UNDOUBTEDLY

  Oh, for sure. No confusion. Absolute truth and so not so. In fact, it is a bunch of blustery blowhards spouting forth with their lies, ignoring the truth. As they claim imminent victory even as defeat is stepping on their toes. Yet, strangely enough in the midst of all this hot air and egregious lies there are moments of truth, and we need to pay attention to those moments of truth, for they are the true gateways into the crazed minds of the speakers and their targets of choice.   

A prime example is Khomeini, that self-declared supreme leader of Iran, who states that " Yes, undoubtedly the source of corruption, war and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime... a cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted.” This is a man engaged in obvious self-delusion, "undoubtedly" so. The cause of the conflict in the Middle East at this time and for many years prior, falls heavily onto their game square.  Without their weapons and their money supporting terrorists and murder, it would not disappear, but it would certainly be at a lower decibel.

 On the other hand, speaking of Trump and his yet another threat that it's an "or else" situation, either obey me or "something bad's going to happen.” - ho hum. How many more times are we going to hear these blustery threats emanating from that rather prissy mouth and hear nothing come forth other than a loss of oxygen to the atmosphere of the Earth? Khomeini says that his (Trump's) remarks aren't even worth responding to... "they are an embarrassment to the speaker and the American people.” Never did I ever think I would find myself agreeing with the words of the Ayatollah Khomeini. And yet out of the mouths of liars, sometimes comes truth. 

How many more times are we going to hear these idle threats? "All hell is going to break out." All this, all that and yet, for all his screaming, for all his strutting about, all that can be possibly tied to his words is the release of Edan Alexander, obviously    a good moment for the Jewish people, but it was also a bad moment, for left behind are approximately 20 if that, remaining alive and in extremely precarious condition. All the brutalized, disrespected bodies of the dead, those taken over dead into Gaza or killed within the borders of Gaza, by the animals of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and those oh so not innocent civilian Gazans. 

Then we have the words straight out of the ass's mouth, from that pompous strutting being known as Donald Trump. In condescending air, he says, no, he's not upset with Netanyahu He's not, "frustrated" with Netanyahu and so kindly offers an excuse for any possible appearance of disagreement or contention. He defines Bibi as "an angry man who has been hurt badly by the events of October 7." And in another condescending sop to him, says, "Netanyahu fought hard and bravely". This, from the stalwart nonexistent flat foot draft avoider. Yes, earlier in his life and not so far in the past, Netanyahu did what was best for his nation, not for himself.  Unfortunately, as too many politicians staying or overstaying their welcome, he has turned, and the bitter has overtaken the sweet. I cannot claim to understand what is going through his mind nor I do not ever, ever wish to reach such a level of responsibility. So, what goes through the mind of someone now on trial for a charge of bribery with the bribes being cigars and some liquor, it is all fathomless to me. Hard to accept for what would make a person do that, a hero of a nation, a patriot of so many years. And yet perhaps only G-d understands the mind of His creations, certainly beyond me.

But then again, how is one supposed to deal with rampant liars, not a scintilla of truth, of humanity, who only know threats and brutal murder, slaughter of children, the raping of women, the torturing of men. They dismantle the very group of people they claim to represent, yet even in their blatant crudeness they manage to win point after point in the war of public relations. How has that become the status quo? How does one convince so many others that the targets of the slaughter, of the bloodshed, are actually at fault, caused it or actually orchestrated it, or some other piece of garbage that they present as truth and people buy into it. Undoubtedly, they say, undoubtedly, this is the truth. Undoubtedly, we can keep Israel, "the Zionist, the Jews who control everything"   as the bad guy in this picture and not the constantly put upon warred against state, a nation constantly delegitimatized, debased and the target of many a plot from both individuals and groups, even from other nations

We must look elsewhere for some points of assurance. Presumably, according to what we have seen over the past two years, the hidden and not so hidden has resurfaced with a venom. People marching in the streets, chanting robotically. No thinking in evidence. On the other hand, we have politicians who are apparently now falling over their own feet as they each claim to be the champion of the Jewish people even as their unthought-out threads of actions only seem to arouse more virulent antisemitism.

And again, on the other hand, perhaps the 3rd hand, we have something as innocent as a song contest - the Eurovision. Meant to be a contest of songs by groups from around the world, though mainly from Europe, devoid of political taint, it has become a most political event. Pro - murderers strut that stuff in the streets. They wave their uniform signs and chant their rather uniform chants of hate. They threaten the Israeli singer, Yuval Raphael, run a finger across the throat. They attempt to boo over and out her voice, a voice speaking, singing, for her nation, for herself, as she herself is a survivor of the Nova massacre.  Miraculously, she survived and represented her nation in bold, emotional voice strong against the threats, strong in the knowledge of identity, of who she is and what she is now to the world. She has taken second place, despite the overwhelming popular votes, despite the off-acknowledged statements of the "professional juries" who deliberately tank their scores so as to overcome the majority of the populace scores that Israel and its singers have achieved

And yet, despite all that, despite all the intransigence of Hamas, despite the blood hatred and blood lust of Gazan terrorists, in spite of the money that Iran throws into the pot, all the better to enable terrorism to continue, despite all that, Yuval Raphael, the heart of the public and not only of Israelis. The world at large took her, her voice, her song, her emotions, her country, into their hearts They understood what the song was about. Mourning, a recognition of the loss, yet a determination to go ever forward. A resilience never ever more apparent. Never ever more needed and it is forthcoming.

This nation so roiled internally with the conflicting cries of finish the war, kill Hamas, concede all in the name of the release of hostages, take care of today for tomorrow will take care of itself. Or so we hope, so we pray for any such combination. Yet despite the dissension, despite the horrifying and horrified predictions, the sky is not falling nor will it.   The people of Israel know they are one, with the same fate for all, wherever Jews reside. Why? Because no matter how much they disagree, a genetic trait, there is always within those words an acknowledgement of brotherhood, a recognition that we are a family, albeit with many argumentative siblings, but still, a family pulling together when it needs to, criticizing when it needs to, conceding when it needs to.

All lema'an achai ve'rayaye.

All for my brothers and friends.

 Amcha.

Your people. The one-word code for Jewish partisans and refugees from Nazi horror to recognize each other in the forests of Europe.

Hinei mah tov ooh ma'na'im, shevet achim gam Yachad.  

How good and pleasant it is to sit together as family, as brothers and sisters.

Al acheinu, kol Beit Yisroel. 

For all the Jewish people. No matter their point of origin. No matter the pigmentation. No matter the facial features. No matter their accent. No matter level of observance. We are all together as one. We pray together as one. We pray together for one. Our brothers and sisters, those in danger, those on the battlefield.

And we know undoubtedly, to the very marrow of our bones that

Am Yisroel chai.  

The people, the nation, of Israel lives.

Lanetzach.

Forever.

We have been so promised, to protect us from the right and the left, to walk before and behind. to hear our spilled blood cry out to Him and He will heed the call.   

We aren't going anywhere. Undoubtedly to your despair, Mr. Ayatollah.

Undoubtedly.

Our  yesterdays flow into our todays and our todays deliver our tomorrows.

UNDOUBTEDLY.