mach speed, knowingly or not.

Austin Tice

Evan Gershkovich

Political prisoners, journalists endangered.

The path is clear - they must be freed. Now.

It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a world to insure universal freedom, a life protected from those who would harm it. It may take that village to raise a child, but it takes a world, all involved, to ensure freedom, security, and just societies replete with caring and concerned administrators of that society. Be aware. Be watchful. Be concerned.

And, of course, as always it will take the world to do what we ask every day - 

 HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

"ENDLESS STREAM OF CIRCUSES"

  Says it all - but maybe not. Circuses have their issues, serious ones, but overall, they are meant to provide amusement and employment. They are the iconic goal of kids planning to run away. Most of us - at least my generation, read about Toby Tyler and his adventure with the circus. So...maybe....when one Democratic lawmaker in Indiana says that we are now expecting a "stream of circuses", perhaps he is referring to the jokes that masquerade as legislators, as qualified judges, as know it alls who actually know nothing - or even less than that. Suddenly the idea of a circus is not as amusing as it was before. Suddenly the antics of these fakes are not quite so funny, even as they make fools of themselves. However, these fools have a huge deleterious effect on the rest of us. Not so funny after all.

Shall we ban these circuses so manifestly not circuses nor meant to be? But how would we do that? Perhaps by running qualified, sensible candidates and electing them to office. Then making laws and taking action against these dangerous circus performers, the ones passing laws that enabled them to attempt to dismantle an entire system built to insure the rights of all, to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Yes, from that good old Constitution. Uh huh. G-d bless 7th grade.

In order to avoid boredom with the standard circuses of today, the legislatures and the office of governors, the Supreme Court has rung in with their own version, just about a perfect imitation of asking the fox to guard the chicken coop. It amounts to these judges inquiring of themselves if they have evaded or violated laws, in word or spirit or action and then Voila! Quelle surprise! The answer is no. Seriously. Answering to a request to appear before a hearing to discuss the ethics or lack thereof of the Supreme Court, they sent a letter, signed by all. That letter says that the judges consult oh so many sources as to whether their individual plans are okay, sympatico with the ethics presumed they have. Yup. There goes that fox, bib and all. Drooling. How, why, have the three sensible, honest ladies, signed on for this, joined this most disreputable circus?

Still wanting more circuses? Not to worry. The school boards and parents of students have joined their mighty efforts together, emerged with a dangerous squeak (must be from Mickey as he is being set upon by DeSantis). This squeak has succeeded too much in efforts to ban culture, in literature, nonfiction, visual media of all categories, and have consigned great artists, authors, musicians, and scientists to the pile of rejected banned items and threads of thought inducing topics. Smirking all the while at their pyrrhic victories, diligently checking the lists of books in schools and libraries. G-d forbid a child should have a forbidden question or curiosity! Just 'merely' trashing humanity's advances and progress, denying sexuality, denying truths, and here we go - an American version of the hypocritical Victorian Age of England.

Whether we realize it or wish not to, see the truth or remain blind to it, hear not the moans of our forefathers, those who came before us so that we might live in a land that treasures its citizens, that trusts its citizens, that encourages them to think, to learn, to challenge, to progress, we are negating all the above. Tiny people, with tiny minds, unable to expand, refusing to allow others the gift of knowledge, of free choice, of independence and value as a human being. Chortling away as their opponents are vanquished, rejoicing in their victories, and then shocked, when the paddy wagon at 4 AM is for them. The old adage come to life - what goes around, comes around. Indeed. Word!

We waste so much time and energy. We squander the gifts of wise people, of thinkers, of challengers to the status quo. We deem them unthinkable, immoral, degenerate and reject them and the benefit to and progress of humanity that would result. Yes, at times there are dangerous thoughts, but with proper education we can overcome the attraction of these dangerous movements. However, that education must be open, welcoming, and encouraging.

It must allow for the nourishment of brains and minds. It must allow challenges to be met and conquered. It is the only way in which advances in medicine, thought, positive traits of humanity, can be achieved. It is the path via which new modes of expression, new fields of endeavor, will emerge and old paths will be renewed and refreshed. (And as an aside, maybe some bright people will realize that creating such smart robots is a dangerous path, must be heavily overseen, and not produce our own replacements. Arnie's boast of coming back, or returning, well, ..... Just a thought.)

Perhaps selfishly, though the advances would benefit so many, I wish we would fund more generously the research in medicine. It is difficult to learn how to handle dire predictions, end results that are unavoidable, no matter all the efforts given to it. It would provide a better education for doctors who would understand the need to hear, to listen intently to the words of those seeking aid and answers. It would understand the emotional needs of those under powerful waves of physical and/or mental stress, with no negativity involved.

Is that a pipe dream? Maybe, but then again, maybe not -if we prioritize properly. If we stop wasting so much time, effort, brainpower and funding on war and killing machines. If we instead stressed progress for all, for rights for all, for education for all, respect for all, and eliminated the dangerous idea of "you are not one of us" think how high we can and will fly. If, only if, we put aside our differences or celebrate them positively, and cooperate with each other, for each other, the resultant synergy will be exponential in possibility and achievement. 

Then, together, we can

 HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

"NOT ONE OF US"

 And therein we have a great deal of the kernel driving the worst part of society today. It is not only found in one or two countries but rather in most. From small and mostly insignificant on a world scale, to the biggest and most powerful of nations.  It seems this is a viral infection which has grown stronger of late with no sign of decreasing but rather the opposite. 

What determines the exclusion from "one of us"? Anything and everything, from skin color to gender to age to political preference to tolerance level to religion, whatever can serve as a prefix to separate people, drive them apart and keep them apart. Why? Beats me, other than the fact that this exclusionary drive impels humans to seek the differences and exaggerate them rather than seek the similar and build positively on that. Worse, when society seems to have finally matured into an understanding of the benefits of similarities, a basis for a progressive society, sure enough, there will arise one from the midst of hell, from the moral or rather immoral dregs of society, from the most destructive of societal dimensions who revs ups the negativity all over again. Time and time again.

Even as we realize we cannot work positively with this "me better than you" attitude, as the largest differences are defeated, someone picks up on a smaller, yet incendiary, difference and there we go again. With just as much venom, perhaps even more, and those damned races of humanity are on once again. There is no winner, only losers in this race of humanity to destroy itself unless it figures the truth out and in rapid timing.

In Israel, a land whose foundations are built on historical truths, of historical existential realities and imperatives, most recently the stinking smoke and ashes of the hate that fueled the Holocaust, whose population knows, personally, nationally, of the horrors of Jew hatred, against all sensibility, participates in growing exclusionary dividers amongst themselves. 

Disagreement among the Jewish people is nothing new. From Abraham and Lot who disagreed on which direction to travel, to the sibling rivalries, to the contentiousness after the Exodus from Egypt, to the scandal of the Golden Calf and on and on, Jews have always argued. It is the spice of life, but always and forever, there was the knowledge that we are one, and when threats grow larger, when the worst of the worst appears inevitable, differences are discarded. When a Jew seeking refuge during the war came across another, unsure if this person is real or a fake, a one word question was asked. "Amcha?" One of us? No matter now the trivial differences, the manner of prayer, the level of observance or former economic standing. "Amcha?" That was it.

That sense, that necessity, of togetherness, has been subsumed presently into a morass of hate and violence that is now posing an existential possibility of great harm to our present incarnation of the Jewish state. When the Jewish nation forgets its unity, the ties of brotherhood, great tragedies grow. Lives are lost, blood soaks the land, and once again, Jews are to find homes where they can, even as they know, instinctively, to keep those suitcases packed and documents at the ready. Inevitably, if that tie, those connections are lost, we are lost. Both Temples were destroyed through hatred between brothers, a loss of national unity to the point of warring on each other, and the risks are no less today.

Fact: when we lose the answer to "Amcha?" we lose ourselves.

Judicial reform? An attempted putsch of the extreme religious right? An unholy alliance to wrest control of society, to remake its image in their own personal image? The answers are not easy, nor do they come easy. It appears we are more focused on the profane, the might of power, rather than on the historical truths and lessons. When this happens, well, "oy v'avoiy" - all can be lost; we are on that road, and we had better wake up before it is too late. At present, optimism is in short supply.

Yet should that be so? When hundreds of thousands are concerned enough to protest week after week. When the protests are generally peaceful. When the shock of seeing Jewish police forces on horses, using water cannons and tear gas on otherwise peaceful groups hits hard and deep. When images of Ghetto Jewish police rounding up brethren return. When we realize we are giving comfort to our enemies. When we appear to be wasting all that we have achieved. Surely the weight of the truths will outweigh the words and negativity of those who would exacerbate the situation for the sake of themselves. Never mind anyone else.

I, we, can only hope. We can only add our voices to those of the population of Israel. True, we do not all live there, but we mostly all have families and friends there. We are a part of the nation of Israel as well. WE are Amcha. Always and forever. So when one leader says to followers, "Those who go to right-wing demonstrations are not one of us.”, indeed, we are at the breaking point. When that sentiment is expressed openly, firmly, destructively, ominous drums are to be heard.

WE are all "one of us". We are all Jews - Haredi, Chassidic, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructive, non-practicing, agnostic, atheist, or not even aware, we are Jewish, - all Amcha. All. Forever. We had better remember that, feel it in our every atom, in every breath we take or we will lose it all. Again. Damn it!

And I wonder, confused. When so many - Jews of all types, Catholics, Christians, Protestants of every denomination, Moslems, atheists, all genders, any and all - can come together to pray for one little Jewish boy, why can we not transfer this sentiment to the rest of the world. Seems simple, though apparently the practical application is harder, though greatly worthy of effort.

Together, we can all be Amcha, brothers of the same humanity. 

Together, we can all

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

LAUGHTER, TEARS, PRIDE AND WORRY

 The title, in essence, is the summary of the past week in Israel, beginning with Yom HaShoah, as the Holocaust and its horrors, its victims, are mourned and honored, through Yom Hazikaron, the day of memory for the slain of Israel, soldiers and civilians, dying in wars and battles and for simply being present in the Land of Israel. As the day yesterday drew to a close, the climax, Israel's Yom Haatzmaut began. However, what should have been a day where Israelis gathered together to celebrate this amazing modern day miracle, the fissures of society at present could not be eliminated. The deep divide within Israel continues to bring peril and dissension, worry and gloating plans of monsters, seeking to take advantage of this dissension, eager to add to the Holocaust by creating a 2.0 version, wherein Israel becomes Judenrein as they are chased into the sea. 

Even as the UN Security Council headed by Russia, now oh so busy destroying Ukraine, led a debate yet again on Israel's legitimacy, on the day of mourning by Israel. Erdogan of Turkey was in all his glory as he ran rampant over the aid of Israel during the aftermath of the earthquakes. The Palestinian envoy said, in sheer mockery of the truth, asked questions which indeed must be answered, though not his answers.   “This the most protracted refugee crisis in the world, the most protracted denial of national collective and individual rights in the world, the most protracted protection crisis in the world, “So the question begs itself — why is it still ongoing? "  Why has it indeed gone on so long, as billions of dollars were thrown down the black hole of Palestinian crooked government, paid to terrorists, built homes for the politically connected, rather than go to where they were meant to go. It has been given life support by the Arab countries and the PA, Hamas, Hezbollah, so many terrorist groups, as aberrational behavior and policies are extended to raise the crisis level where there need not be any crisis at all. Arabs have equality in life, in government, in education, in the economy. They freely walk the streets of 'Jewish' cities, towns, buy homes in Jewish neighborhoods, but all that is ignored by trouble- makers, the eternal glorification of Jew hatred.

Yes, Jew hatred, ugly, jagged, cutting to the soul, a continuation of generations. of generational trauma, of Jewish people who have survived all attacks aimed at them. The Inquisition tried to kill them off. England exiled them so Edward II would not have to repay them. Or, they could have converted, though most chose to die rather than do so, burning up in the Tower of York, men, women, children. France expelled them as well, taking over thriving vineyards and businesses. Tsarist Russia locked them up in a dire poverty stricken area, the Pale of Settlement, then pursued the policy of 1/3 by emigration, 1/3 by conversion, and 1/3 by death. Hitler followed up on that, deciding Jews could not live at all, being subhuman and nearly succeeded. The world stood by in silence, enabling Hitler to activate his insane plans, becoming complicit in its horror.

However, the world is making yet another big error. True, the chasm in Israeli society looms large. However, we Jews have learned well from bitter experience, that when pushed to the wall, threatened to be thrown out of their land, put aside are the differences and they will act as one. Family infighting can wait. There is no other choice. Enemies of Israel harm themselves, try to fool themselves into thinking otherwise.

The memory remains within each and every Jewish heart and soul, penetrating to the very marrow of their bones. Not the oh so cultured term of 'antisemitism and other biases' so pasteurized. No, it is Jew hatred. Call it as it is. It is the garbage Elon Musk allows to thrive on Twitter. It is the hateful, thuggish groups of white power extremists, the Neo-Nazis, who rail against Jews and call for their death. It is the lies spewed by those who forget that Jews marched arm in arm at Selma, while others were even killed. It is in the fashionable Jew hatred espoused by celebrity figures, the vitriolic words and lies of hate from the mouths of Senators and ranking political figures. It is in the outrageous behavior of American politicians who demand fascistic accommodations, from censorship of books to control over schools and libraries, the power of "proper" thoughts, women being marginalized, losing rights so hard won, voting rights sent rocketing back to Jim Crow days, even to the point where clothing is legislated by gender- check Texas and other benighted states for that one.

Yes, I am concerned for Israel. I am a Zionist, and nothing and no one will make me desert that Land of Israel, that miracle which grew out of the ashes of the Holocaust, powered by the deep necessity of a homeland for Jews, all ethnicities, colors, political persuasions, religious level. It serves as a refuge today for Jews in danger and would have done that job as well 80 years ago, saving the hundreds of my extended family along with the millions of other families. Ben Gurion said it succinctly. "Anyone who is a realist in Israel today must believe in miracles." 

Israel has growing pains, but that is all. The songs of Israel sing of faith in its permanence, its historical necessity and right to exist, the most recent written specially for this anniversary - Anu Kan Leolam" - Here Forever. Never forget that.

Here is a small sampling of the encouraging words said last night and over the week. 

"I ask that we cast off our arguments, remove the barriers, wrap ourselves in pain and longing, and commune with the memory of your loved ones - our loved ones,"

“Even if we argue, we’re united,” 

“I chose to live here in the homeland of the Jewish people, the homeland that belongs to all of us, Israelis and Diaspora Jews. We are one people.”

Rabbi Leo Dee, who lost his wife and two of his daughters in a terror attack earlier this month, recited the Yizkor memorial prayer during the ceremony.

That is Israel, even as the family squabble continues. But never overweigh that quarrel. It has no thumbs on the weighing scale, not when push comes to shove. Jews love to argue, the louder the better. They are fierce in their drive to succeed, to advance society, to build a good, safe life for their families. Nope, Israel is here to stay. Just as I hope and pray that my other country, my native-born country, finds its way back through the tortured twists and turns of the wrong road we are presently traveling. Yes, both Israel and the United States of America are here to stay.

Together, united, as people who wish to advance society, to live in peace, to allow for the care and concern for others, to build a better, safer, world - yes that is America and that is Israel. Do not be fooled by extraneous, paper thin, even several pages thick that speak of disagreements. The balance, the core of these nations are solid.

Together, the people of both nations, hopefully joined with good thinkers from around the world, will put aside hatred, its ugliness and its bloody history, and join together to

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

Am Yisroel Chai. The people of Israel live.

Chag Sameach. Yom Huledet Sameach.

Happy Birthday and a wonderful holiday.

"OWN DAMNED CHOICE"

  Yes, and there you have it. Another pearl of wisdom from one of the star examples of a waste of breath GOP Senator from a star example of a backwards gun loving state - Texas. The man who ran away from his constituents and their troubles in a massive heat wave, now has spewed forth such a piece of sterling advice and commentary re smoking. If one wished to smoke, it is their "own damned choice". Wow! People have the right to make decisions regarding their health even if that decision harms themselves. Their choice. 

Their right. Yup, there it is. but again, there it is not. Evidently, choosing to smoke and harm oneself, no doubt about that. One's right. One's choice. However, when it comes to women and control over their own bodies, making choices some do not like, well, of course, cancel that choice. STAT! Then stretch the point - take away the human rights of any who do not march to the beat of the same drum as oneself. LGBTQ+ ? Forget about it. The golden age for you is evidently over. 

Choice seems to be then somewhat picky, hopping and skipping around with no logic, no acceptance of the humanity of all, of the principle of a true self right to choose. Just lovely. Let us not forget to thank all our so damnably wrong GOP members of legislatures, offices of governor and any other political position which has a possibility to control others. To impose viewpoints on others. To aid the growth of a fascistic regime. Yup. Right here in River City. Oops, that was the Music Man, a make- believe musical of saccharine sweetness. This, unfortunately, is real, right here on MainStreet, USA, be that Main Street in village, town, or city.

Choice is the right of all. It is too bad that some wish to remove that right and crush people into molds that require great remodeling, often quite painful, wreaking havoc upon society. More and more thinking heads are coming around to the understanding - finally - of the common grounds that past history and past fascist societies have with current day America and political thinking. Try to set aside the false garbage being spewed on social media, even as the train carrying sanity is catching up to their most mistracked, in the way of right, backwards train.

We have weathered rough times over the past two decades. We are continuing to do so at present and seemingly well into the future. No full relief in sight. The only hope is that we accept and practice the right to choose, the right to think for oneself, the right to understand that one's rights do not negate the rights of others. Until we learn and internalize, again, and again, that censorship does not work. That those who advocate the burning of books will inevitably be a proponent of burning humans. 

Been there, done that, haven't we? Time to learn a lesson. Time to perform a self-check on ourselves and honestly understand what we have done, where we have gone wrong, and how we can correct the mess of our own making, implicit and complicit as we all have been. It will require great strength and honesty. It will require huge measures of correction and inner courage.

At times making changes in the fabric and patterns of our lives is hurtful. We shy away from them, being only human in our quest to avoid that pain, the inevitable uproar that comes along with it. But it is not beyond our possibility to do just this and create room for the right, the proper, the sensitive, the humanity to breech the barriers we have set up. In the life of everyone decisions that are hurtful or harmful often have to be made. These are Hobbesian choices, so difficult, and yet they must be made. The correct choice - the one that is moral, the one that will benefit, the one that is right. And we know that.

How often are medical options hurtful to the one receiving them. No parent wishes to have to make choices between a rock and a hard place, no room to maneuver, no room to escape those choices that must be made. So, for the sake of a future, chemicals are injected. The recipient is terribly afflicted by the side effects, and one has to wonder why is there is no other way? Radiation, the very thing we are warned about, lectured about in case of nuclear war, and yet, we choose to inflict it upon a young boy in the hopes of giving that boy back the golden future once so taken for granted.

The choices and necessities of side effects in improving society must be made and faced, for surely, there will be a period of unease, and possibly worse. However, look around and ask yourself - is it any different now? Are we at peace with each other, with ourselves? When was the last time you had a political discussion conducted with respect and civility? Have we left a good world behind for our descendants? Can we improve upon that besieged world? Are we strong enough, honest enough, moral enough, to see our way clearly, to, as one Democrat put it, warning that one GOP dude " came within 2 seconds of getting his butt whipped," 

We all need to work together to create that better future, to indeed whip the butts of all who refuse to cooperate and understand necessities. Together, we can 

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen

YOU GOTTA' BE KIDDING

  There have been many times of late when I have desperately ripped my glasses, now necessary to read, off my face in a hope that what I think I read was not actually so. Cleaning them, in that hope, I am disappointed when I read the sentence or paragraph again. People actually have lost sense of right and wrong, of common sense. Now everything must be written down in words of one syllable or less, so that our massively undereducated population can understand that which should already have been understood. Implicit understanding, comprehension of the sensible, is nowhere to be found.

Why has the rate of gun discovery been rising exponentially at the airports? Since when has it become okay to take a gun, with ammunition loaded, on a plane? Since when has it become okay for a seven-inch tool - i.e. hammer, chisel, pliers, knife, been okay to take on a plane? Why are people still getting on the TSA or Clear line when they are neither members nor approved? The system is not exactly newborn! Why are people still taking off shoes on TSA lines wasting everybody's time? Why would someone wish to take fertilizer on the plane unless there is a dark wish behind that decision. Gardening work is not truly befitting the interior of a plane in flight! Duh!!

So, I ask, is it the water we drink, the air we breathe, the plastics in our lives and evidently in our bodies and brains as well? Is it that we are devolving as the eons go by rather than evolving? Have we met the peak and are now on the downside? Is our educational system and/or our attitude towards education and teachers at fault? Are we making the situation any better when we censor, censor and censor some more, destroy libraries and access to literature and thought provoking materials? Do we pay our teachers in so many areas so inadequate a salary that becoming a teacher with all the abuse attached is now to be avoided? Have we taken the creativity out of teaching, chasing the best and brightest out of the profession? What would explain the egregious misspellings, poor sentence structure, almost illiterate written expressions and spoonerisms invoked when speaking? Are kids dumber than we were or are we demanding less of them, making excuses for their errors, excusing them from some hard work and rules to follow?? Whatever!

It is indeed frustrating. It makes one worry when we read the oh so clearly falsehoods and the great numbers of people who insist on their truth, ignoring the proof right there! There were tourists in the Capitol on J6. There were no police officers killed that day. Sandy Hook dead children were actually actors. Trump is not demented nor crooked, nor absolutely the worst President ever. DeSantis is not a fascist.

DeSantis, actually, truthfully, is a power hungry man determined to use the democratic system to achieve his goal of maximum power, beginning with his own armed militia responsible to only him, right here in the first fascist state in Ameria - Florida. Democracy will then go the route of the horse and buggy - dismantled, discarded, echoes of Hitlerian fascism growing louder and louder. Clearer and clearer. So obvious. But apparently not to some who lockstep enact all his oppressive, persecutive, rights denying laws turning back the clock to bad times, outmoded thoughts and danger to those who do not hew the party line - his lines.

Certainly, the people in DC are the same, enacting laws which flout the accepted law, the Constitutionally valid laws, the laws which protect the rights of the individual and promote a better, more responsible and responsive social milieu. Apparently, the GOP only invites in the crazed, the illiterate, the demented, the vicious and the incompetent. Those who openly lie and brag about it. Those who violate the ethics, morals and laws they are supposed to uphold. Boebert. Greene. Jordan. Scott. Perry. McCarthy. Scalise. McConnell. 

The same for the judges appointed and affirmed by the GOP. They are obviously majorly incompetent and unfit to sit on the bench, never mind ruling on life changing, life affirming laws. Yet these ethics and laws violating judges are allowed to remain on that same bench despite their flagrant violations of accepted rules, stated or implicit. To wit - Thomas. Kasmaryck. Kavanaugh. Barrett. And so many, many more.

Yes, there are some real doozies on the Democratic side but for sure, not as many, and less vocal as time passes. We hear little from AOC or Tlaib and when they do speak, their coverage is minimal. Nope, it seems the GOP is the fly in the soup that needs to be discarded. Better yet is the slogan that a good friend introduced me to. So apt.

"Grow some dope. Plant a Republican."

Oh yes, this world of ours need major fixing, far more than a handyman can undertake. We need some new statesmen and women. We need those who believe in public service. We need those who know what the world is, what must be proposed and achieved, what must be improved, brought on line or eliminated. They know that we must indeed strive to 

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen

WHERE TO START, WHERE TO BEGIN

  Actually, the answer to the title is that we have already begun, already started a campaign to eliminate the boll weevils of America, those who would break into the Constitution, chew into the words and meaning of the world changing Declaration of Independence. There remains the question, the very existential one, which demands an answer - have we done enough? Have we responded in timely timing, or have we lost that battle? The stop watches of the referees apparently are tainted past a real possibility of meaningful reformation.

Inevitably the next question arises in order: how to ensure proper use and elimination of the boll weevils chewing at the foundations of our nation, weakening the supporting columns of democracy. Sadly, there grows doubt at the possibility of this happening. There grows a great fear that we have definitely gone past the point of no return. That the GOP and its retrogressive, persecutive, harmful policies are here to stay, to intensify. The fight to reclaim America from the usurping fascists of the GOP will be long and bloody, its conclusion not clear as we gaze into the blurry road ahead.

Shamefully, we have become a nation of corruption, an accepted way of life. We have tolerated, even supported, vastly incompetent people, elected and appointed them into office, where they further weaken our democracy and delude more people into believing that the true oppressors are the imagined saviors. So many are now running around naked, following the emperor of no clothing, under the spell and control of his chief advisor.

Hence the place to start grows clearer. The very beginning. The first step is obvious. Run the bigots, the ignorant, the haters, the liars, out of office. Substitute with those who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. Money and mouths ring in my mind, lighting a tiny spark of hope even as there must be acknowledgement that we are now coming from behind. 

We have allowed legislatures to grow beyond our control. We have tolerated cheating, liars, immoral people as our judges, so gross a thought, so ugly a reality. We accept liars into our midst, traitors to the nation, and even defend them vigorously, beyond all reasoning. We make excuses for punishment we have not imposed, laid upon our nation a difficult task of separating the wheat from the chaff, trying to justify that which is vastly unjustifiable.

Simply, clearly put, we have grown lazy, smug in our false reassurances that our democracy is eternal and self-protective. It is most definitely not so. We refuse to believe that we have entered into a new, frightening phase of life, one which challenges our very lives and beliefs. Perhaps it is not that we do not know how to fight, but that we have lost the will to fight, even grown to endorse our own slavemasters. We collude in the block sales of our principles and guidelines, participate, willingly or unknowingly in the dissolution of the Constitution, its misrepresentation and misinterpretations.

Lord, what have we done? Lord, give us, me, strength to overcome the deficits, the life-threatening wounds to the body politick. Lord, help us. Forgive us our trespasses though many in fact knew exactly what they were doing.

Right now, in this moment of stress, there is really only one thing I am sure of: that Yitzy continues to need help. We need to add our strength to his, rejoice at the news of miniscule shrinkage, and look optimistically at the possibilities of radiation to aid in the battle. It is to add your tears to mine when I am told that Friday night and Saturday morning Yitzy said yes to the wheelchair, donned a black suit and a black hat, as befits a bar mitzvah boy in his world and went to synagogue. The tears flow again. And again, I demand of G-d why He is inflicting this pain upon such a good boy. Why? Why? WHY!!! Damn it!!!

I know deep within my soul that all the prayers from so many, of all religions, all different backgrounds, are helping, have helped already. Together we can defeat this enemy. Together, we can do so much for Yitzy, for all who need help, to whom we can lend our strength.

Together - we can

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

ARE WORDS ENOUGH

  The world is in turmoil. The evils of the past, never having been destroyed, have returned, resurfaced from their hidey holes.

This week is a special one for Jewry as we commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, those killed in Israel, victims of hate once again, thousands gone, targeted because they are Jews and demand the right to live safely in their own tiny homeland. 

 Finally, we celebrate the founding of the State of Israel, a modern resurrection of the ancient kingdom of Israel. It is a spit in the face to those who demand our death, laud the extermination process of Hitler and his henchmen, and women, Germans and their collaborators in the lands of the Holocaust, including those in European captive nations and those of North Africa captive nations. 

As we mourn, remember, and celebrate, we experience the growing, threatening tide of violent antisemitism, the growth of antisemitic conspiracy theories, vicious social media tropes and memes, and openness and even approval of this malady of humankind. It finds acceptance and espousal by public figures.

There are no words capable to fully explain the depth of the fear, the anguish, the torment. Through the millennia. The memories hurt, deep into our souls, but we must always remember, for in forgetting there is only more pain, blood and death to follow. We have special prayers, we cry and vow to fight, to never again allow this to be replicated.

We mourn the dead of our families and our nation, our people, all victims of the Holocaust, Jews and non Jews alike. We tell family stories that have been passed down, told to the young in the camps and ghettoes, hoping they would survive and tell the world, teach the world, of a world destroyed.

 Yet despite all attempts otherwise - 

WE. ARE. HERE. And Here we remain.

Read the English version of the Hymn of the Partisans, written by a young man in the Vilna Ghetto, who knew he was to die, yet dug deep within to write this song of sadness, of hope, of defiance, of eternity. Its Yiddish original wording is powerful, but for the sake of understanding, here are the words in English. Following that is the short version in English of the Kel Maleh Rachamim, a prayer to the One who is filled with mercy, to keep the victims, the dead, the slaughtered, safe within His embrace.

We are reminded of the words of the Haggadah, the service read at the seders of Passover.

"In every generation there arises an enemy who wishes to destroy us."
 "But the Blessed Holy One always and forever will save us, rescue us from their hands.

"The Jewish Partisan’s Song, Zog Nit Keinmol, is one of the most powerful songs ever written.  

Zog Nit Keinmol is considered one of the main Yiddish anthems of the Holocaust. It was sung in the ghettoes, later by Holocaust survivors and at Holocaust memorials all over the world. The lyrics of the song were written by Hirsch Glick in 1943. He was a young Jew in the Vilna Ghetto. During World War II, the song was sung by Jewish resistance fighters. It was a symbol of resistance for the Jews in their fight against the Nazis

Here is a translation of the song:

Never say this is the end of the road.
Wherever a drop of our blood falls, our courage will grow anew.
Our triumph will come and our resounding footsteps will proclaim: We are here!

From the land of palm trees to the far off land of snow,
we shall be coming with our torment and our woe.
And everywhere our blood has sunk into the earth, our bravery and vigor will blossom forth!

We’ll have the morning sun to set our days aglow.
Our evil yesterdays will vanish with the foe.
But if time is long before the sun appears, let this song go like a signal through the years.

This song was written with our blood and not with lead.
It’s not a song that summer birds sing overhead.
It was a people amidst burning barricades that sang the song of ours with pistols and grenades.

So never say you go on your last way.
Though darkened skies may now conceal the blue of the day.
Because the hour for which we hungered is so near.
Beneath our feet the earth shall thunder: We are here!"

El Maleh Rachamim (G-d full of compassion)

The prayer for the dead of the Holocaust, the Shoah.

O G-d Who art full of compassion, Who dwellest on high, grant perfect rest in Thy Divine Presence to all the souls of our holy and pure brethren whose blood was spilt by the murderers in Auschwitz, Belzec, Bergen Belsen, Dachau, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka and other extermination camps in Europe and North Africa; who were killed, strangled, burned and buried alive for the sanctification of Thy Name. For whose souls we now pray. May their resting place be in the Garden of Eden, may the Master of Mercy shelter them in the shadow of His wings for eternity; and may He bind their souls in the Bind of Life.         

Hashem is their heritage, and may they repose in peace in their resting places.               

Now let us say:  Amen."

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

DOING WHEELIES - OFF TRACK

Do you feel as if you are riding on a road desperately in need of repaving and well posted with warnings re safe driving and the rules of the road? Apparently, no one has truly noticed nor done anything about the fact that our present road here in America is one with a myriad of problems, one that exist in tandem, unnaturally so. Via actions, events and dangerous words of hate and retrogression, we have been doing wheelies on deteriorating dangerous roads, using equipment in precarious condition driven by drivers who pay no attention to conditions, nor do they stop talking all the while.

Most shocking to me is the crazed support of people who do not understand they are disenfranchising themselves, all by themselves, led down the road by those anxious to affirm and strengthen their power and control, their access to wealth beyond their wildest dreams. People seem blind to the truth of what is happening and will grow in negativity like wild weeds taking over a garden, neglected, ugly, and unredeemable.

Need an example? Watch the state of Florida where despite the wishes of the majority of the population, via all sorts of machinations, the Florida legislature has enacted crazed restrictive laws, just about thrown out the rights to self-control over personal decisions, negated the feelings and emotions of LGBTQ+, ignoring the inevitable growing desperation of kids negated and forbidden, under law, to discuss these feelings, unable to even discuss anything tangentially related, including sex education. "a Thunderdome of Hate" is how the new laws are described.

This state, and in a growing trend across the nation, the standards of conservative religion are taking power and precedence, discarding separation between church and state. It is now get out of the way or get rundown. The supposed "American dream", the fierce 'real' Americans carrying flags with the slogan "Don't tread on me" are displaying distinct treademarks, becoming permanently etched into the new American ethos - the one we are so busily enacting. The one which takes away rights but oh yes, gives us the right to kill each other far more easily, with insane carry laws and rights to obtain weapons. 

How the hell did this happen? Are we all blind or all willing or a deadly combination of both? The synergy is mammoth, all negative. Lies are a dime a dozen and even cheaper than that at times. We have Supreme Court Justices admitting to having blatantly crossed the line, no personal honesty, ethics unknown or reviled. These are the people making laws which reverberate powerfully and destructively. Impeachment? Disbarment/ Charges? Removal from position? Say what? Nope, the GOP is too busy celebrating their victories and enjoying the venomous, antisemitic, crazed Jim Jordan wreak havoc with his panel.

Fox News gets away with figurative murder, perhaps even real murder as their falsehoods definitely contributed to the deaths occurring on J6. Monetarily fined, big deal, they do not have to publicly admit the wrongdoing, thus continuing to mislead their listeners, poor deluded souls. Against a similar suit now they use the same litany of lies and trash.

"There is nothing more newsworthy than covering the president of the United States and his lawyers making allegations of voter fraud," Fox said in a preview of its defense against Smartmatic's allegations that it defamed them with segments suggesting they stole the 2020 election from former President Donald Trump. "Freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported, and not rooted in sound financial analysis."

Nope, obviously forging straight ahead, even as the car of state rattles and rolls, dropping pieces alongside. If s*** runs downhill, Fox News is making sure it remains at the top of the slope, grinning crazily as their lopsided behavior becomes entrenched in the fracturing new world which distinctly reeks of corruption and pure nastiness. Clearly, they have turned to the retrogressive policies and views of the old world, using the values of democracy to erase that same democracy, apparently having learned well the Hitlerian approach to realpolitik. Woe upon us.

The world has gone deep into the wild woods of anything goes. The tracks are barely there. The people of America are being "duped" as Murkowski indignantly claims being duped by her fellow GOP crew with the poor, filled with lies confirmation of yet another biased, incompetent, unqualified judge. Duh! Where the hell has she been as she is part of the problem herself!! And all the while the duping of the American people continues, growing.

As I listen to my son reporting on the day's events, the plans being made for radiation of my besieged grandson, I wonder if people realize what they are ceding without a fight. Access to medicine is growing narrower and narrower. I thank G-d they can travel from one state to another to get the help desperately needed. I am in awe of the dedication of those working in the Ronald McDonald House, providing for the families of these kids.

There is so much that is great with our country. There are so many people who are good, care for their fellow members of humanity. There is so much potential. Why are we wasting it all? Why do we now tend to the wrong, the restrictive, the repressive and uncaring, the fallacies and perils of authoritarianism?

We must all band together for the positive. The mandate is upon us to do so, to pray for guidance and strength as we struggle to

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.

MAKING WAR, NOT LOVE

  For shame, Ron. Making war on a mouse?! Even though the mouse is controlled by humans, that mouse has become a standard, a beloved icon, a figure for children to hug, for people to enjoy. That mouse attracts visitors to the state from around the state, the country and the world. It is the Make a Wish or Dream Come True for so many ill children. Sure, no argument - it could be run better, fairer, yet that can be said about most industries and entertainment venues. Perhaps to a greater amount, more so, that is so applicable to the current governor and political party of Florida. However, the magic of that mouse is clear, apparent on the faces of visitors to his home, as the magic truly does make itself known. Despite the commercialization. Despite the fee gouging. Despite the crowds. So - how about a peace treaty, or is it that making war, rather than love is your way of life. Methinks that is so.

Disney was clever in their 'staying alive' move, 

" in an unusual legal maneuver that largely grants the company continued control over the district in perpetuity, or until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England."

Good old boy Ron is now maneuvering to interfere again. The inevitable plan is there for all to see - if they do not make themselves willfully, willingly blind. And can you not see the inevitable. Good for Ron with Disney is good for Ron with all industry. Even as he gains fascistic control over the lives of Floridians in his ruthless campaign to limit, even eliminate, their rights: censorship, meddling with the educational system and its content, wreaking havoc on historical truth and impetus, a fierce war on voting rights, and on and on. So too is his plan and path for control over all industry within the state. 

Woe upon the citizens who will pay the highway robbery fees and taxes, breathe the contaminated air, be negated as the war on LGBTQ+ intensifies, as people of all genders and ages lose control over their own medical decisions, not even owning their own bodies. But hey, what the hell - his lust for power, his constant itch to attain and retain control over all is so manifestly more important than other concerns. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, rescuing the elderly living on old, fixed incomes, unable to buy food or medicine as their insurance bill triples. 

Paving the green areas, clearcutting the trees in the name of more taxes, as the Florida we love disappears under concrete and rows and rows and rows of identical, cheaply constructed residential and business housing, with most of these supposed homes empty much of the year unless rented out to visitors - yes, to visit that dear little mouse that Ron so obsessively hates. And by the way, Ron, so many of those homes in the massive, ugly developments are owned by huge conglomerates, hotel chains, etc. as part of their money-making portfolios. As huge tracts of business condos are polluting the environment while previous tracts continue to remain vacant or under occupied. But evidently Ron likes another cartoon figure - Bob the Builder, whose motto is 'Build we must." Why not make war on the builders after obscene profits and to hell with the quality of life, never mind the buildings and their astronomical prices rather than warring with the mouse?

This movement of greed, lust for control, unfair business policies, reckless disregard for the wishes of Floridians, declaring war on huge tracts of blessedly undeveloped land, diminishing the watersheds and agricultural preserves with pathetic excuses for "swap" jobs is so wrong, so terrible, so un-American, is so inimical to the good life for people. Other than for the uber wealthy and/or uber powerful who march along leaving a trail behind that equals the destructive nature of Sherman's march to the sea.

There are so many other areas which need interference as they have deteriorated in quality and accessibility. Why do we have homeless living in areas where there remains coverage via trees? Why are so many begging along the corners of major roads, even women with children. Why are so many going without medical care, inadequate care at best, with hospitals deteriorating, fees skyrocketing, and doctors disappearing or charging concierge rates. Go pay for that when more doctors or more extensive care is needed! But I guess the taxpayers of Florida have you covered, so "what, me worry"?

This whole country, this once determined, proud democracy, a role model for the world, imperfect as it was, is now at the tipping point. Do we remain a democracy? Do we welcome in the new generations of hopeful immigrants? Do we insist on turning back the clock to the rotten 'good' old days of restrictions on women, children disposable, not worthy of care even as we force women to have them, of rampant civil rights offenses and limitations, of Jim Crow laws for all, of growing violent antisemitism and a growing population of the uneducated or miseducated, patently indoctrinated? And always with their six shooters with them.

The other side is much better, more human friendly. When one is not in need of anything, life is good. But for many, there is a growing and even desperate need for aid. The paths of life have become more complicated and many times difficult to access, especially in a continuing manner. Why is it that care for a desperately ill child must visit several states in order to attain proper treatment giving hope to the child and family? Despite the caring nature of the medical personnel involved, despite the wonderful help given to desperate families by volunteers, the drain, the difficulty, the enormous expenses involved - why must that be? Why can we not reorder our priorities and bring life to a better plain, where right, justice, equity are primary?

If you have an answer, please contact me, or better yet, contact Ron, right there in Tallahassee - when he is not campaigning, moving along his fascistic program, wishing so generously to extend it to the entire nation. As far as the mouse, well, we will probably have to mount a rescue mission.

We also ask that we keep the rescue effort alive and well, praying, wishing, hoping, for Yitzy and a complete healing. A desperately ill child becomes the focus of an entire family, the first questions in any conversation being "How is Yitzy? Have you heard anything today? What is next?"

Today, thanks to the aid of so many, the advances of medicine and the ability to access them at present, the tumor has shown some shrinkage. We rejoice even as we know we must be careful and alert. Months of chemo and radiation await. Continued shrinkage and death to that tumor are the goals. In the meanwhile, Yitzy is the bravest person I know. Magnify your reluctance to go back to work on Mondays, or after vacations - and you might get a scintilla of understanding of the heroism of this child and his immediate caregivers - his parents and siblings. The reluctance, the knowledge of what awaits is there, front and center, and despite all instincts otherwise, goes in to face that disconcerting 'atonal music'. That hopefully healing 'atonal music'.

Our world needs help. We are drowning in a sea of hate and violence. We are drowning in a swamp of misplaced emphases and priorities. We have the capacity and capability to be better, and often are. But our world need healing, as do all the people within the population of this planet.

Join in together, hopefully, with open hearts -

 HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.