AVINU MALKEYNU - OUR FATHER, OUR KING

 Not sure about what to write today, I meandered round my favorite sites. As soon as I hit on this, the topic was chosen for me. Basically, it was a combination of factors which led to a decision. I love Barbra Streisand's voice, so powerful, a true gift from G-d.  Additionally, her rendition of Avinu Malkeynu is heard in my home at least once a day, particularly during the season of atonement wherein we ask G-d to spare us, to write us in the Book of Life for next year, a blessed year. For all, not only the individual praying.

One of the first items we request of Above and bless all with that hope, is the idea of peace. To live freely, with no hate, no pogroms, no war. Those wars include battles among families, among friends, and certainly with perceived enemies. We have been instructed to seek peace and pursue it. That injunction has been observed more in the breach by all the nations and people of the world.  Far too often we forget that we are meant to share the bounty of earth, to manage it wisely, kindly, and well. To avoid inflicting harm and pain on all living creatures, from small to large, from animals to humans. How often do we disremember that injunction.

 So many nations around the world are caught in the ugly throes of forms of civil war. We highlight, perseverate on minor differences, magnifying them into colossal differences; hence, off to war we go. To spill blood, to kill and maim, to destroy.  Nothing gained for all that unless we build the peace wisely lest it fail and there we go again, a rather ugly cycle. Not of life, but of death.  

Thus, the prayer. Our Father, Our King, with the love of a parent for a child, and the wisdom and concern of a ruler for His subjects, we ask that You help us, all of us. Display compassion for us, for our weak and selfish natures, dispense forgiveness and compassion, rather than punishment as we deserve. For all, not merely ourselves, the individual praying. No differentiation for we all so badly need help in this battered and besieged world. Yes, we have created this mess, allowed free choice in our decisions, have made a jolly mess of it, have we not. Now we need the hand of one wiser, kinder, more powerful to step in and rescue us. Quite frankly, to pull our nuts from the conflagration we ourselves have lit and fed oh so generously. Remember, it is Your world, not ours.

The people of Israel, the Jewish nation, surviving miraculously through the hostile millennia have now slipped once again into a national life-threatening situation in a calamitous deja vu. All via our stubbornness and stupidity. Because we have allowed religion to interfere with civil authority, into politics, a dirty game at best with a negative influence, effect, on the practitioners. They forget their souls, the Neshama, the heart of Judaism, and allow the selfish urges of mind to surface, to triumph -even as the defeat is set in motion.

We fellow Jews outside the ancestral land watch, grieving the damage we inflict on each other. It has reached so high a point of tension, of hate! and we witness Jews fighting Jews, in our home.  

    WHATTHEHELLARETHEYDOING!!! 

   Once again, tragically, in a repetition of history, we have forgotten that the Jewish nation is one. No matter country of origin, skin color, physical features, accents, or degrees of observance or style of observance. All as one, as the world sees us.  They do not understand why we are fighting, so roiled up that we cannot hear for the noise roaring round in our heads. We are at the very precipice of losing our home, again. Due again to the baseless, dangerous hatred of brother to brother, for nothing. For naught that cannot be resolved by sincere individuals with no axe to grind, with open ears and eyes, open heart and a soul begging for relief. No interest with political power, influence, wealth, only what is best for the people, what we are enjoined to do - to remember -

Hinei mah tov ooh manaim shevet achim gam yachad.

How good and pleasant it is when we sit together as the brothers we are, and share our lives, as we sit together, at the same table.   

Israel, as the United States, are in life or death battles. For its very life, its integrity its role in the physical temporal world. We are fighting each other, inciting violence, being intransigent. Yes, I believe there is more good and right on one side than the other, but I do recognize as well that compromises must be found or we are lost in a deep forest of darkness, no way out, no room between trees, the canopy of leaves above blocking all the enlightening rays of the sun.

There is no easy answer, no one specific magic term to solve it all, wipe out all differences, and erase the selfishness embedded deeply in the hearts of mankind. None, but we must do better.

I repeat, as the song states: 

Hinei mah tov ooh ma-na-im shevet  achim gam yachad. 

How good and pleasant it is to sit together as brothers, sharing the table. Communicating rather than combat.  

Like a broken record, I repeat, only a powerful, united 'together' group can effect the changes needed.

 “Our work is not yet complete,” he said from the stage. “We came to the promised land and now we must make it a land of promise, 

TOGETHER. ONLY THAT WAY.

Our promises will come true, as we see with Yitzy, as he gets better and stronger.

Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

 HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

 

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL ...

  ...Who's the ugliest of them all? Well, the choice can be simple or difficult, depending on if one believes in one choice winning the somewhat dubious first place or if one believes in multiple, tied winners. Oh, the glory of the plethora of qualified candidates. A wealth of morons, idiots, dangerous in their idiotic selfish, hate motivated behavior and statements- or lack thereof.

Christie calls Donald - Duck- a fitting appellation for the man who squawks oh so loudly but adds merely more toxin to the challenged atmosphere. His acolyte, DeSantis, deprived of his heir apparent crown, now flounders too, lost in his war on the Mouse, tarred heavily by his heavy tilt towards fascism. Nothing special with the other candidates other than their uselessness, their cowardice, their inability to corral the rampaging mustangs of their own tattered GOP. What is a leader if there is no one led?

Christie remarked that he knew Donald Duck was watching, but does he, along with the rest of the crazed and fractured GOP know, understand that the rest of the world is watching. Not so much the useless debate, but rather are watching this country decay, rot at its core, its unity and integrity dropping off the body politic at increasing rate and size of pieces.  

We are losing our very soul and the chant of the 60's can be heard once again, reverberating in the air, finding long lost friends and cousins, awakening old souls, reminding all that "The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching."     We came through that particular time of existential threat, but this time around ... doubt hangs heavy in the air. All the negatives are growing, enlarging, fed by the disunity and fractures. 

The lunatic inmates within the Heuse are now running the show, their caretakers, McConnell and McCarthy, absent at the out of control wheel. All a consequence of their own lackluster responses, using rotting ropes to contain the escaped inmates, as the ropes broke and the inmates gained the upper hand. Their influence and power grew, diseased, corrupted, yet successful Pied Pipers. The leadership of the GOP lost control; we are going to be in shutdown in two more days at a very critical time in history. The children are reveling in the success of their tantrums, the parents having proven unable to measure up.

 The rest of us? We, for the most part, are watching from the sidelines, shaking our heads or not even doing that. We believe it has nothing to do with us and this aberration will pass. No. It. Will. Not. Not if we insist on continued occupation of those rotating thumbs upon which we are perched. We have wrapped ourselves in cloaks of willful blindness, deaf to the cries of our founders, of our champions of liberty, of the world, appalled at the devolvement of their country. 

We have lost our understanding that no one person, no one country, can remain isolated from others. We are presently being run by those who wish to return to that outmoded, many times failure. A policy of island theory, which has led to wars of great violence, loses of lives, and loss of structure. We have had to rebuild in ever larger areas. Can we do this again in the face of the increased powerful weapons available and an abundance of madmen, madwomen, willing to use them? I think not.

 So, are we ready to lose it all, to consign our fate to the likes of Greene and Gaetz, of Bishop and Jordan? Who think using archaic laws, canceling salaries of federal workers is the answer, the golden key to success at blackmail, the thinking and behavior of criminals. For that is what they are. No veneer, no disguise is impervious to the bursting of truth from where it has been buried. But will it be too late? Will we already have lost, gone beyond the point of any redemption, return to what we are supposed to be? A proud, strong, confident democracy, a model unto the world? I grow ever more doubtful, very, very worried. 

I do not even know if there is remaining sufficient time to get together, raise our voices, insist on fair voting laws and access, stringent control over our legislators and judges, accounting for actions and appropriate consequences. Surely, I hope, I pray, there are enough honest and honorable people willing to assume positions of responsibility. However, no success unless accompanied with and empowered by a group of tight determined togetherness. Strong and determined in their goals. Motivated by thoughts of the future for the coming  generations, unwilling to write it off. 

  Only together, in a deep and true understanding of where we are, how we got here, and how we get outta' here, can we effect so crucial change in a proper direction. 

 Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

 We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

 

WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED

 And there you have it. Once again officials fudge on responsibility and leave constituents in the dark. By not informing them in a clear timely manner, those affected by a decision are not given time to appeal, to voice opinions. Instead, they are simply handed a fait accompli along with meaningless platitudes meant to calm the aggrieved down by promises to "keep them informed' - locking the gate after the horse has galloped away. Too little, too late, as the decision has caused yet another fracture in the quality of their lives.    

This particular decision took place on a very low level, but is as important, perhaps even more so as   it affects daily life and simply adds to the growing litany of grievances by residents as unilateral decisions are handed down after the fact, decided upon by officials who do not live in the affected area, whose appetite for more tax money overrides   all else. This is a daily occurrence on all levels of government, in all facets of life, be it on a community level, as in CVWPB all the way to top of the heap in DC. And then they wonder why there is discontent. And/or care not a whit. 

Thus, we are once again in the midst of yet another example par excellence of the stupidity and cupidity, the uncaring attitude from the big guy to the little guy. That is in all aspects of life. Get shafted in court and no one cares. Trump gets his just desserts, finally, at least in one area, being ordered rightfully so to dismantle his crooked fraud of a business and his response, demented as usual, capitalized, as usual, and gets top billing. Why? He is a worthless piece of trash who has embarrassed, shamed, corrupted this nation for too many years, allowed to remain in office, a traitor.  Allowed so unbelievably to run for that office yet again, a four-time indicted defendant with 90 charges and the real possibility for, oh, please, dear lord, of years in prison.  

How many more years until we rid ourselves of that traitor, pervert and fraud. He has embarrassed us nationally, globally, downgraded our economic status, tainted our honor and trustworthiness as a responsible partner in the eyes of other nations, and has encouraged and associated himself with those desiring of installing or keeping an authoritarian-fascistic government in lieu of democracy.      "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Old but still pertinent.

This twisted, wrong turn of politics and the mad rush to gather more reins, all reins, of power in one's grubby hands and dark soul is a menace to the entire world. It has split nations, some irrevocably. I fear the USA is headed there, quite along the way, actually, and I worry desperately about Israel caught up in a socially divisive split just about at civil war level. While there are some correct points of contention on both sides of the equation, I do believe that once again, always and forever, religion has raised its ugly political destructive head, forever the bane of government round the world and throughout history. In Israel it sets literally brother against sister, father against children and has brought about wrack and ruin and national tragedy too many times in our history. It is and was, too often, a consequence powered, instigated by religious extremists who demand control, who demand the right to impose, legally or illegally and immorally, their view, their standards, of the ''right' way of religion, according to their extreme standards and manner of observance upon others. No way can that be, not unless we agree to go the way of Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other benighted nations. 

It is an unfortunate truth of history that when religion involves itself in politics, the outcome is guaranteed to be bloodthirsty, violent, oppressive, destructive, just so wrong, so very wrong. It leads to nations where the only acceptable and recognized as full human beings, entitled to rights are those who meet the demands of the ruling elite. All else are second, third class, or even subhuman. 

This cannot be allowed to reinstate itself, turn the world backwards, to a violent past, oppressive and rigid. People have rights. People are free to observe or not, but not to impose their views, their religion, their manner of observance on others. They are simply wrong in doing so. Be it in the USA or Israel or Moslem countries or anywhere else. 

This can only be resolved through clearheaded thinking, by moral people who understand realities and the composition of the psyches of humans. Without those ingredients we are looking at not good times, certainly not good for them, not good for anyone living in a repressive, religiously ruled country.

I love my religion. It gives me structure, a sense of community and belonging, a wall upon which to lean, a power above me, happy memories, but it is not my wish nor my right to impose my views on others. Nor to have theirs imposed, mandated, upon me. No way, no how. Never. Religion and politics simply do not mix. The result is always explosive. 

This isa battle we must fight together, seeking rights and justice for all. For a more equal, fairer  society. This cannot be done separately, only united.

As always.

A better world for Yitzy, for grandchildren of all, for all those who come after. 

 Can it be done?

You tell me.

What I do know is that we must not give up.

We must try and the only way in which to meet with success is only if we do it together.

Together - the only way.

Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

  

 

GO AWAY, GO AWAY, DON'T COME BACK ANOTHER DAY

 And into each life some rain must fall. Well, folks, that rain has certainly fallen into ours with the great washout of the weekend, the week prior and forecast for this week as well. If you love rain, you gotta' love the forecast: Phillipe is hanging around like a rejected forlorn French lover. Behind him are two more possibilities. Hence our title, or at least take a vacation with some sprinkles every day. Maybe....

Unfortunately, there are other forms of rain inundating the country on a vast national scale, even going global, as we here in America fall into a sinkhole of our making as we allowed acid rain to poison and destabilize the ground we walk upon. No, not the physical acid rain, though we have enabled that as well, but the acidity of the atmosphere in this nation. The acidity of the bites and nips and smacks and punches and filth we sling at each other. surrender? 

Discuss? Compromise? Love of nation over love of self? Truth? Honey? Hearing the words and concerns of the opponents? 

Folks I must run to catch a plane so will continue later this afternoon. Please return late afternoon and we will continue to talk. My apologies.   

But more important = Yitzy had a great weekend. 

Back, after plane company found my 'lost' luggage. Lucky we had an airtag in it, so we knew it was there, merely somehow misplaced.

Anyway, back at the ranch, the rain continues. Invest 91L is growing, threatening, and I am so tired of these forecasts, ever intensifying threats of flood and all sorts of mischief on an epic scale and basically, at this point, there is nothing to do but wait, prepare, and pray! Even if we were to try to   pass legislation to repair the damage done and try to prevent further damage or repair that already done, for prevention of further danger, those crazed Republicans in the House will shut it down. As they are doing right now - shutting down the country. Their latest maniacal oh so caring demand - to cut 70% of winter heating subsidies so just wait until their base freezes this winter. 

Some know it all claims that the moral base is crumbling, ruined by new requirements. I see no new requirements, merely an asking of people to remember the principles of society, with action and time given rather than mealymouthed false statements of no truth and no opening of the wallet. 

Too many people have become greedy, concerned with conspicuous consumption, and have forgotten the silently hungry, food insecure kids in their children's classes, the struggling elder citizen living on a far outgrown social security or the two working parents who cannot catch a break. Not on taxes or savings or loans or childcare or saving for college or advanced training.

As for the lawmakers, well, it is not raining. No, it is either in a drought situation or a flood of rancid legislators who make their own rules and then declare themselves immune to prosecution or punishment for misdeeds. They are above the law. They do not merit consequences, merely increased power and influence, the wherewithal to enrich themselves any way possible, Loyalty to a person, a party, rather than to constituents and country. Loyalty to self above all else. Adherence to that which is good for them, not for others. When caught, they lie, claim immunity, anything to escape the truth of their moral turpitude. Even up to and including incitement to rebel, the cooperation, the active rebellion that comes with treason. Now they dare to claim immunity by virtue of their job, the time, or degree of criminal behavior. 

Well, in my book, do the time if you did the crime. Treasonous behavior, actions, instigations to violence, stirring up major hatred among groups accompanied with the all-time favorite- cursing the Jews, blaming them for all, trying to shake hands even as their other hand is reaching for the knife.

Folks, I am so tired of that rain of s##t rain, constant never ending, pursuing, chasing, finding footholds where society will allow and there has been a rapid greatly frightening growth of available footholds. Here are a few, from just today or recently, lies on top of lies, ever building a case for hatred of Jews all denying the ugliness of their souls, the acid content of their words burning into the hearts of their targets. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a well-known antisemite definitely limited in intellectual capacity, wishes "the Jews" a meaningful fast accompanied by a Chanukah menorah. Uh, quite different holidays. One legislator replied that "Yom Kippur focused on the atonement of sins, Moskowitz added: “Lord knows you will be very busy.”

Gotta' luv it!

Or there is the oh so lovely, caring historian running for schoolboard position in Minnesota with these sentiments, statements of ugliness. The twisting of history as do all fascists, including our homegrown ones - DeSantis, Greene, Goetz, Trump, and all followers.  Insertion of a 'Christianity' with no resemblance to true Christianity. Censorship. Twisted history. Denied history. Abrogation of rights. Praising all that is ugly in mankind.

Klingenberg described the Holocaust being orchestrated by "big Zionist Jews" to persecute "little Jews" and claimed that "the Jewish religion is an ideology based on victimization." that the Nazis did not want the Holocaust and that they were actually trying to "save" Jewish people."

I am tired of acid rain. Where is the soft rain of my childhood? Where is the nurturing rain we used to treasure? Where has it all gone?

I wonder if we can even move this world of hate off its ramparts and send these troglodytes to a fitting, most deserved ending. 

Can it be done?

You tell me.

What I do know is that we must not give up.

We must try and the only way in which to meet with success is only if we do it together.

Together - the only way.

Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

LANGUAGE IS MORE THAN YOU THINK

Due to the holiday of Yom Kippur there will not be any posting on Monday  

Think about it. How do we communicate our wishes, thoughts, fears and dreams to others? Why does the possibility of loss of speech strike deep into the heart? What about the case if our speech is misunderstood and misinterpreted? Does yelling words ever louder facilitate in the communication process? Last one seems silly, yet one would be quite surprised at the huge percentage of people who think the louder one speaks, the better understood.

Language is more than words or verbiage. It is the entire body, as a whole, that communicates, even in ways of which you are unaware, but presto! There they are. In poker these unconscious body signals are called tells. Tells exist in areas other than poker or any game. Quite often it is the tells that govern our communication.

Miscommunication through misuse or abrogation of the rules, of the sense of it all, is at the root of so many problems. Often it is the decibels of the attempted communication that convey the truth, unspoken, but nevertheless clear in the ears and mind of the listener. The 'truth' of communication is even clearer when the spoken words, openly vile and threatening from the getgo, are partnered with tells and decibel enhancement. As usual, like it or not, the truth has so many ways to surface from whence it is hidden, crammed into deep holes, or buried in heaps of lies.  

Now segue back to the language of lives today. Think of the daily use, natural, of words which would have, indeed did, get our mouths washed out with soap or some equally dreadful punishment. Adults spoke calmly, knowing that while loud hectoring voices might cow someone into concession, it is a short-lived victory. Violence contained within the words implies possibilities morphing into realities. Often, immediately, the ears and mind and heart of the threatened veers off into other trends of thought, not good for peace in the world! All escalates. Now take a look around and see, truly see, where we are.  

I hear the objections, the deniers in full cry, howling their false 'comforting' statements.  Oh, they say, we have been in similar situations and come out okay.' Not really, but so they spout. We must peer deeply into the obfuscating fog, find the underlying truths. the false comfort of the statement, "Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Actually, these misbegotten critters masquerading as humans, know exactly what they 'do', their true goals - amassing power and wealth. No matter who is trodden underfoot, even unto death or as good as. Bereft of all rights, all dreams, in a dark world of no hope.  

America is no longer the proud master of the   universe, a leader to follow, respected, always striving to do better as it acknowledges errors. As giants do, it stumbles at times, hitting impediments in the roadway, but generally finds a positive way out. Threats of war are smoothed out via diplomatic verbiage, unspoken acknowledgement of superiority in arms and   armies, and a sense of 'whoa, we had better get out of this neighborhood before it is too late'.  

Today is different. We ignore the language streaming to us from around the world. We see the combat between these who value democracy, desire the best for their people and those who grab power, their goals positive only for themselves. We have spouted words of falsehood as we left the young courageous kids, who resist: in Hong Kong, in China, in Afghanistan, in Iran, in Israel, in the USA, so many and so many more. Yet our language is one of falsehood. And we cynically partner with much of the world as we learn how our weapons actually function real time war, not war games. Hence, onward Ukraine, as your population, your infrastructure, are reduced to rubble. 

In fact, we have to defend Ukraine for in our willful stupidity and blindness, unwilling to see and acknowledge truth re Putin, cede other countries to him, ignoring the Hitlerian scenarios, and the lessons we should have learned from it and the rest of human history. 

And so it goes, as we ignored the insanity of the rulers of China, their willingness to throw all under the bus, including their own compatriots, coconspirators in the destruction of the lives of the rest of the Chinese people. We played ignorant or maybe actually were, to the buildup of their weapons, their navy along with their willingness to use them, to threaten to invade, to set up a bloody scenario, an end of the world scenario, if not given what they want. Just like Putin. 

Worst of all, I believe that we, right here in the good old USA, have enabled all this. We became weak, arrogant, allowing our morale to sink, our weapons to rot, to become obsolete.   Our image as a powerful foe to right wrongs, sank into our own madness as we placed a demented evil man in the Oval Office, along with his equally evil acolytes, and are allowing it to happen again! Madness! 

We have allowed crazed selfish incompetent individuals of little, if any, merit, shutting down the government as they engage in blackmail, run up partisan politics to a point of inability of Congress to function, and corrupted an entire judiciary system, from bottom all the way to the top. 

Unless we wake up, quickly, alert, willing to strive   together, to fix this broken world of ours. Tikkun olam - repair the world, to leave the world a better place for you having been a part of it.

We did it before and we can do it again, albeit our willingness seems to be sapped from within, our language skills weakened, our communications garbled, and our morals tattered to a degree which might not allow for repair.

Only together, in a deep and true understanding of where we are, how we got here, and how we get outta' here, can we effect so crucial change in a proper direction.   

Only if we put aside our differences can we succeed. Refute and turn away a man who threatens literally to kill his opponents, who committed treason, or one who is already an open fascist, and come to our senses, reject those who have brought us here, who have lied over and over again, brainwashed people, as the Emperor with no new clothes, naked before all, his ugliness and evil clear to all. Who encouraged violence and a manifestly dangerous growth industry of bias and hatred, growing into ever more violence, including antisemitism.

Further Yitzy news, a mixed bag. More chemo, tires during school day and comes home early, but still, attending school again!

And, best of all, he led the congregation in Maariv, the evening prayer at the end of Shabbat.

GO YITZY!!!!!!!!!!

Together - the only way.

Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

"EVERYONE KNOWS"

 No, they do not. In fact, I think that the 'everyone' referred to in yet another oh so brilliant statement by the crazed and violent Jim Jordan, are even less knowing, understanding or capable of rational thought than ever before. Jordan, whose face of violence during hearings, is one of the most powerful GOP members and ain't that a shame.

In fact, the current GOP has taken the express train on our decrepit train system and are fast delivering   us into unexplored territory we had better avoid. From the economy to the very survival of a democratic United States, we are presently moving that train right off the tracks, faster and faster nearing its end. That is where we fall off, over the edge of our 'flat earth' for beyond lies only the unknown, monsters rife in those waiting waters.  

It is that flat earth level of thinking, if thinking is even applicable here, that has brought us into this perilous once unthinkable situation.  Ancient maps were notated "here be danger" at that point. Today's dwindling numbers of sane cartographers warn us of the peril fast approaching but we refuse to listen, to understand, the depth of those brooding waters, the dangers lurking just below the surface.        

What we do not acknowledge is that our particular generation of monsters has already clambered out of those waters, impatient, eager to destroy, wreak havoc, to bring down a nation which has long represented hope for so many through many generations. 

Their appetite for destruction, for amassing power and wealth in a panicked world of anomie, is endless, voracious in consumption, never sated. In fact, they co-opt our failing, struggling, train system, use it to destroy their opponents, using democracy to end democracy. Just as did their fascistic role model, Hitler, who then unleashed the dogs of war, saddled up the dreaded Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, upon a world which had ignored all the signposts along the way, just as we have done. 

The unbalanced weight of their invading and hijacking forces is increasing the strain on our train, tilting it ever more steeply, ever closer and closer to actual turnover, not playing dead, but being dead.  As for us, well, we simply stand here awaiting our fate rather than heeding the Biblical instruction to "gird our loins" in preparation for battle, and "fight, fight against the dying of the light".

Social and governmental breakdown as of September 30 when the government runs out of money.

Why? Because we have immoral criminals in seats of power as they blackmail the nation, hold it hostage with little room to maneuver. 

As crazed individuals, not the least of whom is Trump, that contagious poison introduced into our political system, leading to insanity within the GOP. All leading to national division and an abyss   awaiting us even as we stand on the crumbling edge. At the bottom awaits havoc and ruin.

 " ...negative indication of House Republicans’ ability "- to do anything positive or redeeming or containing within a modicum of relief and hope for returning sanity.

“...everyone knows” about the attorney general’s secret scheme to help President Joe Biden’s son..." — an initiative that appears to only exist in Republicans’ imaginations, not one iota of proof to support, only ugliness and contempt and selfishness as they violate their very oaths to serve and defend this nation. They themselves are the enemy.     

Ramaswamy rejects birthright citizenship but not his, as he did exactly that!

" ...unprecedented territory, not only of a former president indicted, but him running for president for keeping himself out of prison, that’s the backdrop of the election. That’s scary.”  90 indictments in 4 states and this   can be President again!!!! To totally bring an end to democracy as we instead morph into a pathetic imitation of what we once were.??!!!

And the cherry on top, truly representative of the GOP today, by Hawley he who supported the rebels and then ran from them, Cluck, cluck!    Brilliance indeed - not.  “Today is a good day to remember: Christianity is the faith, and America is the place slavery came to die.”

There is no way one or two or three individuals can combat this. It takes a village, a city, many cities and towns and farms -an entire nation. We need to understand the existential mud puddle we stand in even as yet another fierce storm approaches as electric wires fall into our mud puddle.  

Together is the only way. In the same way, G-d willing, in which we are combating our Yitzy's cancer. It is the combined efforts, the togetherness that has buoyed us all. That is what we need to do as we combat the stage 4 cancer afflicting our nation right now.  Via the togetherness, the massive support, unbelievable in its intensity and value, we pray for a positive outcome for Yitzy, a promising future.

  But not unless we, the adults, act, promptly, do what we must, to ensure that our younger members of the population do indeed have a future awaiting them in a strong, moral, democratic America restored to its senses.

Together folks, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

THIS TRAIN DON'T TRACK

  Trains are romantic. Trains are legendary. Trains are workhorses for the economy and for daily living. Trains are cesspools of possible criminal exposure. Trains are the best and the worst, and that is because it varies how we use them and how they are maintained. Well, today the train I refer to simply does not track. Not in a sane and good level of maintenance.  

In fact, the trains we use today are badly faltering. We have not maintained them very well, allowing pieces to fall off at increasing rates. We are neither repairing the damage nor are we being proactive in preventing farther deterioration, one that will lead to a total breakdown of  our train network.  In fact, it is so badly off track at this time, so grossly tilted, that there is a great possibility of total loss of track position very soon.    

A new train system will be put in plaee, one already in the last stages prior to implementation. We will not like that train system but will be left with no discretion. Ride it we must and ride it we will - unless we address the defects now, today, and every day until it is in working order conditions. Along with preventative action to any possible similar deterioration. This will require strict and constant examination and testing. No more tilting to dangerous degree of falling, with total track failure inevitable.  

 No, neither flipped nor passing as a system expert. Merely a person extremely concerned re our national system, not the NYC subway system  though G-d knows it needs help. No, I am referring   to the trains and tracks of our faltering and embattled democracy. So tilted at this point, track and train working order endangered, to such a degree that we are awaiting inevitable failure.    

That is unless we draw up a map for a new system, complete with preventive steps, new equipment to safeguard against any kind of similar deterioration, along with trusted workers to maintain the system, intact. It is a responsibility that is a privilege and only qualified, honest, trusted and capable workers are to be allowed on board. 

Quite different from the present set of workers with no discipline, who cannot distinguish a good leader from a terrible one, who lack discipline, courage, morality and allegiance to the riders. If we continue to ignore the mainframe and structure of the system, forget and/or neglect, on purpose, its integrity then we will indeed reap what we have so carelessly or malevolently sowed.

Grossly egregious lies re a rebellion fomented and planned by the top engineer of the system cannot be disguised nor whitewashed by pathetic verbiage, lies unfortunately taking root within deluded individuals. No, it was not a family excursion, complete with strollers, infants and picnic meals.   It was not a slight altercation. No, it was not the antifa nor the left Democratic members who instigated this. There were deaths and injuries to the defenders of this train system hub. Murder and mayhem were on the agenda and thank G-d it failed. No thanks to the members of the GOP who actually, complicity and /or implicitly, took part in its planning and implementation, even as they ran from their allies, that screaming, rampaging violent assortment of traitors, attackers of our train system.    Such lies, such faulty, treasonous engineers can no longer be tolerated for they destroy it from within. As the Constitution is ignored or perverted, twisted. As rights are shredded. As the nation   devolves at ever increasing rate, into a disgraceful morass of weakling, mewling nation states, turning on our  proud history and heritage.   

The GOP has run amok. It cannot control its own crazed members who know only to demand, to take, to destroy. They have truly destroyed, dissed the sanctity of the Senate and House, of the entire Judiciary, including the Supreme Court. No, it is not the new dress code that has destroyed the sanctity of our national buildings, the hub of our system. Clothes do not make the man/woman. Nor can they hide the truth, the  ugliness beneath those  clothes. All these tiny emperors of a defective, oppressive system are truly naked.  

We are not the romantic Orient Express nor a train rolling through the nation of America, carrying a hero to final resting place. We are a threatened, struggling system needing our help. All our help, in concerted united effort for if we do not, we will face another system with no chance of return to the present embattled and challenged one.  

People get as they deserve, either through action, inaction and apathy, or too little, too late opposition.   

Together folk, together. In concerted, united, determined, knowledgeable effort.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

  

I - IT I - THOU

  Sometimes we need to look back and truly rediscover necessary eye-opening wisdom so desperately needed if we are to maintain a reasonable, functioning resemblance of a normal or close to normal or just approaching a version of a normal society. These days this society is more noticeable in its absence; in the huge gap it leaves behind rather than in a presence as a functioning society. Where there should be solid ground beneath our feet, we are treading ever more uncertainly in newly swampy grounds, fetid fens, and treacherous terrain. These new territories and  conditions are all on us. Every single one.

No one escapes shouldering a share of the blame if you are of age, capable of independent thinking and action. There are no excuses valid enough to let you out of the fray nor is there an escape door for you to survive the oncoming tsunami of rapid unsettling, harmful change. Unless we stand up, think fast, and understand thoroughly the necessities of life now, to continue upon this earth, just take a simple honest gander round the world today. Need motivation? Take a look at the generations younger than yours and add twenty years or so to the mix. "nuff said?

I came across an old and dusty book the other day written by a twentieth century thinker and philosopher and was struck and entranced by the  depth and simplicity of his writings. His name - Martin Buber. His premise is simple, yet not so simple to achieve, requiring great determination and effort by a person. Without that effort, we are lost. We lose our humanity. We lose ourselves. 

Among his books and essays are two in particular, available at your local Target or Walmart, are I and   Thou, and   Good and Evil.  Simple, yet brilliant and elegant in that simplicity. There are two relationships in this world of ours, I-It and I-Thou. The first is when we look upon all and live life through a prism of an all-encompassing selfishness  and inhumanity, a cold and lonely life. All are valued and assayed by - is it good for me? Will it benefit me? Will it increase my bottom line and control over others? Emotions, empathy and sympathy play no part in this cold and brutal life with a certain end of life wrapped in his bitter choice. 

On the other hand, the latter philosophy is softer, humane, concerned with others, in fact looking upon others as if the I and the Thou are equal, interchangeable. It is a recognition of the shared humanity of all, that we are all one. The Three Musketeers are not the only ones to understand the necessity, the positivity which arises, stems from and is imbued within and by a life guided by that thought.  It is life of sharing, of connection, of love and yes, even I-It moments. That is fine as well, as long as it is not the guiding principle.   

This better life demands discourse, ears to listen, and mouths to speak rather than shout. It requires an openness to viewpoints and an ability to get along with even glaring differences, for the I-Thou relationship is priority. Think upon these two quotes of his and understand, feel, the difference if we were to understand, to think, to share, rather than approach ever nearer to a life of nihilism where rules and religion, true faith and goodness, morality, have no place. 

• “When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.”
• “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

 Look at our present pathetic imitations of leaders. By which philosophy do they live? Do they understand the glory and the truth of life, that we are never to know all that is before us nor are we to impose our self-absorbed philosophy upon others.  

Now take a look at society today and where we are, where we tread wrongly, where we need to find an exit ramp and an on ramp. Look and understand, see, feel, and accept the truth.  Look and determine to be different and to bring others along with you. Simply put - be a leader, for even in smaller areas there is a critical need for good and true leaders.  To paraphrase Bonnie Tyler, I, we, all need a hero, fresh from the fight, willing to continue that fight, that effort, to do the right thing. To be a hero.

I leave you with these three quotes of Martin Buber. Chew on them. Think about them. Understand them and find a place for them in your lives.

• “The atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than the believer caught up in his own false image of God.”
• A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for.
• Through the Thou a person becomes I.

 We have seen that positive change when we all look to the Thou and devote a portion of our time and energy to others. You have already done so for Yitzy. Still with ups and downs, better and not so good days, but so hopeful, full of faith, so amazed by all who pray for him, who keep him in their thoughts.

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

  

FOLLOWING THE LEADER, THE LEADER, THE LEADER...

 But wait! Where the heck is the leader we are supposed to be following? Are we following anyone? Is there anyone in fact to follow? Or are we doomed for the foreseeable future to consistently follow varied purported leaders, all legends in their own minds, who are as successful as the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion against Henry VIII in 1536.  Henry VIII managed that one, ruthlessly, yet, here we are today with a Church of England, and the reigning monarch the Head of Church, not the Pope. 

History and the passing of time have a habit of changing things around, whether we agree or not with it. It is an historical imperative which moves things along, at times good and at too many other times, much to the detriment of humanity. Most often, we get used to the changes, most brought about gradually, slipping through the cracks.  Opposing voices are often muted by the realities of the time and the passage of time. 

We can then pose the question. If time is apparently the deciding factor, then why should we oppose it? Assumptions of permanent change are seemingly useless, foolish, and literally and figuratively a bloody waste of lives and structure of society. If time is the inevitable deciding factor, why must we waste time, effort, and energy better spent elsewhere if the wheel of time will deposit us, inevitably, there at some time in the future?

Would such a viewpoint actually enable the reformers of society and its moral values to be more successful in their endeavors, more funding and brain power available in those efforts, or does it consign those efforts to the detritus barrel of failed historical efforts, too late, too early or totally useless? Will it, in fact, reinforce the terrible ennui and apathy of people to critical changes of the immediate times?

Desperately needed are leaders with heart, soul, compassion and sense. Not necessarily brilliant, (think I have given up on that), but one with the charisma, intelligence, and a hefty dose of altruism, an ability to truly inspire and lead. A true and necessary facet of a successful and positive society. Unfortunately, we have been dealt a bad hand in this issue. 

 What to do? If we cannot approach it one way, this so urgently needed change, not advisable to wait for history, then we find another approach. We eliminate the negative even as we search for the positive. We seek and find acceptable temporary replacements for the flagrantly negative supposed leaders of the time. Those who constantly carry lit matches into areas rife with explosives. We reject the selfish, the liars, the incompetents, those undeniably inimical to a good life for all. 

Today, we unfortunately have allowed leaders of true caliber to drain off elsewhere. We have demeaned and degraded the idea of public service as a noble occupation and have instead allowed obvious destructive fakes to proliferate within all levels of government to the point of paralysis or worse. Demented diabolical, selfish, amoral or immoral creatures, lacking intelligence, compassion, common sense, are what we have instead.

The concept of true loyalty, to one's nation, to its people, is gone, perverted, twisted so that loyalty has given way to loyalty to self, to a camp follower mentality, with a watchful eye for self-aggrandizement. Loyalty - of the moment - has gone to the feared, the one ready, willing and able to voice the unspeakable, the hateful, the violence inciting rhetoric too many spout today, spewing   virtual poison. In fact, in many ways, worse, actually, we have revitalized the nasty trope of the Ugly American, though now we are ugly to ourselves.

This nation is suffering depression. Not one of the economy, but the emotional, mental health one, dangerous to individuals and society alike,  so  needful of treatment. That treatment for national depression is nowhere in sight, gone AWOL. If we do not pull our own selves out of that   despair, that hopelessness, we are doomed. Simple as that.  

Lethal partisanship will continue to rip this nation apart until there will be nothing left of the United States of America other than some notations in a dusty now censored old history textbook and some squabbling, poverty stricken, weak nation states, pitiful pathetic remnants of a once powerful, positive contributing country, a leader of, to, the world.  

Sadly, we have driven down that awful self- made road, reaching the point of no return, or too damned close for comfort. Soon there will be no room for   maneuvering to return to a state of sanity, hope available and improvement possible. We must reject those who insist we follow them down that road to hell. We must.

I know we can do better. I have seen the goodness in people, especially this past year. The family has witnessed the helpfulness and caring in the hearts of so many, to the point where if we are online and the name Yitzy is mentioned, we hear a gasp.   The conversation ensues. The prayers they are reciting, the concern they feel. The connection felt. 

We can be good people. We are good people. We simply have grown somewhat rusty, too busy, forgotten the effort and attention necessary. We can be and are better than that.

Together, with a synergy far stronger than the sum of its parts, we can repair this world. This   is the best time of the year to begin that journey, to betterment, to redemption, to the best we can and should be. 

Together.

Tomorrow. Today.

And together.

Only and always together.

Together, always together.

 United for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN

"COME HELL OR HIGH WATER"

Before I write of the ugliness facing us as Jews, as people among other people, as a nation among other nations, as members of the world, here is Yitzy news. After a rough week of everyday chemo and bad side effects, Yitzy dug deep down and regenerated his good spirits, his optimism. That and his courage, his faith, and that wonderful grin buoyed all around him. And went to shul (synagogue). Please keep up the prayers and then wishes. They help. We know that. 

And back to the world. The trial(s) will go on, no matter what, the objecting will go on no matter what. Actually, hell is already here and as for high water - well, I refer you to the pictures of the killer floods, the destructive floods from around the world. Now we have the extremely difficult assignment of dealing with the hell and the high water and the vicious hope killing words and deeds of too many, suffused with anger and hate.  Truthfully, not sure if anything will work at this time.

Thousands of years ago Abraham tried desperately to bargain with G-d about Sodom and Gomorrah and its planned destruction due to the rampant misbehavior of the inhabitants, their embrace via thought, words and deeds, of all that was evil. For the sake of 'x' number of good people might the cities, the people within, be saved? The numbers went down and down, so few, if any, were to be found. The result is well known. Today, all these millennia later we are just about at the same point.

With closed eyes stick a pin in anywhere on a map of the world. There you will find a situation rife with danger, stinking of evils and wrongdoing and the ingratitude of humans. We turn on each other with impulses worse than a rabid animal. We fight and scheme against each other as only one human can do to another. Why is that? Why have we in our selfishness and willfulness refused to heed the myriad warning calls and set this planet on a gravely serious road leading only to extinction - at least for humans? 

This beautiful world was gifted to us along with the responsibility of being rulers, wise and compassionate, and so flagrantly, wantonly have we trashed it that scientists have declared that of   nine categories of boundaries necessary to maintain, for life to be sustainable on this earth, we have violated four of them, with the rest not far behind. Oh, the benefits of human abilities and genius! The work before us will be back breaking, possibly too late, but we must at least understand and try to do better, to be at least the minimum of the good necessary to save our Sodom and Gomorrah equivalents. Possibly a hail Mary, but what alternative other than death or worse do we have?

It is not for the sake of the elderly, for far too often we have certainly done our worst rather than our best. Nor is it for the in-between generation too engrossed in selfish ambitions and dreams of worldly goods and comforts, of huge houses, for they too have neglected their responsibilities. No, it is for the young and those to come, that we must, must try, strive to reform and reformulate our goals, our aims, our necessities, for what else have we to actually leave behind as a legacy. Without a viable world we leave only immutable death, disaster and failure, a tainted legacy of shame.

The calendar period now facing us is one of great introspection and evaluation for Jews, though all else are invited to join in. It is a yearly accounting of where we stand, the health of our morals, the quality of our thinking and doing. The quality of our soul. As a nation and as an individual. Have we truly demonstrated over the past year that we have understood and undertaken the reformation needed from last year to this new year? We dig deep and confess, admit our failures as a nation and as an individual. And recite a chilling list of modalities of death awaiting the unrepentant, the irremediable sinner, or the one going home, finally, after a life replete with good deeds and a drive to do better - certainly morally.

(The paragraphs which follow are ostensibly re Israel though the problems are similar throughout the world, and in particular for me, America, even the increasingly fascistic state I live in, Florida.)  

The nation of Israel is in the throes of a civil war, not yet devolved into physical combat, too close for comfort, but morally, deciding whether we will continue as a Jewish democratically oriented nation, true to historical imperatives and rights, or will we lose ourselves in a battle of religious rules and regulations imposed on others, of its inhabitants driven out by fellow Jews, a nation no longer capable of defending itself from enemies without and within.  Where tolerance from more secular loses ground? Where the ultra- conservative religious attempt to impose their vision upon all others. Are we to become a Jewish Afghanistan   where the status and safety of women are no better than the cat or dog of the street or even less?

Here are two statements just made, telling all that we have so seriously fallen off the track, forgotten all we have learned before, all that bitter experience should have taught us. 

 “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!,” he (Trump) wrote on Truth Social on Sunday,"

  “This time we are seeing protests against Israel by people aligned with the PLO and Iran,” said Netanyahu, adding that “nothing surprises me.” (Nor me, unfortunately)

We have dangerously forgotten that which we learn in our cribs, that all Jews are responsible for each   other. That we are to be a nation of constant questions and growth, constant evaluation, constant adjusting to life conditions and necessities. That we are enjoined to tolerate each other for we are one family albeit we live in the Diaspora or the Land of Israel. We are one. We feel together, grow together and die together. 

We have lost our way. We have forgotten the warning that we have more to fear from enemies within   than without. We have bitterly learned as well that supposed 'friends' will turn on us - no matter how hard they try to hide, the truth will always out. I refer you back to those two statements.

This battle within, for the soul, for the direction of a nation is not one only in the Jewish world, for it is a choice facing nation after nation. Democracy is gravely threatened. Problems of universal commonality are being ignored in the face of nationalism and old hatreds risen again. It is a choice and decision of great consequence the world must make. G-d help, us should the wrong one win.

President Herzog of Israel said, "the political leadership must show “courage and responsibility to get us out of this crisis.” “This is a moment of truth for the political system,” (and, I believe, for the citizens as well.)  

A Rabbi, 60 years ago, said in his sermon for Rosh Hashanah - equally valid today, “These are terrible times and it’s time to stand up and be counted. It’s time to do so. it’s time to pay the price whether it’s in personal safety and security. … Are you ready to pay the price because if you’re not, God help this (city).” (We can easily substitute any nation or the world for city, the meaning and the warning are the same.)

Somehow, we continue to make the same mistake, over and over again, penalties and costs adding up, mounting, growing, without foreseeable end.

Finally, here is the interpreted version of a poem, written by Rabbi Avi Weiss, to the people of Israel, to Jews round the world, in fact, relevant to all people on the face of this earth. As you read it think of the message I send with each posting - the need for unity and togetherness.

A pintele Yid A lonely Jew A vulnerable Jew   A pintele yud A lone mark A tiny Hebrew letter   A yud aside another A Jew beside an other Evokes the Name of God In unity, God sees It is good   Unity is never uniformity Uniformity is uni form Crushing other views Unity is uni tied, united Despite differences Dear dear God Help us to know that Am Yisrael is more than The Nation of Israel We are Family And the test of family Is not how we love When we agree But how we love When we disagree May we be careful with our words For while a word is a word And a deed is a deed Words we say Can lead to harmful, fatal deeds May we not question The motives of the other – But instead Listen to the other Learn from the other Sing and dance The Psalmist’s dream “Behold how beautiful how sweet Sisters and brothers Together.” Illuminate the Hasidic vision: Every Yid has a single light That begins and ends But together, our lights fuse Endless, eternal With You In unity As family In togetherness With light forever Help us, help us declare: I am a kitzoni — an extremist Jew. Not on the right, not on the left, But an extremist in Loving Other Jews. Ahavat Yisrael

אַ פִּינְטֶעלֶע יִיד יְהוּדִי בּוֹדֵד יְהוּדִי שַׁבְרִירִי   א פינטעלע יו”ד סִימָן בּוֹדֵד אוֹת עִבְרִית זְעִירָה   נִצֶּבֶת יו”ד בְּצַד יו”ד עוֹמֵד יְהוּדִי בְּצַד אָחִיו וּפוֹרֵץ שֵׁם הָאֱ־לֹהִים בְּאַחְדוּת, וַיַּרְא אֱ־לֹהִים כִּי טוֹב   אַחְדוּת לְעוֹלָם אֵינֶנָּה אֲחִידוּת כִּי הָאֲחִידוּת הִיא רִסּוּק שֶׁל דֵּעוֹת אֲחֵרוֹת אַךְ אַחְדוּת הִיא חַיֵּי יַחַד לַמְרוֹת כָּל הַהֶבְדֵּלִים הוֹ, אֱ־לֹהִים הַיָּקָר סַיַּע לָנוּ לְהַכִּיר שֶׁעַם יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא יוֹתֵר מֵעַם, שֶׁכֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי מִשְׁפָּחָה אַחַת וּמִשְׁפָּחָה נִבְחֶנֶת לֹא רַק בְּאַהֲבָתָהּ כְּשֶׁכֻּלָּהּ בְּדֵעָה אַחַת אֶלָּא כֵּיצַד הִיא אוֹהֶבֶת כְּשֶׁאֵין בְּקִרְבָּהּ הַסְכָּמָה נַקְפִּיד עַל מוֹצָא שְׂפָתֵינוּ כִּי בְּעוֹד מִלָּה הִיא מִלָּה וּמַעֲשֶׂה הוּא מַעֲשֶׂה דְּבָרִים הַיּוֹצְאִים מִן הַפֶּה עֲלוּלִים לְהָבִיא לְתוֹצָאוֹת נוֹרָאוֹת, אֲיֻמּוֹת לֹא נְעַרְעֵר עַל מְנִיעָיו שֶׁל הָאַחֵר אַדְּרַבָּא – נַאֲזִין אֶל הָאַחֵר נִלְמַד מִן הָאַחֵר נִרְקֹד וְנָשִׁיר אֶת חֲזוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הַמְּשׁוֹרֵר “הִנֵּה מַה טּוֹב וּמַה נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַּם יַחַד” הָאֵר אֶת חֲזוֹנָהּ שֶׁל הַחֲסִידוּת: לְכָל יְהוּדִי אוֹר מְיֻחָד מִשֶּׁלּוֹ הַנִּדְלָק וְדוֹעֵךְ אַךְ יַחְדָּיו, מִתְמַזְּגִים אוֹרוֹתֵינוּ בְּלֹא קֵץ, לְעוֹלָמִים עִמְּךָ בְּאַחְדוּת כְּמִשְׁפָּחָה יַחְדָּיו בְּאוֹר נִצְחִי עֲזֹר לָנוּ, עֲזֹר לָנוּ לְהַכְרִיז כִּי “יְהוּדִי קִיצוֹנִי” אֲנִי לֹא לְיָמִין אוֹ לִשְׂמֹאל אֶלָּא קִיצוֹנִי, קִיצוֹנִי בְּאַהֲבַת אַחַי הַיְּהוּדִים אַהֲבַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

 

Only together, only in unity.

The same message, the same plea.  

Tomorrow.

And together.

Together. Only and always together.

Together, always together.

Together, united for good.

Together.

Together. 

We can heal the nation.

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu.

AMEN. AMEN