As do most people, I go up and down on the line connecting despair and pessimism to the other end of hope and optimism. I much prefer the latter end of it all; however, life does not always allow for such, in realistic life and manner. One must admit that one cannot live totally in a 100% pollyannish world, where all is good, nothing bad, the birds are trilling, and the roses are blooming. It just isn't that way. It never was. It is not, and it never will be, even in the best of times. In fact, Charles Dickens had it right in his iconic opening to A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." A world composed of battling extremes.
And as such, particularly in the past two years, appearing unlikely to abate soon, if ever, is today. It could actually be our best of times for these times have allowed for Jews to have a golden expansion of room to breathe, where the children can and will grow up to have careers of their own, families of their own, and G-d will have been good to us.
However, inevitably, we have found ourselves in yet another revolution of the cycles of history. Repetitive in nature it is not unexpected. However, I, and many others, do so wish that the repetition would be of the golden cycles, of the optimistic and positive cycles rather than ones where the clouds crowd around us to the point of almost smothering us for good or signaling an horrific cycle of long duration and intensity arriving at our doorsteps.
We are back again at a crisis of Anti Semitism emanating from people who must Hate in order to breathe, who live to Hate and thrive in it. They have a laser focus on their traditional target, Jews. The toxin spewing mouths and perverted minds are unfortunately contagious to the nth degree, hence what begins in one country or two countries spreads rapidly with a bloom of poisonous growth spreading to all nations even when there is no Jewish population there at all. Today, it is a strong returning echo on the sonar measuring the risks to and of civilization. The beeps are rising. Hour after hour. Growing in intensity and violence.
So how does one move out of darkness. Not in one great leap, that is for sure. Nor in a totality of change, leaving all the black behind and leaving all the bright ahead. The world is simply not like that. I highly doubt whether it could even change 100 percent, even in the best of times, which was our time. In addition, as posted yesterday in my blog, humans have built in error magnets and are perforce prone to, or at least likely to, commit some error or another in their lifetime. Sometimes there's a minor consequence and at other times, consequences horrific to contemplate. Most normal people wish to remain somewhere in the middle, being neither too demanding of what they cannot give nor too forgiving of what they should not have done. Most of us are pretty much right there in the center.
It is at that point, where rational, logical, livable compromise with life circumstances comes into play. It is when the hole in the doughnut, that emptiness, shrinks to a manageable size and the doughnut cake around remains soft, tasty and ever so delicious. That period of time is a blessing to humanity. It certainly is a blessing to the people of the Jewish nation and most certainly to me, to all my people round the world, and to the blessed State of Israel.
Unfortunately, however, at present, the doughnut hole has expanded so that the surrounding sweet cake of the donut, whatever flavor one chose, has shrunk to a barely there amount. Optimism has gone the way of all living things. We must grasp any and all opportunity now around us, to create more batter for the doughnut, more support from those who understand history, from those who understand righteousness, from those who would turn aside from the Hate, condemn violence, brutal indescribable and seemingly endless. Those who would engage in pushback even if their main motivation was for the benefit of themselves; It matters not, only the results.
I am not sure exactly where on this spectrum I am as of this moment. I kind of swing back and forth, sometimes more to the left, of despair, sometimes more to the right, of optimism. What I do know for sure is that it is an insecure environment. Those among us who grew up like me with grandparents who came here, young, alone but optimistic, ready to build a life for their children, my parents, American born, American raised and educated in both the secular and the religious world, and me and my siblings, totally American, totally Jewish in outlook and observances, but also totally American in feeling of patriotism and pride at being an American. Possessing a knowing feeling that perhaps it is the right moment in history for us, and we have surpassed the ugliness which took place just years before my birth.
That certainty is gone. That disappointment is huge and oftentimes cancels out the remaining moments of optimism and hope. What else is one to say when our houses of prayer, our schools and institutions are attacked. When now our people are not only threatened, but are actually struck down, again, here in America, our Goldene Medinah, and round the world. How are we to explain this to our children? Or to our grandchildren who for the most part also lived in that bubble of security which is now leaky, very much so, diminishing the certainty of goodness, of right to live, of a future, in our nation.
Our nation has become all nations of the world. Mamdani, a vicious JewHater as mayor to be in the most Jewish city and environment outside of Israel. England once again a bastion of fierce JewHatred, the time wheel of history reverting to a time when hundreds of Jews were burned in the Tower of York. When Edward II exiled them for many a century. When Ireland engages in the most blasphemous in your face, anti Semitism, poking into places where they clearly do not belong. The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the list is endless. It seems the more nations that join, the more other nations are tempted to hop onto the same bandwagon and enjoy their 'fun'.
I did like, however, this piece I came across from one of the sites that I patronize. Read it and hopefully you will like it as well. If so, perhaps it will give you a little perk, a bit of a boost to climb from the cellar and do your best to reach the ceiling or at least near it in approach.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow,
We must make them better. There is no other choice.
Hope in a Hopeless World
A psychologist friend and I concluded that the world must be either hell or a mental institution. We found that there is too much beauty and goodness in the world for it to be hell, so we determined that it must be a mental institution.
What else could possibly explain the fact that people and nations repeat the same grievous mistakes with catastrophic consequences for centuries? Vanity, glory-seeking, jealousy, hatred, violence, selfishness – did any of this make anybody better off in the long term? It certainly did not make the world a better place.
The only rational response to this sad history must be to become a cynical recluse and turn one’s back on the world. The problem is: What about all of that beauty and goodness? Good family and friends, humor, love … OK, so cynical recluse may not be a good response after all.
Maybe, then, enjoy all those wonderful, uplifting experiences and forget about all the horrors of the world. But it’s so difficult to ignore what is in the news, spreading its venom in social media, issues discussed everywhere by virtually everyone. Hot topics that impose themselves on you, fracture social relationships and invade the mind like an assault on your nervous system. Stop the world; I want to get off.
How do you navigate these choppy waters? How to be hopeful in a hopeless world? How to be happy and fulfilled and at ease, recognizing the good and acknowledging the bad?
Philosophers, theologians, psychologists throughout history have proposed innumerable formulae, thoughts and remedies with no discernable effect. Religion has its ideals, rules and laws, admonishments, prophets and sages. So, how’s that worked out? There have been many good people inspired and uplifted by those lofty ideals and even some bad people changed. But the world, dear reader, this minuscule planet in an infinitely vast universe remains tragically imperfect.
Wait. Perhaps it is possible to state that there has been change for the better, no matter how small. Ancient history consisted of tribes and clans and perpetual clashes and wars. That state of affairs started at the beginning of recorded time and persists today, but much less so. It doesn’t seem that way in dark times when countries fracture internally and again turn on each other, but overall, there is much more awareness of the damage of war and internal division. That may not be enough, and it needs to be learned and relearned, but it is a difference from the past.
Is it enough to instil hope in the future? That depends on the individual. It comes down to a choice. Some see the donut; some see the hole. The worldwide surging of antisemitism gives serious pause to thoughts of a world moving toward moral progress. “Blame the Jews and all will be well” is a tragic sign of the world in distress. A strong Israel reborn and dedicated to survival is a heartening reality after 2,000 years of impotence. America and China playing a dangerous game of chicken is deeply worrisome and a sabre-rattling wannabe tsar in Russia is a true threat to world stability, but Europe is united and dedicated to surviving intact.
For every encouraging thought and for every negative one, there is a “yes, but…” That means that the matter is not settled.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a thigh bone that had been broken and then healed. In the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. A broken femur that is healed means that someone stayed with the one who fell and tended to the person. Helping someone else through difficulty, she said, is when civilization starts.
Margaret Mead’s insight into what constitutes civilization is reflected in Jewish thinking. The Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote: “If you see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that God has left you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and ugly in the world, then it is you yourself that needs repair.” The Rebbe understood that the world’s humanity is not global, but local, and each person has the power and the duty to contribute in his or her own way.
The world may seem like a mental institution or simply overwhelmingly disturbing, but discerning people need to accept the fact that life requires the ability to sustain contradictions: Yes, there is much evil, but there is much good. Yes, the mob is destructive and many leaders incompetent, corrupt or worse, but the individual has responsibility and agency. Each person is a world. There is much to bemoan and much to celebrate. The key is to live honorably, inspire others and not lose faith. Each act of reaching out to help or comfort another, each kindness tendered, each act of generosity is a life-enhancing, redemptive act.
Life is not a balance sheet; it is a balancing act.
Dr. Paul Socken is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and founder of the Jewish Studies program at the University of Waterloo
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