BLESSED SILENCE

  Many cultures and religions have folk wisdom similarities, including the one which emphasizes the thought that wise people keep their mouths shut until and unless there is good reason for speaking and being quite sure that what is going to be said has merit. Would that the talking heads of politics today, of religion today, had internalized the wisdom of that idea. In fact, they babble and bubble, sending forth thoughts that at best, are simply inane, to the worst effect of suborning people into erroneous thoughts and actions. Worse is the fact that these ridiculous words from openly insane legislators further erodes one's confidence in the ability of our legislators and government officials to resolve issues in competent nonpartisan manner.

How is it that presently indicted criminals were able to blind people at election time, despite clear evidence of criminality, venality and plain old nastiness. How is it that dumb as dumb can be is elected to office where they have a national platform from which to spout their dangerous inanities. For every ridiculous statement there are believers who chant the falsehoods that spew forth from these dangerous idiots. In fact, I have now come to believe that a neutral sanity test is necessary. Testing for mental stability, a modicum of knowledge, a connection to reality, and an ability to distinguish between the real and the so obviously not. If only. If we had that, well, Trump would have been avoided. Boebert would have been muzzled, and Greene, that psycho who sees wandering zombies in the streets of NYC, well, she would have long ago been consigned to the locked wards for people who are deemed capable of harming themselves and others.

To be fair, perhaps it has become more difficult to distinguish the real from the unreal as technology enables strange things to happen. It seems real, even as we know they are not, cannot be. For example - Israel will soon celebrate its diamond anniversary, 75 years of triumph and despair, 75 years of anguish and joy. 75 years of a country which is the only place on earth which always and forever welcomes Jews, provides a refuge for the oppressed, serves as a place for those fleeing persecution and hate, can find a safe landing place and a place where they can flourish. A land of advances in medicine, technology, philosophy, as well as stupidity and the curse of greedy politicians, lusting after power, to the point of detriment for the nation. Yet it is also a land where people come out to protest the wrong, to prevent the wrong from happening.

Next week will see a joining of the various points of this posting. A new song, Here Forever, is to be sung in the voices of Ofra Haza and Zohar Argov. I do not know the words, as the song will debut next week, but one can guess at the encouragement, the defiance, the assurance, the firm commitment and reminder to the world that yes, Israel is Here Forever, despites all attempts to destroy it. It is a throwback to the music of Israel as it once was, replete with songs of love of land, of hopes for peace, for assurance that no, not again, not another Jewish state to be destroyed, not another time of mass massacre of Jews wherever they are. Here Forever is their assurance of safety and permanence. Most amazing - these two singers, well known and beloved, Ofra Haza well known for her rendition of Chai - Life - which said to the world - we are here and will remain so forever. We are alive! Forever, will sing together, alive, on stage, in full voice, visually, auditorily, in their own voices. Hitch - they are long dead, for many, many a year. Yet Israeli ingenuity has created a path for this song to be presented by the two singing in their own voices, real on stage, alive and in full voice. Amazing!! Cannot wait to hear and see this.

The real and the unreal. Borderlines between them grow indistinct at times and we must make the effort to discern those items and know, deep down know what is real, what is not, what is harmless and what is indeed very capable of inflicting harm to a person, a group or a nation. It requires us to know when our dreams might be pursued to realities, but we also must be able to distinguish the dreams from the facts, whether we like the reality or not. Only when we can do so, can we move forward. Only then will we be able to distinguish dreams from nightmares and react and behave accordingly. Only then.

My living nightmare, and more importantly, Yitzy's living nightmare are examples of living nightmares, of a definite reality, yet capable, we hope of being turned from nightmare to damned good dream, to a reality greatly to be desired, striven for, slogged through every and all blockades till we make it happen. The complete healing of a young boy caught in the nasty mesh of a nightmare, ugly, painful and simply awful beyond words adequate to verbalize their reality.

We will not give up on our dream. As Israel celebrates its 75th birthday, in this current manifestation of the Jewish state, as it brings the dream alive and strives to stamp out the clinging nightmarish parts which tag along, we also will celebrate a birthday. There is a knowing, deep within, that says Yitzy will be healed, yes there is great power in the voices and prayers of so many who call for his healing, for him to be restored to his life as it should be. Not a nightmare, but rather a dream of possibilities.

There are times for blessed silence, where silence is, in fact, golden. However, there are times when silence must be punctured, allowing for positive sounds, good vocalization to take place. Such is that time now.

Let us hope and pray for world peace, for Israel to celebrate many, many more birthdays and for Yitzy to get all better. Let us

 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.