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