All we need do is look and see it clearly. Peer through the fog. Look deep into the words of hate, of anger and there you will find the hidden truth. Seek. Find. Trust. But soon. There is only a limited time for the truth to surface, to beat back and defeat the efforts of those who would deny our country, who would cancel all that displeases them, all that remains of our battered democracy.
What is frightening is the clear devolvement of that coin of two sides, with each side beginning to echo and mirror each other. Both sides are spouting anathema, and will eventually reach the same ugly point. The coin will melt and meld itself into a new, ugly one-sided coin - that of dictatorship, call it what you will. Truth is as truth does.
Where is the hope, the breath of fresh air that sustains us and will hopefully continue to do so until such time as we wake up and smell the disaster awaiting us, staring at us, drooling all the while at its anticipated victory. It is within if we truly seek it. It is within if we remember that opinions can change, friendship and trust can be restored, and the best of us can reemerge and shine in the sunlight.
Here is one place of hope. Brittney Griner played ball. Not a fantastic, unusual event, correct? Wrong. She played the first professional game since 2021. Her 'vacation'? False impressment into the Russian prison system, used as a pawn in a political game of chess, left hopeless and bereft of all she had known, all she loved. And now she is back, exclaimed joyously by Brittney as she shouted "I'm back!" after a three pointer and an emotional half game hugging with the opponents. But only on the court, as the entire league of athletes fought hard for her freedom. Me too. The little I was able to do to keep her alive in and on my blog, to wear her shirt, well, I am proud of that.
There she stood proud and tall at the singing of the national anthem, a manifestation of the truth hidden, the truth that can be uncovered and resuscitated. "One of the good things about this country is you have the right to protest. You have the right to speech, to be able to speak, to be able to speak out, question challenge and do all those things. And you know what I went through, and everything just means a little bit more to me now."
Yes, America continues to shine despite all the efforts to infuse her very soul with the rusting and destructive qualities of hatred and denial of rights. Kamala Harris, spoke to the players and reminded them of the inspiration of Brittney. I can only second the motion and hope that this new fresh appreciation of our country does some good thing to us, for us, for America. I was at that game in spirit- as we all should have been.
The other event which stuck a positive note appears to be minor, but it is not. Every time I watched "American Tail" I wondered where the Jew went. This was a Jewish family escaping the horrid world of the Pale of Settlement in Russia, seeking freedom and air and room for hope. This truth of the Jewish world became hidden under a neutering of the "Jew" ingredient and became a portrait of all the immigrant groups who ventured bravely on a trek into hope and a better world.
All well and good, and you would be right. However, this is the usual minimization of the woes of the Jewish people seemingly forever. It is the lumping together of the Holocaust with other dreadful moments of horror, but so not the same. It is the clumping together of bias whereas the bias of Jewish hatred has gone on for so long and has resurfaced in our nation, viciously, homicidal, and ever growing. Deborah Lipstadt, the ambassador to the world to combat and monitor antisemitism, states that yes, it is world wide but now, now she must pay serious attention to the domestic antisemites.
An American Tail is revived in a theater with all the Jewish overtones and acknowledgements - and along with it goes the experiences of all the "poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free". We can salute, acknowledge and grow faster, better, achieve more with honesty. The sooner we know that deep in our souls, the sooner we can improve our country, defeat the purveyors of hatred and violence. Prove to the world that the Lady of the Harbor indeed remains strong and proud and stands for, behind, and upfront re the words carved into her and her lamp remains high and bright, a light unto the world of democracy, justice, and caring.
Only when, only if, we unite and acknowledge the truth of the matter, that it is up to us to defend our country, to keep it out of the hands of those who would destroy it, only then can we anticipate a victory.
Only if we do it together- all Americans. All defenders of democracy, and equality, in human rights, of justice.
Together. Then.
Look what we have done. Together. Always.
The drum beat of together.
Together. Together. Together.
Only together.
Together.
Together - Together we can achieve it all.
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.
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