A DAY OF SHAME

 That is what we call what happened yesterday in Jerusalem. An entire city was shut down due to the outrageous mass protest of Haredi men having the gall to protest against the draft. That is, the draft for them, but for all others, no problem. Interesting that while they state that they cannot afford to take time away from their studies, certainly not to defend the nation in which they live, oh for sure, but their hands are always open and extended so secure the benefits and grants which they reap from the government.

For some reason this particular group claims every one of their male progeny, from 16 to 26, all geniuses of course, hence are excused from serving in the army, of serving the nation. Even the thought of a year's national service, not in the army, is anathema to them. Apparently, the only thing excusable for them to get out of the study hall is to go to demonstrations with the lives of all in those areas rendered asunder. With their leaders shouting for riot and chaos, threatening to disrupt the coalition, even to leave the country. Well, that did not go over so well as there were hordes of people volunteering to pay for a ticket or two for them to indeed leave the country.

It is a known fact that every one of our honored scholars and rabbis all had jobs. All worked. What makes this generation think they are special and are entitled to take of and from the nation in which they live and contribute nothing, other than supposed intense hours of study, year after year, and for what? For whom? Certainly, not for their countrymen, their fellow Jews and citizens, Druze, Circassians, Bedouin who all serve this nation in which they live.  Worse. It's when we observe the slavish obedience to the rabbis of their seminaries, we delight our enemies. We have ceded independent thinking and pride of our history and survival.

More egregious than that is the fact that when they sit in the study hall presumably to study, why there are so many walking the streets in the middle of the day? Why is it OK for them to leave their wives to do the work, to bring in money, to take care of the numerous children they have? No, there is something very wrong with this system and unless this government in all honesty in full transparency puts this large segment of the population into the same categories of requirements and obligations into which all other citizens are called upon to fulfill, we will always be shamed in the eyes of the world, a nation who will refuse to defend itself.

The Torah makes it very clear which wars are wars of mitzvah, of must, of survival and which are wars meant more for perhaps selfish reasons. The Torah is very, very clear as to who can be drafted, who is deemed obligated to serve and who is not. If the Torah takes such time to detail this, then who are these modern-day Chassidim to unilaterally decide that they are exempt from these injunctions of the Torah? All according to their own thoughts and rules and regulations.

When we demonstrate like that, not to bring home the Hatufim, not to feed the poor, the widows and widowers, the parents, the orphaned children, but to save their own necks, as another has to be taken to serve yet another long stint of service, in their place, to put somebody else in their place, to die in their place - NO!! 

This is wrong. This is so wrong in so many ways. We will have gifted our enemies with the encouragement to continue to carry on, to perpetrate even worse atrocities upon us. Why are these Haredim massing in the streets of Jerusalem instead of hanging their heads in shame? When they read of a 37-year-old reservist, father of five, called in to serve yet another term in the Army, they should cringe and hide their faces, not riot and gloat how they do not serve, yet are in fact, enriched by government grants. To do the shopping, perhaps take a baby for a walk, is not considered service to the nation. 

A shame upon their nation is what they are and always will be unless and until the politicians stop catering to them in order to maintain their political power.  To serve this nation is an obligation, an honor, and a privilege, given the chance to perform yet another mitzvah, a chance to even partake in the commission of more mitzvot, as commanded in the Torah. The mitzvah to fight a war of survival, for righteous reasons, for defense, and that is what this   war is. And they spurn it, even as they roam and protest, burn dumpsters, throw stones at their own people, the very same ones who are on call, always, to protect them, to help them. 

In behaving in such a manner, they will have gifted our enemies with deeper wells of courage to perpetrate even worse atrocities upon us.  So many of our soldiers, boys and girls, men and women are killed, exhausted by their repetitive terms of service. Even as the young man we need to train to fight, to protect this nation, to relieve our soldiers, are amongst crowds of people impossible to distinguish one from the other, only to know that they mean no good for the nation of Israel, shirking their responsibility, saving another in to die or be wounded in their place. Somewhere along the line, we went astray. We had become too often a nation of argumentative sex who have forgotten the importance of the phrases Ameride, one nation leverad 1 heart. Hello While the young men we need to train to fight to protect this nation are amongst crowds of people impossible to distinguish one from the other, only to know they mean no good for the nation of Israel, shirking their responsibilities, sending another in to die or be wounded in their stead.

 Somewhere along the line we went astray. We have become too often a nation of argumentative sects who have forgotten the importance of the phrases - Am Echad, one nation,

Lev Echad, one heart,

Elokaynu Echad, one G-d,

Torah Achat, one Torah,

 One Etmol, one yesterday,

One Hayom, one today,

One Atid, one tomorrow.

Forget those phrases in our own peril and stupidity, and we are responsible for the awful to follow.

We have got to, MUST, do better than this.

ONCE AND ONCE AGAIN

  Once used to be a word that foretold of a new beginning. That was once, a word that said it was at a time ago, not now. There were certain philosophies and certain actions or certain beliefs active and flourishing, but now - no. Unfortunately, now, as opposed to that once upon a time designation, The application has changed. 

Once, at present conditions, was a good time. A time where you could draw a clear and even optimistic line between the once and the now, between the once and the will be. But that was once, most definitely not now. As for prediction of what will be, well, let's put it this way. This is not a good time to immerse oneself in that morass of ugliness and uncertainty, of hatred revised and updated, with oh so modern adaptations, but still and all, a once that has regenerated and recreated itself into a now of vicious replication of a once that was mostly gone or at least sublimated and tamed.

Once we thought that was so. Once we could naively, idealistically, ignorantly, sing and talk of a time of once that was the case, but not now. No, the now we lived was optimistic and hopeful. The ugliness was gone, and the situation would and could improve even more. One could state confidently that now was a great time to be alive, that the future held many wonderful scenarios of further progress. Once. 

But the once of ugliness and hate has resurfaced, with larger and more powerful sources encouraging its growth. Our now has become the once upon a time we had so wished and congratulated ourselves as being gone, no place for it in the optimistic world of now and what was to be. Surely, it was vaporized, to become a term in a course of history of the past, used only in drawing a comparison and contrast between the primitive once and the more sophisticated righteous thinking of now. 

That was once. 

Once has returned with a bang.

Once has made itself comfortable, even desirable, among the A-list of the divisions of society. Once has proven itself to be resilient and adaptable, thus creating a smooth unity, with the union of all segments of the world, natural enemies and natural friends, all buying into the once, shoving it into the now time zone, a trendy application of old viciousness rearmed, updated, and welcomed into the modern world of technology. All the better to make the once into a powerful engine of ugliness and toxicity for a future that will remain mired, willfully, in the ugly stinking fetidity of the once, we had foolishly thought to be extinct.

Once again is here. Once again Jews are being isolated in the various circles and levels of the worlds they have entered, been welcomed into, even sought after, leaving open a path to a better world, a bold and brave world, well prepared to enter even more optimistic times of the future, for no one could stop it, this wonderful world sans old once JewHatred manifestations.  

However, even then, beneath the surface, not too deep, was growing the stronger roots of that hate, to be revived, modernized, more capable not only of encouraging it, but also developing it, giving it disguises via nomenclature masquerading as modernity, enabling all to buy into it, to allow it to consume their thinking minds, inhaling this newly justified presentation of an ugly once as a new way of thinking , a method by which the world would improve, once, that is, once the perennial scapegoat has been eliminated or negated. Totally. All roads to that goal acceptable. 

Once was now once again. The stinking dripping remnant of the once past, alive again, in vivid color and burgeoning hate. Endowed with all the accouterments of advanced technology, all the better to make this primitive concept attractive and digestible to those who thought themselves so advanced and free of all taint of the past, of that which was once, thought discarded, out of date, but now, now so much. The modern overcoat of technology, the false science and twisted interpretations, the Big Lie reintroduced with explosive power, all appealed to the haters, now liberated to free these passions, and praised for it as well. A world united was a good thing, right?!  

Once Jews were discriminated against.

Once it was extremely difficult for Jews to find employment opportunities.  

Once it was not safe to walk in the street if clearly seen as a person of Jewish origin.

Once it was most difficult for Jews to buy in certain neighborhoods.

Once Jewish businesses were targeted and slimed, literally and figuratively.  

Once Jewish institutions, of secular or religious origin and goal, were safe. Now they are places to be vandalized and for blood to be spilled once again.

Once, time and time again, various nations and empires of the world conspired, or inspired by history to attempt to be the one which would destroy the concept of a Jewish nation for good.

Once could go on and on again and again, but once was supposed to be gone and now once is here again. Once Upon was a time to have faded into the past, below it, but has now resurfaced.  

The question before us at present is if and how will the righteous of the world unite and be able to    restore the truth of history. Will the exiled goodness and progress be restored and enable the optimistic more hopeful future for us all.

 Time for us to resist this regeneration of that which should have been long gone. It is up to us to take the positives of yesterday and discard the rest. We must return, find our way, back to a today of positivity and possibility. We must build for a better future, one where hate is truly not acceptable and exiled, abandoned, for all time.  

Which one is once, which is now, and which is to be that which is to be? 

YESTERDAY. TODAY. TOMORROW.

PAST. PRESENT. FUTURE.

TIME TO CHOOSE AND ACT.

THE POWER OF SLEEP

  I tender my deepest apologies to my readers and to myself as well as I had fully intended to write a posting relevant to the day. However, there were other plans in store for me. To wit: I fell asleep last night as we watched a streamed episode of an excellent TV series and remained asleep in that very comfy chair of mine until 3:45, sleepwalked to a proper bed and thereupon remained asleep until 10:45 AM. I actually feel refreshed and rested in a very rare moment.

In any case, I am refusing for today to do the standard and write a posting relevant to the day, and quite assuredly, there are many such concerns about which to write. Instead, I will hold off posting, steer away from the anger and the frustration and the despair. Instead, I will do things today that I have been putting off far too long. Painting, reading, taking a walk. All conversation held to be neutral, a nice change for a while

However, we will return to the same channel on the morrow, but today, that is not in my stars, only the pleasurable acts of indulgence - and that includes a nice big chunk of chocolate!  I picked up the paper and quickly put it down, refusing to spoil the mood.  Hence, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. See you, actually, on the one morrow. on Thursday.

Until then, today is my day to play hooky and a   good feeling it is indeed.

Now where did I stash all that paint and paraphernalia? .......    

AND YET AGAIN

   Dear Lord, 

This is not the first time I have written You a letter, nor do I expect it will be the last. Certainly, though, if You would answer this letter the way I would hope You would, maybe we wouldn't have to do this again. Maybe the response would bring forth a letter of gratitude, Thank You for hearing and responding positively not only to my prayer, but more important, to the prayers of so many around this world.

In the third section of the Old Testament in Genesis, known as Lech Lecha, Abraham is asked to put all of his faith in this invisible G-d and leave his land, where he was born, his father's home and go to a strange land that this mysterious, rather imperative sort, would lead him, show him, and then, well, we all know the rest.  

Through many volumes the growth of a nation descended from Abraham and Sarah was detailed. The promises made and the promises broken. The wrath of the Lord when His people strayed, their ingratitude, the return of a father's love when He extended His forgiveness for the umpteenth time. And then again, despite all the threats and the rewards hanging in the balance His people strayed yet again. Time and again the imperfections within the nation, perhaps a forgetfulness that all the good that had been gifted to them came not only from their hard work, but due to the blessings from the Lord, turned them in the wrong direction. 

The cycle was a repetitive one, with their G-d always giving them yet another chance and time and again they strayed and lost this wonderful gift, their homeland, this Promised Land, a land of milk and honey. The cycle completed itself with the ever returning of this nation to its ancestral soil, no matter where they had been taken or their lives had led them. Always they remembered and always there were those who remained in this land. 

Always present in their prayers, in their hearts and in their souls. Always longing to return no matter where they were while living in the lands of the Diaspora. Always the longing to return. Always the yearnings for that home as expressed in their prayers, in the direction in which they prayed. And   always with the promise to themselves - Next year in Jerusalem". 

Much was asked of them by their G-d, held to a stricter, higher standard than other nations. They were presented with the Torah, their guiding documents of their history, the rules and laws by which to govern their lives. Always to remember. that with that gift of the Torah came a responsibility to share the wisdom with others of this world, keep the directive, the imperative, laid upon them: Tikun Olam, to leave the world even a bit better for you having been there. 

This was a difficult task, for this nation was as all the rest of mankind. Imperfect, weak sometimes in their resistance to that which they should spurn. At times they forgot what is truly important. Not the wealth, not the comfort of oodles of 'stuff', but to live a life of goodness, to be an example to others. fulfill the laws given to them. To live the life that is the image of G-d.  In our straying, that which might have been excused to others, was not excused and thus the ever present cycle.  

However, over and above it all were those promises. At times, broken. At times not, but always eternal promises of the homeland, Eretz Yisroel, the land of Israel, our indigenous habitation. This nation once known as Israelites, now deemed the Jewish nation and Israeli of those living within the State of Israel, accepted the conditions, knew what they had to do and struggle they did to do so. The end result was our return to our homeland as an independent nation. 

However, this displeased many, for during the millennia, a vicious JewHatred had burgeoned exponentially, ever more vicious, ever more imbued with bloodlust. They decided to deny the land to its rightful people and cried out many and vicious falsehoods, denying the most prominent and permanent part of this nation - to return, to live in that land known as Zion, Tzion. We give our children that name. One cannot claim to be anti-Zionist yet not be known as anti-Semitic They are one and the same thing and to think otherwise is to seek to hide your shame in your polluted soul. It is the same as ripping the heart out of a person and then demanding he breathe. Impossible.  

Throughout the millennia as we went through cycle after cycle we knew of its appearances and retreats.  We knew what was upon us to do. Some did so   and some did not. We waited through the millennia with an ever-present, never dying hope that the good would outweigh the bad and neglected as weighed on Your scale. Our dream, our return, and a hope that finally, one day, eventually, we would have reached the end of the cycles, and the end would be positive. 

 What was most difficult and most cruel and unkind, Dear Lord, were the trials and torments, that you placed upon us. Was it not enough that we were not living in our native land? That we were dispersed throughout the world? That we had to struggle hard in every country, in every nation, to be safe.  We know we need to do our job given to us by You. Live the law, better the world. Do right and forever remember, "I am your G-d, eternal and only.

We accept. We know that You are our eternal G-d, our eternal father, our eternal king and master. So why not give us more of the softer side of You, the Father whose love for His children never dies, no matter how bad, how far His children have strayed. We have admitted our transgressions, prayed, fasted, so now, Lord, where and when will we see the fulfillment of Your part? When will see that?      

We remind You of Your trait as a G-d of Mercy - we need to feel that mercy, sense its warmth and love upon us. 

This letter comes not only from me, but from all of Your children. Hear us. Love us. Have patience with us. And remember this question asked of You, still awaiting an answer. Asked by Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah the Prophet.   

Would You punish the good because there is evil living amongst them? Why do the good suffer and the evil seem to live a better life? Lord, they. we, are only human. We can only stand so much. We are the way You made us, complete with flaws.  Remember You are Av Harachamim, the Father of Mercy. Look down upon Your people. We are tired, so tired, as hatred of us, denial of us, spreads throughout the entire world. Have we indeed done so much to anger you to that degree?  Throughout the centuries of crusades and pogroms waged against us, the expulsions, the Holocaust, the constant wars as our enemies besiege and beset us - is that not enough? Do you really need more, Dear Lord? Answer with what we need to hear, with the encouragement we crave, to be able to go on, to spread Your name, Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your laws, Your kindness and love. 

Now. 

Yesterday most of us knew this. 

In our todays most of us continue on that same road of belief. 

In our tomorrows, Elokaynu, our Lord and G-d, be there for us as we have been there for You.

Thank You, 

Ever Your People, ever Your Believers, ever   awaiting the glow of Your Forgiveness and Love  to shine upon us, in our eternal Homeland. 

BONE TIRED, SOUL TIRED

  There comes a point in time when the arms wielding the Battle ax of the day must be granted a rest, put down, at least for a while. The very atoms, the molecules that go into making a person demand that rest, that quietness of soul. However, much to our regret the weapons of war, the words of war, the tragedies of war, are too powerful at times, too overwhelming to enable us to think that, yes, soon very soon, maybe, hope fully, not likely now, or maybe there will be a cessation of hostilities in all places. When will the olive branches of peace reach more people, with an air of security and sincerity, when the words of all can be trusted as imbued with the truth.  

But that is not to be, certainly not now. Certainly not when dealing with a perfidious enemy refusing to obey the strictures of a cease fire. In fact, of any kind of agreement. Certainly not when the enemy is one who will gladly consume its own as long as along with that tasty tidbit it can ingest others, of their sworn enemies.  

We can no longer allow this. We must demand our day in the sun, our rights to be recognized as innately granted to us even as they are granted unto all human beings. Certainly not when we are constantly asked through the ages, through the Millennia of the world, to justify our existence, to prove, always, to others, that to impose upon us the impossible task of justifying one's own existence is malevolent and evil at heart and there is no way in which to ameliorate or soften the innate evil of such requests.  

Even at times as we delve deep into the morass of ugliness with which we are surrounded, almost desperate in our need to find something positive about all this bloody negativity, the hurt and the inherent fear remain, along with the knowing deep within, to our very core, that it is a nigh unto impossible  to, in reality, ever reach that point.  When sanity rules the day and peace of mind is   taken for granted.

The writers and thinkers and leaders of our times try to comfort us. They answer difficult questions with positive replies and scenarios. They tell us the truth, that yes, when asked if we Jews will dance again, wherever we are, we are answered with an, of course, we certainly will, and we already have. But those moments are accompanied with tear dimmed eyes and a stone of pure defiance within our hearts. We are reassured that we are a people who, throughout history, has learned defiantly to dance again, who celebrated Jewish holidays immediately upon being liberated from the horror of the concentration camps. We speak of faith reaching the imprisoned, granting them a light forbidden to them. So yes, we will dance again but always with the added memory of yet another moment of horror, another moment of attempted genocide. Another close call, too close.

It is not easy to dance, to celebrate, to look past the never dying nor fading scenes in our mind that shake us to our core. We wonder how much more can we withstand and still remember to dance again, to step out with a confidence that we can meet and overcome any obstacle on the dance floor. Will we always be able to say, be, in fact, in dark humor, that almost every Jewish holiday is composed of this. We were doing fine. We took missteps. We reaped the consequences as enemies tried to disappear us. We repented, recognized our errors and G-d heard our prayers and pleas and came to our rescue yet again. Yet again, we beat back those enemies so desirous of our demise. And now - let's eat!

Funny, yet not so funny. Bitter in its truth, but proud that we can still find the inner strength to dance again, to feast and rejoice and be thankful that we have passed through and survived yet another cauldron of fire meant to reduce us to smothered embers.

When we cried to the heavens, asking when we will be able to look around and see a friendly face, a nation reminding all that they indeed have our backs, that they are watching out, not only for us, but with us. In tandem, with shared goals and a mutual appreciation of each other. When, how quickly, can we anticipate a time when we will no longer have to dig within rubble to find our lost, to return them to their people, to their families. When, Lord, when will You deem it enough that Your people understood the lesson, understood the whys and the wherefores, though that indeed be a difficult asking.

The Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of Sarah, Rifka, Rachel and Leah, are yes, a difficult argumentative people. It is the spirit that keeps the juices flowing within, despite all that has faced them throughout history. But note that internal dissension is wrapped around questions as to how to contribute to the betterment of this world, always part of their quest.

You, the Father who watches over us for all time, look down upon us with a generous heart. Deem it enough. Enough!! Let us meld once again into a single entity, the same, yet different and tolerant of all who struggle.  We, Your people, are tired, exhausted by all that has been asked of them. Stained by the filth thrown at them. Wounded by the rocks and stones heaved at us by the enemy.

Yes, Lord. We will dance again. We will always dance again.  A stubborn nation we are and we will remain so. Strong enough to pick ourselves up and really learn the steps to those dances. Strong enough, trusting enough, in their destiny, and with confidence and certainty can use shorthand in this forever true summary.

Indeed, we came. We saw. We conquered. And we ate.  As we will eat, always, and then dance always.

So it was in our turbulent yesterdays. Always.

So it remains in our troubled todays. Always. 

So it shall always and forever be in our blessed tomorrows. 

Amen, Selah.

NO MORE WILL IT,OR WON'T IT

 NO MORE Will IT, OR WON'T IT.

No, folks, the time is quickly arising when we will have lost our window of opportunity to save ourselves, to turn aside this catastrophe racing down to greet us with unbelievably hostile intent. Burning with a rabid desire to inflict as much as it can of their evil wishes upon the people of the Jewish nation, of the people of the land of Israel. We have been very slow, too slow, perhaps suicidally so, in reacting to their rather blatant threats and the drastic actions they wish to "gift us” today and in all of the todays to come and in all of the tomorrows resultant.

In fact, since the end of the Holocaust and its immediate aftermath. we have not faced such a threat, such a realistic, already here threat. Brutal wars have been waged against us. Threats and nasty actions rained upon us. We have lost so many in those wars. Suffered expulsions equally as brutal as those of medieval England and France and Germany and Spain and Portugal, and from Arab and Muslim lands, our wealth and history denied, stolen, even as modern day pogroms reeking of antique eternal hate and violence are giving new life to the deaths rained down upon too many others.

All those fears, all that past history, unfortunately, has returned to us and the land of the people of Israel is once more soaked in their blood. Thundered upon in threatening voices by all the nations of the world. Warred upon in brutal massacre intensively and purposely focused upon the unaware, unarmed, unprepared civilians, celebrating a holiday, all targeted, from infant to elderly, men, women, children, brutalized. If not slaughtered, taken, kidnapped, the living, the wounded, the dying, and even the dead, as hostages, to be used as bargaining chips by the beasts of Hamas. To force concessions from Isreal, to trade them at massively unbalanced numbers for each Israeli held as hostage, to regain their convicted murderers of hundreds and hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers, who even during peacetime. were kidnapped, tortured, held in awful conditions.

Worse, these beasts in human form, worked very hard, successfully so, to convince the unthinking, well-seasoned, preconditioned already innately anti-Semitic people of the world that Israel was either lying, faking the attack, killed their own, or deserved it all. This and more. Why? Because they were Jews. Because they were living in their nation, their ancestral homeland. Because that state, that nation of Israel was undeserved, certainly by the Jews, and belonged to them, the "Palestinians". In fact, Jews, be they those of Israel or those of the world, are so hateful, so toxic, so evil, they deserve to be eliminated, exterminated, to be disappeared from this planet, forever, down to the last infant, never to be resurrected.

And so the world bought into this convenient lie, all the lies, all the better to improve their own condition of life and rid themselves of these eternally ever reviving people who never gave up, who persisted against all odds, who had persisted in the knowledge, the statement, the belief, unshakeable -and so history has proven to be true, that their G-d was , and is, and always will be with them. Hence, they are, in fact, permanently unbeatable, even if in the short run it appears to be not so. But the world refuses to acknowledge that and continues on its not so merry way, persistent in its violence, in its god-awful bloodshed, in its ignorance in refusing to believe the proof of history, as the truth of the contributions of the Jews to the entire world, are to be shut out or denied.

There is hope. There are increasingly the more aware, who know the truth, those who step up and write with support and understanding of the actual condition. They are ready to face it all. They know the horrible truth of the reality today and the future reality should hate win overall, should Mamdani, G-d forbid, that pig of a JewHater gets elected. What will be the fate of the resident Jews of New York City? Honestly, truthfully, and quite quickly, the haters will institute and practice suppression, repression, denial of rights, forceful divestment of professions, businesses, homes, all to be handed over to those whom he claims he will benefit. It is dangerous socialistic remarks of unreality, for they have been tried and failed, over and over again, only increasing panic and unrest in their failure, and all classes are harmed, the opposite of benefit.

It is no great shakes to realize this truth as we can all see his recent pictures in which all those foolish, self-denying Jews who backed him up, thinking they were right, oh so progressive, and to reap the benefits to come of this change, of an open society, their efforts appreciated, JewHatred to evaporate in new air, well where are they now?

Out of the picture, replaced by all those traditional Muslim clothing wearing JewHating people who will gladly grasp these opportunities for themselves, as promised to them by their fellow nasty, Mamdani. The only question remaining is what will happen next? How bad can it get? Will it get? Inevitably so? Will it soon be the law of the land and together with all the Haters, of all the Jews of the world try to disappear them forever.

Do you think this is unthinkable? Impossible? It cannot happen here? It already has happened here to a degree and is happening more and more. We have people in this nation who have stepped forward to indeed do the repression and the suppression, and yes, look around and see them, already quite distinguishable in their eagerness to indeed wreak destruction on those they hate, quite front and center already. And they will eagerly attempt to do away with the Jews. Never. to return. Down to that last infant. To the last remnant of their memory.

"Amen to you, Esther: you are percent right if they put that man in the Jewish population is doomed right now he says what the media wants to hear but not when he gets in God bless all the Jewish people in New York"

Linda, thank you, and I wish there were so many more like you. Frighteningly it is not only New York City but just about every city in the world Even in cities where Israel has contributed much at times of crisis for them, anti-Israel sentiment is ginned up with lies, filthy lies and horrid predictions should they "continue to take over the world". How can catastrophic can this be? I don't think there is any room for optimism, and., in fact, we have already seen much of that catastrophe upon us already, increasing in number and intensity. Jews have been shot, killed, burned, attacked, demeaned and threatened. They are being denied their own country in the name of a group of people that never even existed. The term Palestinian as an ethnic group, a secular group, separate and apart for any other classification - those who lived in the area of land known as Palestine, did not come into existence until towards the beginning of the British Mandate after World War I when it came under British rule and remain that way until the declaration of the State of Israel ratified by the Un United Nations. See my post blog posting of today, which will begin with my comment to you today.

2h

Reply

Linda, thank you, and I wish there were so many more like you. Frighteningly it is not only New York City but just about every city in the world Even in cities where Israel has contributed much at times of crisis for them, anti-Israel sentiment is ginned up with lies, filthy lies and horrid predictions should they "continue to take over the world". How can catastrophic can this be? I don't think there is any room for optimism, and., in fact, we have already seen much of that catastrophe upon us already, increasing in number and intensity. Jews have been shot, killed, burned, attacked, demeaned and threatened. They are being denied their own country in the name of a group of people that never even existed. The term Palestinian as an ethnic group, a secular group, separate and apart for any other classification - those who lived in the area of land known as Palestine, did not come into existence until towards the beginning of the British Mandate after World War I when it came under British rule and remain that way until the declaration of the State of Israel ratified by the Un United Nations. See my blog posting of today, which will begin with my comment to you today.

2h

Reply

Linda, thank you, and I wish there were so many more like you. Frighteningly, it is not only New York City but just about every city in the world. Even in cities where Israel has contributed much at times of crisis for them, anti-Israel sentiment is ginned up with lies, filthy lies and horrid predictions should they "continue to take over the world". How catastrophic can this be? I don't think there is any room for optimism, and, in fact, we have already seen much of that catastrophe upon us, increasing in number and intensity. Jews have been shot, killed, burned, attacked, demeaned and threatened. They are being denied their own country in the name of a group of people that never even existed. The term Palestinian as an ethnic group, a secular group, separate and apart from any other classification - those who lived in the area of land known as Palestine, did not come into existence until towards the beginning of the British Mandate after World War I when it came under British rule and remained that way until the declaration of the State of Israel, ratified by the United Nations. My blog posting of today, continues and contains your as well.

May we all value people who know the truth and speak up for it.

Always.

As we did in our yesterdays.

As we do in our turbulent todays.

As we will always and forever, continue to do so, in the tomorrows to come.

This was my initial response and thank G-d we have people such as she in this world. We say thank you to all fo you. May G-d strengthen the hands of the righteous and the opponents of hate,

MEALY-MOUTHED DAMNED HYPOCRITES

  There, I said it out loud. I put it out there for any and all to read. I am sick and tired of these who speak out of two sides of the same mouth. Who speak with forked tongue, adopting hate and parading their so-called intelligence all the better to appear as faux arbiters of society, two faced pieces of crap masquerading as society's commentators and social arbiters without whom people would be lost.

Why this ugliness within them? The very same spewers of toxic and vitriolic have always craved, for the most part, lives of immorality and filth with no holds barred from the oh so talented wastes of precious space and oxygen, their great talent at stabbing each other in the back.. Well, due to social media these days people don't need to turn to the news of Hollywood, et cetera, because there are many, many, many replacements available to carry out that task and seemingly are better at it. Not that the “talent” is anything to brag of, but twisted as they are in mind and soul, they are consumed with  a sick jealousy and seek out ways to regain that attention. They seek the attention lost to them, craving that favor from society.

And in chasing after that attention, they have chosen the dark side. They have jumped on the bandwagon, ever so popular, ever so handy, of JewHatred. They claim to be 'merely' against the 'Zionist apartheid genocide committing state of Israel', for certainly never would they ever be anti  -Semitic for they claim Jewish friends. Yes, they are, unfortunately true in that claim, for there are some Jewish friends of theirs. Pathetic creatures who don't even know their heritage, who spit on their people, who deny the reality proven over centuries that all Jews, even those who self- deny themselves  will  be 'gifted' and join the fate of the rest of their nation. So deep is the hate, the oppression, the repression, the insanity that has been the fate of the Jewish people since the first Jew made his appearance- Abraham -Avram, the first of our forefathers. They turn aside 3000 years of culture. 3  millennia of the gift that the Israelites gave to the world - codified laws, justice, charity, honor, advances in education, science, some of the most talented in the creative arts, in research, in philosophy, in philanthropy, in constant battle to eliminate war, to seek peace,  fight against hate and written multiple times in our  Holy Books, enjoined to study them over and over again, to live them, and so we have done, not perfectly, but to the best of our ability.

 Certainly far better than those **** **** who patronize beasts, praise those who practice barbarism not seen for decades, who strangle 9-month-old babies, who burn young siblings alive, who throw babies into ovens and burn them alive. who rape 12-year-old girls and boys, did the same to the women in their hands, tortured men and all those they captured, and then killed them or held them in dungeons rivaling those of the Middle Ages.

All those all ignorant or truth denying, ignorant or by choice, who hate and crave attention, who accept being deluded, are filthy creatures buying into the words and lies. At this point it is better for them even as they know very well that Israel does not fit definition of apartheid, because if such were the case there would be no Arabs or Bedouin or Druze, or Circassians in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Or in the army, in high officer position or the many who have become pharmacists and doctors under the same conditions and the same rules as Israeli Jews. Nor could they purchase homes in Jewish neighborhoods, nor walk freely in the streets of the cities, in modern or traditional dress, in peace, expecting no harm to come to them .That is not apartheid, you idiots. 

Nor do they commit genocide. Genocide, besides being absolutely alien to the Jewish religion and culture, is the planned, scientific method a program thru which a certain group which has a similar context is pursued unto final death of that group. You have to be even more blind, dumber and stupider to think that Israel would engage in this. Israel, the nation which suffered genocide in the most massive way possible, so bad that a new term - genocide - was coined to define it as best as possible. 

For the same nation that suffered the horror of the Holocaust, the Shoah, the same nation that fought against the apartheid of others such as the Rohingya, the Tutsis, and the Uighur, to be accused of genocide is a purposeful and crude attempt to hide the truth, which will inevitably be opened to all, the willing and the unwilling. The pigs such as Mamoudi, who hates Jews, who hatesIsrael is such a one and we ought to be ashamed of ourselves, for as evil as he is, he is running for an office that should he win, we will have the first and official program of isolation and denial towards the Jewish populaton there.

Those who buy into his poison are the worst of humanity. Those who buy into it for self-profit are made of unspeakable evil.  Those who repeat and spout the lies that these evil creatures put forth  do not see their noses grow multiple times longer than the nose of Pinocchio. 

Yes, I know that history in the final definition will point out the truth = horrendous ignorance and filthy desire of such an ugly thing, but unless we act and soon, unless we all stand up against this hate, unless all Jews remember who they are, where they come from and what has happened to them throughout history, we will be doomed to repeat a history which we most certainly do not wish to do. These people are awful. They are foul and good for nothing other than the need to satisfy their god-awful needs and desires. They seek only a way back into the public's eye and have grasped the easiest most liberating way in which to do so. Hate liberates all from the conventional rules of polite and proper society. It allows you to lie through your teeth. It allows you to do whatever you want to claim, and indulge your hate. 

How many more times must we go through this ugliness?

Was it not enough to have so many yesterdays of it?

Must we have more in our todays?

We cannot allow this horror to repeat itself in our tomorrows.

However, unless we wake up and understand our reality, its possibility in some form, it might actually happen. Again. Unless we Jews all wake up and quick, along with the righteous of the world, and actually see and understand what is knocking at the door. Really loud.

Under the weather

 Apologies to my readers. I am under the weather today. Hope to return on Friday.

EITHER/OR BOTH

  I have just completed reading an article written about an actor, writer who has taken upon himself various identities: Israeli, Yemenite, American, Jewish, Arab. His one actor play is about himself and his life, particularly the problems that he had in his youth. His relationship with his parents, particularly his dad, were difficult and in particular seem to be heavily impacted by the divorce of his parents. For those reasons and more, stated and unstated, he felt he did not have a secure and acceptable identity as to who he is, where he came from and where he should go, or even could go, based on his lifetime experiences and physical appearance.

While one person cannot walk in the shoes of another unless they and the path walked upon are literally on their feet. Even then there would be factors, causative influences, never to be truly imitated or reproduced. Hence, always a gap in the understanding of what exactly made up another's life and how they reacted to that life they lived. It sounds complicated, does it not, but I believe that if we concentrate on others of similar experience or formulate sensible and sensitive questions, we might reach a closer comprehension of it all.

While I do not see a possibility of ever having a one-on-one conversation, I do have some questions I would love to ask him, as some of my life experiences have said otherwise. Furthermore, while I do believe that in fact it is necessary for people to have more than one public and/or private persona, there must be a shared bond that makes sense. Yes, at times one can be both, but the 'both' must have meshing points and if not, then it is indeed either/or of the title and not both.

First, I would like to take the most obvious difference which is somewhat akin to one being submersed almost completely into one identity while including some of the other, but both as a permanent existence - nope. Do not see it, nor frankly do I see it in his life.  

Jewish and Arab same, as both? No. No way. Nor should he claim to be one, as his father, while Yemenite in country of origin, is not a Yemenite Arab, nor would he be accepted as such by the Arabs of Yemen. In fact, I would wholeheartedly advise him not to do that! Would his dad have absorbed some of the intonations in speech or sayings, have some different foods in the home as compared to other ethnic groups, even wear similar clothing of that country, that does not make one an Arab. Even as my ancestors coming from Lithuania made them or me Lithuanian.

Now some basic differences. Do they identify as Jew? Would they accept you as such unless you converted? Do you have the same named and shared G-d? Does your Bible instruct you to hide behind bushes and kill every Jew who passes. Their Koran does. Do Jews conduct Arabic versions of European pogroms upon their Arab neighbors and  kill them, rape them and loot their homes? Have you ever been semi-adopted into the family and life of an Arab neighbor family? 

Are you clearly at home with and espousing of any particular major Arab line of thought in the conduct of life, in the course of making decisions, even in your daily minutia? Yes, your dad might have absorbed some of the surroundings of Yemen just as those who come from other countries have done, but that does not make him or you one of them.  Or does the fact that you might have had foods other than the ones to be found in American Jewish families or Maltese Jews, or Syrian Jews, or Belgian Jews, or South American Jews, or Israeli Jews. In fact, you might note that names and appearances and contents of "foreign" foods are actually similar to Yemenite Arab foods. In addition, most of homes today mix foods from all over, as part of the world getting smaller.

As for your other identifying points of difference, why bother. I have lived almost my entire life with others of differing or similar countries and customs, in my classroom, as student and educator. Jews who barely know that they are Jewish or know any Jewish customs. Non-Jews again, from all over the world with either closed or open minds and attitude. Some never have met a Jewish person before and are curious, ask questions, and most originate from a wanting to know and not of desire to hurt. 

Similarly, Jewish, American, Israeli - all are easily meshed, fit easily into the both categorization. Are there some differences? Of course, but the "alike" are far more in number than the "unlike". There are always ways and means to find common ties with people, and perhaps if we all exercised that ability, understood that we are more similar than different, it would be a step forward for mankind. Not quite there yet, are we? However, there are some major differences that preclude being of 'both' category. The Arab and Jew are impossible to mesh, certainly at this point. Yes, some Arabs speak of peace, but that peace always has a major cost to Jews, always to concede, a contract of unevenness and uncertainty as to the honoring of promises made, for certainly life experience, the history of the world have clearly kept those records.

Unfortunately, in the past two years we have been made cruelly aware of the fact that even those whom we had thought of as friends, whom we had considered to be the same as us, the same values, have now turned their backs on us and worse, spit out screws and nails and sharp blades, words of Hate, toxic and contagious in its goals, all the better to indicate the level of their animosity to all of Jewish faith and origin. No. To be both depends, as does to be either/or depend. We must walk carefully, cautiously, on the alert.

We have learned that lesson from all that we lived yesterday.

Unfortunately, the proof of those lessons is quite visible in our todays.

It is up to us to ensure that the tomorrows are different.

It is up to us.

Perhaps then we can all belong in a SAME designation.  

Halevai, if only.

TIME FOR A LITTLE TRUTH TALK

  For far too long too many of us have been biding out tongues. We hedge our bets. We change the topic. We fudge a bit, and we answer in vague wording so that we cannot be called on it.  Obviously, prominent pieces of great concern in this befogged world are the topics of Israel, the United States, Trump, and BiBi. 

Some areas so are so delicate in feeling, so complicated in the interactions, that, in fact, it is really, truly, difficult to speak one's feelings in specific terminology. Because most of us are caught up and entangled in the connotations and denotations, hesitant to be convinced nor convincing, we are often pushed to the wall by those who are sure, absolutely convinced, of their rightness. 

How to vote and to whom to cast your vote? What are the issues of importance and how do we rank them?  Do we owe loyalty or gratitude, and how do we value that as well? Where do we draw the lines?  How much leeway do we factor in when assigning the votes? With whom can we discuss these issues, so delicate are they? So confusing are they. What words and statements and declarations can we believe? How many barrels of salt must we include when making up our minds, if we indeed ever reach that point.  

Those of us who are dual citizens and have the responsibility and the challenge of placing votes in both countries, have these problems in stereo. Can we try to mesh them together or to negate ourselves, so undecided, are we?

Yesterday morning, this morning, I  sat here before my computer and paused the writing in order to listen to the planes fly overhead. They are so high we cannot see them, but we can hear the roar and the length of time that roar persists. The constant attempts of Hamas terrorist beasts to cross the yellow ceasefire line, have caused gunfights and unfortunately, two of our brave soldiers were killed, and three more were wounded. Israeli soldiers fired at the Hamas violators who were approaching in hostile and threatening manner. 

What now? This is not the first violation of live fire, along with their refusal to honor the ceasefire agreement to return all of our hostages, including all of those murdered by them, even as we somewhat foolishly released those of theirs we were holding. We rightfully have sent those planes over their heads and given them a sample of what they deserve, but for how much longer?  Even as they violate their words -not a great big surprise - our responses are either equated or are deemed violations and once again the backstabbers, the crazed, the JewHaters, those desirous of our disappearance, are right there, front and center.

And now the Gordian Knot. How do we untangle the messes facing us? Is there anyone capable of such a feat? The man who boasts that he has made peace in eight war-torn areas, despite the fact that the fighting has resumed in those places, who has portrayed himself as the unelected King and final decision maker in both America and in Israel, who has threatened Hamas with Hell, should they not disarm or should they not return the hostages, now has put pressure upon Israel. To not give them the Hell he threatened them with! Hold off - again! 

When threats are not carried out to completion, they lose their power of deterrence. Thus, when Hamas has made it very clear they will not honor the ceasefire - as usual- and their main motive in crossing the line is to capture and kidnap as many soldiers as they can, all the better to gather live prisoners and again, use them as bargaining chips in demanding absurd concessions as we tremble in fear for IDF captives, seeing, knowing their  brutality, how they slaughter all, no exceptions, in barbaric manner,  their use of torture inflicted upon their declared enemies. They have killed, tortured, starved and burned. They have slaughtered babies and the grandparents. They have raped and decapitated. They have mutilated and disrespected basic human values.     

So -here we are, in a quandary. We have ransomed our souls to Trump, treated him as if he were the signal to the oncoming of the Messiah. We have tied our fate and our free will to the USA, and that nation is itself in the midst of a growing potentiality of civil war as the nation splits between the NO KING movement and those who follow as lackeys to Trump. Or, who feel a sense of debt to thank him for this ceasefire now trembling on the brink of breakup. 

What then? The man is visibly in the throes of dementia. He has demolished an historic part of the White House, is building himself an Arc de Triomphe, paved over the Rose Garden, spoken of reverse bathtubs, segued off numerous times into nonsensical verbiage, built a ridiculous monster ballroom when the country is shut down and people are in crisis. and adds to this his corruptive values and rampant greed, now violating rules in buying over 100 million dollars' worth in bonds even as he pushes for the interest rate to change, all the better for his pocket! 

Will he do one of his demented turnarounds and sell Israel down the river? Will he be forced to resign or be ousted or induce that civil war growing on the horizon??  Will we then have an extreme right or extreme left with nary a one of those politicians honest or sincere enough to trust? With so many willing to discard support of Israel and ramp up the enmity towards it? With Democrats viciously buying into   hatred against Israel, the desire to see it gone?  Do we look backwards or forward? How are we, the dual citizens, to see our place in this, where our duty lies? Do we go with Trump, till now mostly beneficial to us, or do we go with our fear and hatred of a possible destruction of democracy within the USA, the realistic possibility of this man taking all power into his hands and who knows then what will happen? There is no assurance for either side and yet a decision must be made.

Finally, we come back to Israel and Bibi. Do we believe he lengthened the war to strengthen his odds to retain office? That is a harsh accusation, yet it is bolstered by certain episodes, decisions and actions, taken or not. The mess with his unbelievably lengthened trial, with every day of testimony due being pushed off - and yet this man has served the people for most of his life. What can we prove? Or refute? What can we do before this nation that has finally come together again, splits apart again? What message are we sending to our young, and into the present and future.

 The other issues here are equally a necessity to solve, and perhaps the most critical to solve as they involve the unity and permanence of the nation of Israel. I believe that if we do not solve the issues of the Haredi, the pandering of them within proposed changes of the justice system, in the lack of service to the army, or national service, in the funds dispensed  to those who do not serve, do not work,  do not contribute to the economy, we will squander the goodwill and unity this terrible war inspired as we fought together, lost our people, our sons and daughters, our parents, our siblings, mourned as one, as one nation, one people. 

The Haredi faction must do its part, make their contributions to the nation, just as all other citizens of the nation must do. Service in the army or a year of national service. Support for Haredi schools only to those who are proven to teach all subjects including secular, through high school, so that the children within are raised and taught and know enough to support themselves and the rightness of it. Our need for soldiers is critical and the answer to that need is the people of the Haredi faction.  Why   should they be exempt from obligations to the nation in which they reside, from which they are given money and discounts that others do not get? 

Is BB doing this to keep his seat and thus failing the nation, paving the way for a crisis within Israel? Does he pander to that faction in order to retain his position? That would be indeed heartless due to the consequences, the ultimate unfairness to the rest of society. Can his values be so skewed that he would, with his allies, twist the Justice System into a pretzel formed of twisted rights, and differing obligations for its citizens? 

Does he not know, nor care, that it would be the end, once again, of a Jewish state in the land    . given to us by G-d, and a victory for those who have hated us through the millennia? Can he be so distorted and skewed in view that he could simply weigh his position and adjudge it as weightier, more critical to the nation than all other considerations?

 What do we then say to our ancestors, our descendants, who died early, before their time, who gave so much of their lives, their selves, in defense of that nation? To the pioneers who left their families behind and rebuilt those sacred lands promised to our forefathers and foremothers? How to explain that once more our land is lost to us, our home forsaken, via errors, on purpose or accidental, by the constant arguing within those of the nation, throughout the millennia, by the persistent eternal hatred and oppression upon us by other nations of the world? 

These are questions that we must answer before we cast the vote.

Are we capable of making that decision? Dual citizens and single citizens, I believe the fate of the world is actually at stake.

We had tough times in our yesterdays.

We are having similar tough times in our todays.  

We must make our tomorrows better.

For if not, they will be lost.

Never to be found or repaired or regained.

SOMETIMES IN OUR LIVES

  . .. We all have pain. We all have sorrow. But if we are wise, we know that there's always tomorrow".  

It then continues in a bit:  "For it won't be long

Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on".

"Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on...".

These are some of the lyrics of a famous and popular folk song by Bill Withers. It presents a shared and simple need between people. We all need friends. We all need somebody to lean on and perhaps, in the best of all possible worlds, we will lean on each other, be it simultaneously or in singular times.

Today it's very difficult to sing those songs with a positive and confident feeling, for so many of us do not admit that at times we are not strong, that we need friends, shoulders, to cry upon, to ask for advice and to reciprocate in turn. We are too busy. We are uncaring. We are lacking words of advice to dispense. We do not understand that an absence of advice will often disappear when all parties in this concern share wits and thoughts. Invariably, when the conversation is carried on in calm and positive manner, an accommodation can be reached, even if only to allow for future and further exchanges, based on original steps, what came first. 

 

Generally, in the ongoing course of this advice session, both parties will benefit from it, the asked, and the asking. There should be a most positive atmosphere engendered if both sides of the question, of the advice sought, are in receptive mode and will think seriously about the advice given. Equally so, the dispenser of the advice will also think carefully about what he is saying, what she is recommending, and yes, you and I will have people to lean on and know that we have friends.

One would think that this is one thing that the world would and should know - and practice. It should be understood that we could all be better off, in a more secure and peaceful environment if. IF, we listened to our inner guidance, and heed the positive, reassuring, sensible advice available to us if, a big IF, we do indeed seek the proper place and people for that advice. 

Unfortunately, the record of the nations of the world in doing so are pathetically poor and so we in the world, periodically, inevitably, find ourselves in a combative, hostile circumstance of life. It is a situation where life and limb are at risk, and we have either convinced ourselves that armed combat is the way to go to find the solution, or to enforce the solution upon someone else, or have found the exact wrong advice source and once again, ad infinitum, here we go. There we go. Again.

Once upon a time in my days of youth so long ago I saw the world through different eyes. Those eyes were clear and hopeful, unclouded by a growing cynicism and loss of faith in people. They saw a future when things would be better, when people understood that we are all the same and we all begin life under the same hopes and dreams. We all begin with an innocence that we unfortunately corrode so quickly. 

So heartfully, once, I thought that if we set out in sincere desire and effort to attain that lofty goal, we could actually do it. Once I thought that even the worst of enemies could get together, leave at least some of the vicious, mindless and viral, toxic hate outside the door. Pursue a discussion with honesty and indoor words which do not antagonize. Once I thought we could lean on each other and understand that our similarities were far more important than our differences, the former to lean on and the latter to resolve. 

"Those were the days, my friend. 

We thought they would never end."

They did.

And the situations grew even more toxic, unable to be resolved, ramped up in threats, enmities growing and intensifying, alliances being formed and being dissolved. Humanity in a rotten sludge of Selfishness, Hate, Hopelessness, Greed, Vices prevalent, Virtues scarce. Positive paths rare, almost extinct.

 USA vs Russia. USA vs China. China vs Russia. East vs West. Sunni vs Shiite. Cartels versus law. True progress vs regression. 

Nation against nation. 

Religion against religion.

Israel vs combative Islam.

Israel vs hostile nations replete with JewHatred. 

Israel vs pandemic endemic virus which never dies, always is resurrected.

Israel versus the world which buys into: 

the sheer Ugliness, Cruelty and Viciousness spread about by the Beasts of Hamas. Who kill all they hate, from infant to elderly and all in between.

Who proudly chant their mantra, proclaim their inner corrupt beings, their blackened souls and ossified hearts, their foul beings, the truth of what they represent and are, and the corruption with which they have swamped and befouled the world, lured and enticed the nations of the world to add their voices to this anathema of a proclamation: 

  Hamas, quoting a famous statement by its former leader, the late Ismail Haniyeh, to confirm that -

the terror group 

will never recognize Israel's right to exist: "We said it five years ago and we say it now... we will never, we will never recognize Israel."

Yesterday.     Today.

Are we condemned to live this tomorrow?

NO AND NO  AND  NO . 

 NEVER, NEVER. NEVER

 WHY?

BECAUSE WE HAVE THE BEST SHOULDER OF ALL UPON WHCH WE LEAN.

THE SHOULDERS OF THE LORD HIMSELF.

SO, IT HAS BEEN YESTERDAY

 AND TODAY AND FOR TOMORROW.

FOREVER.

TORN! ShREDDING AS WE SPEAK

 It is indeed a hard knock life we have these days. Most everyone appears to be in a muddled world, even the Uber wealthy who stomp through the world as if they are higher, better than others. They too are finding it difficult. They too are not sure of who they are, what they are, where they belong, where they most certainly do not. Many of the population of the world in one way or another has lost self-direction, lost the capability to join or separate from others in logical, rational positive manner. It is because we do not understand the world any longer and thus, we simply do not understand ourselves.  

Too many have lost their connection to a group, a heritage, a constructive directional compass as to how to make one's way through life. Because we have lost that guide pole. or safety rope, or blinking lights pointing the proper path, we find ourselves dwarfed by the pile of worries, concerns and   uncertainties, challenged in frightening ways, and too many cling to what they should abhor, seeking desperately at times for their place in the world, their tethers to the truth of themselves - or at least what and where they should be. 

In so doing, the noisy, loudmouth attracts them for he seems to know his place and lets everyone know that.  His outer confidence attracts those who lack that surety and so he joins up and in, adopting every viewpoint and sacred cow and toxic hate espoused by that leader. If the original thought had a positive side or aspect to it, it gets lost in ugliness ever so much more powerful, liberating one from the rules, set free to shout, to threaten, to argue, to wreak havoc, and create chaos and fear.

It is especially tempting when surprisingly this act of rebellion is actually approved of by a growing number of societies, of societies around the world. Misery loves company. People feel safer in crowds for they can hide themselves within, spout garbage and avoid blame and consequence. No requirement to think, to compose a rational thought, for mob mentality takes over and independent thought is gone. 

The ever-present tendency, need, of people to look down on others, of a class or group, of any religion or nationality, anyone whom they can drown in fear and suffocation, and do it along with hordes of others plays a great role in the causation and growth of these hostile movements. At times these mobs of crazed individuals shockingly, contain members of the attacked group, convincing themselves that they are different and no one will have at them. 

How stupid, how blind, how vicious, these attempts are. In doing so they cut their ties to family, to friends, to fellow workers, and then shocked when one day the bill comes due. Then they will find that the hand they kissed has no more use for them and will exile them, back to their original classification, used and discarded and all backs will be turned to them. Their original group abandoned will turn away too, deeming them untrustworthy, even an enemy, and will extend no welcome to them. either.

These people are torn apart. They are actually fragile, no strength, no moral fiber within, their beliefs shallow. They too easily and specifically overlook the values they once had. The true values which had provided them with sustenance for life, for living, for love. No longer welcome anywhere, they wander through life alone or worse, facing a blowback of hate upon them.  Even of the worst consequence.

In our current times, building upon an ancient trope of hate, there are so many, too many, who have lost their way. Too many who have joined with the mobs of hate actually, for whatever sick reason, hate themselves. Hate their families They hate the world for their own inadequacy, and in vivid viral abandonment of decency jump deep into the waters of fetid swamps of ugliness, of immorality. 

They are empty within for they have rejected the values of their past, that which buoyed them, hence the emptiness within, the lack of a soul, the growth of a stone heart. They seek to fill up the empty space within, but it is a lost cause. That is indeed a  Sisyphean task, for there is nothing solid or strong enough, nothing to permanently facilitate the evil they now desire and represent, nor to allow proper and true values of life to enter and facilitate repair and atonement. 

In their moral turpitude and their haste to throw out all, they cause havoc and much pain. While they persist and remain in strength, it is only for an inevitable downfall and defeat, temporary in time. So we have learned from history but there was so  much that cannot be undone. The slaughter of people, the destruction of society, the loss of so much positive gains we have made. Can one come from an emptiness within an even larger emptiness and actually fill in the vacuum? 

They try but inevitably fail. Evil grows strong roots and does not so easily cede them to the uprooters.

Too often, the hate when defeated goes underground only to rise again at another time of uncertainty in an environment ripe to richly fertilize and enhance Hate, in particular JewHatred.  

The hatred of Jews encouraged, waged by those very same mobs of insanity, with bloodlust growing ever stronger, even rising to the level of murder, individuals and mass attacks. Efforts to isolate Isreal and all Jews from the world, trying with all their might to disappear us from this world.  

 But I have news for all you vile haters out there. No matter how many foolish Jews forget that we are one, in good times and bad, it is of no account. 

We have our Protector, from the beginning of the history of man until now. Some people forget their heritage, deny it, and forget that, they will reap their consequences and I can only pray that they get their due comeuppance.

Some people are torn inside, have torn and shredded their humanity, but at the end of it all, they lose and we win.

Come back, off those protest lines calling for your own deaths. The goal was not the war in Gaza, which they began with a massacre. It is not only the destruction of the state of Israel, the only Jewish nation among so many enemies. It is the desire to kill, yes, kill, all Jews, and like it or not, you share the fate of all Jewish people, good or bad. 

Come, repair your battered souls.

Why? Because we are, always,

Am Echad. One Nation.

Lev Echad. One Heart.

Now and forever. 

We lived yesterday, and continued into today and will be here, as well, as always, in the tomorrows   to come.

Am Yisroel Chai!   Lanetzach.

The nation, the people of Isreal, live forever.

DAMN IT! DAMN IT TEN TIMES OVER!

  I so wish I was wrong. I so wish that fat lady and accompanying voices of the chorus had sung loud and clear and confident, but it was not to be so. A leopard can more easily change his spots then can Hamsa and adherents discard the ugly, ragged stripes of their souls. In a mistaken effort, under pressure from everyone and his uncle and aunt all the way back to the generation of Avraham to believe in the promises of Hamas, that they actually intended to abide by an agreement made with Israel.

Lord, what fools we were. And remain.

The picture had already been clear from the very first moment when Hamas broke a ceasefire. Hamas then continued to hold on to its rather nasty bag of tricks, to lie brazenly and then lay the blame on the Israelis, those whom the world was always ready to defame, to be the recipient of blame. I wonder that we were so gullible as to believe they would actually be true to their promises, and all, the living and the dead, would be sent home.

The cost was extravagant, but what could we do? It was the moment to act, to bring our people back. And so, we took up that so unbalanced 'bargain', and even when the ugly bag of tricks was pulled   out again, shaken in our faces again, we persisted and 20 souls came home. Vi'shavu banim ligvulam - the children of Rachel, for whom she had been waiting for so long, were returning to their nation.  To their war-torn country. Home. Habayta.

And the ugly games began again, only these were not plastic or wood chips to be played with as pleased the holder. These were human, mostly young men at this point, longing for their families, their friends, their communities, their lives from which they had been kidnapped. To spend the next two years immersed in an unbelievable crazed life, never knowing what moment would be their last.

But now a slight chance but it was time. It was so past time to bring all the dead and alive into our embrace, into arms that had been empty for too many years. 

With sputters and false starts, the process began. Despite a slowed down process, wringing the last drops of agony from all concerned, and our 20 gaunt living hostages were released, free to return to their people, free to heal and rebuild, free to hug their loved ones as if they would never again have the chance to do so again. We doubters were on the receiving end of jeers, for there it was, working, even as we had predicted many snags in the path of fulfillment, of promises made. 

Unfortunately, damn it, we, the doubters, the ones who see the glass as mostly empty, if not all the way back to drought conditions, were right again. Our fears were validated as our slaughtered and abused heroes were returned in small number, nine, and then we were told that there were no more, they were 'lost' under the rubble somewhere. Too bad. Now let us get on with the next stage and never you mind our treachery. We are the snake who bit and poisoned his ride across the pond.

Treacherous, never to be trusted, but that is the reality. Deal with it!

Now we have met the wall again. Return has stopped, meant to never be resumed, never to be   continued. If Isreal does not like it, well, let them deal wtth the antagonistic world and do what they can. However, it will not be much, for we all know the futile results even before we begin.

The world, the world you say? The same world that did not speak up for Bipel, the brave Nepalese man, a peaceful student who defended himself and his coworkers. And for that was dragged across Gaza by his eventual murderers, who indeed took his life, even as he suffered the torments of Hell before he was released from the agonies he was undergoing.   Yet another of the few courageous among us.

In fact, where is the voice, the so many self-righteous strident voices, of those who screamed and tore their hair at the mere thought and accusation of cruelty to Gazans by Israeli forces? Where are they now when the treaty is invalidated almost from the very beginning and where are they now when Gazan is shooting Gazan, where Hamas is lynching those who oppose them. Where is the concern and the weeping as the remnant of Hamas, determined to remain in power, continues to brutalize and kill all and anything that stands in the way of their bloody ambitions. Living or dead- it matters not. Where are the signatories of the ceasefire agreement, which demanded that Hamas disarm itself? Seems to me there are more than enough arms remaining in Gaza and being used indiscriminately, with one intent - the betterment and the retention of power by Hamas.   

Where the Hell are they!

Not where they are supposed to be.

The world remains static in its ugliness.

All the brutal yesterdays are running into the bloody todays and foretell of even worse tomorrows.

And again - WHERE ARE WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD?

What are we waiting for?