YOU KNOW WHAT?

  No, I do not know what, nor did my parents every time I asked them that question. Nor did I when my children asked me that particularly phrased question. It is an open-ended question with infinite answers and glaringly absent any guideline as to where one should begin the search for an answer.    'What', precisely, is the 'what' we are supposed to know?  How are we ever to divine an answer which is intuitive, correct, responsive and positive in goal and content? There is no answer which will fulfill all those needs, and in fact, many are not meant to have static, unchangeable answers for they are questions of eternity. Once we understand that, we can begin to formulate answers as to 'what' is 'what'.     

Personally, I myself have many of 'what' questions. Perhaps if I could answer these questions, I could figure out a world gone mad. Alas, these answers remain elusive. I cannot understand, I cannot fathom why certain things are and certain things are not. Do we, anyone, know true definitive answers to these 'what' questions? There are so many it is impossible to list them all.

What is the purpose and value of hate?

What is the reason why it is improper - as it should be - to use pejorative terms to describe certain ethnicities or countries of origin, OK, even praised to use such terms when referring to Jews.

What is the reason for the ever, never-ending waves of   JewHatred even as their contributions are welcomed, but the contributors not?

What is behind the shameful kowtowing of college authorities to the shouts of the raucous minority who invoke the Jew hatred of the question above.

What is the reason why these universities have decided to indulge this prejudice, this fanaticism? Or is it that they themselves buy into it?

What is the explanation for the media hyped incident of 30 people out of approximately 7000 walking out of a graduation at Duke University, as they shamelessly, selfishly, wallow in their hate and ignorance and bigotry?

What or who is behind this evil manifestation of hate? What is the purpose? What is the goal?

What or why do people eagerly, avidly, accept the lies of known liars as gospel truth? 

What is the reason why Jews are judged, held accountable to standards and benchmarks eminently unreachable and unreasonable, nor demanded of any other group?

From the myriad questions of personal needs one can easily slide into universal questions of the "You know what?" category and confront the identical lack of answers.  

What makes the horrifically unacceptable statement from the beasts of Hamas that any hostages kidnapped 8 months ago will only be released - when they are dead. Any remaining alive, if such a life can be alive, will remain in captivity. These brave souls ripped from their lives and loved ones, witnessed bestial acts of horror of unbelievable heights or rather depths of depravity and are now sentenced by these ravening beasts to captivity of unknown duration, perhaps never to end.  In fact, these hostages have been dehumanized and discounted making their deaths acceptable, perhaps even desired. It is rare indeed these days to even hear of their torment.  

Ad infinitum, ad nauseum, from the very onset of a war foisted upon Israel, begun by the breaking of a ceasefire, by the very ones who now cry for a ceasefire, by the horrendous slaughter of young and old, always from day one there was a false claim of "two days to starvation". 8 months later those two days dire prediction have never been realized.   Two days changed to six weeks, then 'imminent' even as the store shelves were well stocked, the black-market of stolen and illegally bought foodstuffs was thriving, and Hamas wallowed in the supply of foodstuffs they had stolen from the aid trucks. Photos emanating from Gaza of the civilian Gazans showed absolutely no indication of starvation or dehydration. Not of adults, nor of children. In fact, the only starvation that took place, that is taking place, is the starvation of the hostages.           

 Furthermore, the data released to the world by Hamas of the supposed death and wounded statistics is highly suspect. It cannot be trusted. It cannot be verified. There is no proof. There is no truth. There is no distinction between civilians and military. Nor have they taken into account the chaos of war and the inevitable disintegration of the family unit until reunited at war's end. 

Even as Israel goes above and beyond the efforts of any other army to protect the civilians placed in danger by their rulers, by Hamas, the world buys into the lies of Hamas. The same Hamas which refused to allow Gazans to shelter within their tunnels. Who did not build one single bomb shelter for the non-Hamas civilians, even as we can wonder as to how many are truly “innocent” civilians. No, it is not upon the shoulders of Israel, but on the shoulders of Hamas that the deaths of civilians are carried. Truth is truth. Fact is fact. Whether one likes the truth and the facts or not.        

Hamas began this war, planned for the deaths of civilians and the predicted response of the world. As Hamas built its own infrastructure and army bases within, among, under, over the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, as planned, the nations of the world bought into the lies. Even as they admitted, how kind of them, that Israel has the right to defend itself, there was a contradictory spate of statements as to how Israel had to conduct the war, even if the enemy remained callously and deliberately among the civilian population.

 Israel according to the opinions of these foreign nations should have denied herself her own defense, the rescue of the hostage, simply write them off, accept the probability of future such attacks and slink back into that broken violated land of burned, destroyed, bloodstained and evacuated communities of the North and the South.     

  And now for the final step - to create a pariah state and isolate Israel from all nations, to condemn world Jewry to a subhuman oppressed population. To become the Untouchables of the world's castes.   To deny them outlets of talent, of research, of life and living. This step seems to be proceeding apace. So, you know what? This will indeed flesh out, become fact if the world remains as it is right now, replete with prejudice and renewed hatred. Governed and inspired by medieval attitudes. Where sharp divisions become even sharper, cutting to the quick, draining the lifeblood of all.

Do I 'know what?' Nope. I do know worry. I do know fear. I also know there are good people out there, but where are they? Where are their voices and objections? Will they wait too long to be of any help?

Do I know what? No, I do not.

------------------------------------------------------------

Yitzy, there are good things remaining. We have your Torah ceremony in September. We have the dedication and naming of the new school campus in your name and in your honor.

 We have you in our hearts and in our souls. And we have hopes for a better world. We hope. 

You are so missed and loved.

 Always and forever. Always and forever.