TILT!! GAME OVER!

 Are we in fact at a point of tilt in our lives, nothing left to allow for either defensive or offensive maneuvers? No way out, no detour available. All cupboards bare, all think tanks non thinking.      Nothing left. Where do we go from here? Do we shake the machine trying to get it back on track? Do we check pockets for just a few more tokens enabling more play, more time to undo the done?    Or do we shrug shoulders, turn away and say, "Well, we did our best, gave it our all. Can't do any more. Whatever happens - happens."

 These are the very same players who have been at the arcades for far too long, imposed their Knuckleheaded theories on society and pushed the game to Tilt! status. The same group now say the game is over. Those who have instigated, roiled the world to such a degree, that no alternatives, no paths out of this mess could be found. A morass of stupidity and evil. Knucklehead theory. Knucklehead stupidity. Knucklehead hate. Knucklehead instigation. Knucklehead denial.

Biden and cohort swore to have Israel's back. "We stand with Israel" was the cry.  A faithful ally. Israel has the right to defend itself. Tears and hugs on October 7. But on October 8th already a change. The weather was shifting. The winds were changing direction. No more tailwinds but headwinds growing stronger by the day. Gale force against Israel. Statements of support now came prepackaged with preconditions and limitations and threats - or else. How to wage war. When to stop.  When to shift to aggressor role as desired by the world. When to cede defeat and accept blame. When to KNOW the hostages were abandoned, of no importance, mere collateral damage to be written off. Though not the 'innocent' civilians of Gaza, who sheltered Hamas and captives, cheered their abasement and abuse, who shielded the terrorists. Bottom line: defend with limitations dangerous and ineffective and risk the lives of your citizen soldiers. Dim the memory of Hamas and its brutal butchery in its attack upon civilians, no hold barred. Who stole human beings with evil intentions, disappearing them from life. Hamas is to blame, but never mind that.

Today there is another pandemic, one of acceptable reenergized, fashionable, virulent antisemitism morphed almost instantaneously into severe acidic life-threatening JewHatred. Now the entire world is suffering with the malady of hate, vicious and vile and directed at the Jews of Israel and the entire body of world Jewry.   

To be a Jew today is frightening and more so to be an American Jew for we are not used to such open animosity, the real death threats and chants, and the determination to isolate Jews until they disappear from every facet of life, public and private. Both extremes of political thought have embraced JewHatred and each other in their accursed campaign against Jews. Open season.          Israel's back? Hell, they do not even have the backs of their own citizens of Jewish descent.     

It is frightening these days to be a Jew, in Israel and any nation of the world. The factor of fear is the same. Jews, Israel, are being blamed for rampant acts of violence round the world. Verbal attacks have given way to physical, even existential level.     All the while the nations of the world, guilty of crimes against humanity of their own, rail threats at Israel as they promise aid AFTER Iran attacks.  After the barn door has been left wide open already. Why not, right!?  As useless as a punctured balloon.       

   The hostages, many feared dead, have been written off by our fickle allies, disappeared from   their radar screens, a mere business loss, in the minds of the Knuckleheads running the show. In fact, they have been disappeared for the second time, barely mentioned, if at all, their importance in a 'deal' with the Devil downgraded to no importance at all.         

I do not know where we go from here. My head, my heart, my soul, my bones are shrieking to the world, to G-d. The knuckle headedness of false leaders has led us to this ugly level. They and their deluded followers went straight into the arcade machines. So hard, so fast that the machines had no alternative other than to cry out tilt. Flashing lights, horns beeping, din emanating from their depths - all for naught. Tilt - end of game. Are there more tokens enabling more game playing time?    None. Nothing left to be done other than to walk away in defeat. Tilt for all involved or not for we share the same earth, the same ultimate fate, to the point of tilt. The tilt will be not only for your targets but for you as well. We have poisoned our own world.  Aren't we proud!  We walk neck high through acid and are burned. We spew forth poison and then wonder why the very air is polluted.       

There is no way one can avoid consequences of one's behavior. Nor the thoughts which encouraged and invented and promulgated the actions based upon perverted thoughts. Though consequences might be delayed, they definitely do show up. and oftentimes they are so severe there is no conquering them. Certainly not without great cost. Great bloodshed. and a realization afterwards that what the hell did we just do? At some point this vicious game goes tilt!  Nothing left to shoot. No more blinking lights. No more tweets and whistles. No more honking horns. No more loud music. No more anything. Only scarred, ugly landscape left behind. Left behind too are the books of culture. The music of beauty. The best of humanity.   

Humanity still has some time left for them to think and to put aside those knuckleheads who have endangered us and assume our rightful responsibilities. Place them squarely on our shoulders and fix the world. Tikkun Olam - the repair of the world. It's not a question of what we want, but rather what we must do. If we do not - well, look at the title.

We ignored the noisy warnings of the machines. We were quickly running out of tokens, the only link to sense, succumbing to Knucklehead theory and life.  The growing silence was profound that it deafened us.  The results were awful. The Knuckleheads and their Knuckleheaded theories and the inevitable knuckleheaded consequences came swiftly, one after the other, a deadly train - but we allowed it free passage and no red lights.    

Where do we go from here? Only the good Lord knows, and He ain't speaking. He is now incommunicado. This silence is more deafening than the Knucklehead one. Well on its way to a permanent one - nobody knows other than the one who has wielded the knife to the lines of communication. Are we worthy of being saved? Have we not crossed the line? Have we not encouraged the sound of tilt to resound through the lands of the world? Are we not responsible and are we not liable for the consequences? Frightening thought. Frightening fact. Frightening reality. No      matter where we live, or think, or what name we call our God, no matter if we deny God, the game is the same. No escape. No delusions. We, humanity, are the culprits who forced the game to go tilt. We have allowed the Knuckleheads to rise to the surface. The scum of the earth. Finally, we hit the end - tilt, tilt said the machine. I don't know what is next. I don't think anybody knows. We have allowed this, brought it down upon us. Now we wait on tenterhooks. Our guiding patterns are weak, many false. We need much homework to bring pattern discernment and value to the proper level.

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Yitzy, you had such an eye, a talent. to discern patterns, even as a toddler Your beautiful eyes were able to see through the confusion and find the truth. You made it through difficult games (and yes, full disclosure, beat me when you were five!). You made it through tough mazes. Would that your eyes were here today for you could have helped the world to discover the pattern we need to follow. 

But you are not here. Only in our memories. But always in our memories.  

 Always and forever. Always and forever.    

DIDJA? DIDJA! WELCOME TO KNUCKLEHEADS II dIDJA I

  Well, didja? Didja really think that we were done with the world of the Knuckleheads. Sadly, unfortunately, we are not, for these Knucklehead lands continue to proliferate, and that population grows out of control. When has it ever been the case that an attacked nation is to be   censored for fighting back, fighting to maintain its very existence? Not only for themselves, but for world Jewry. The cause is clear. The root of the fear is clear. The necessity. and urgency of what must be done is clear. Yet all is consumed by the Nacht und Nebel of war, where right is ignored and the wrong overpowers all. The land of the Knuckleheads.  

Times are strange; events and actions are difficult to understand or predict. How can one think logically in a world ruled by illogic? How can a thinking sane mind function in Knucklehead land with perverted agendas? Only in such a world are the victimized, the invaded, pressured to pull defeat from the mouth of victory. To place themselves again in existential threat. To abandon their kidnapped, brutalized citizens along with their grieving families, forever to remain so. Why the pressure upon Israel to be defeated even as Hamas and Sinwar play the Knuckleheads like a virtuoso on the piano. Expected, demanded to take care of the supposed noncombatants, the very same who cheered the captured and the slaughter. Who strolled into Israel on a pleasure jaunt, a treasure trove of things and people, all to be traded at will.    "Innocent"! Not on a bet!! Welcome to Knucklehead land.  

Why? Because that is the way of life and society in Knucklehead world. Corrupt, ugly, hopeless. The media of the world reflects all this ugliness and threat. Comic books, manga and anime, serious literature and thrillers. Tomes of analysis. TV and streaming channels. Movies. It matters not; the reek of corruption overpowers all. 

We present as a world divided, incapable of meeting the challenge upon us. To right the wrong.  To ensure safety and continued existence for the peoples of the world. We, humanity, have failed.    The divisive lines grow deeper, wider. Shredded.     In crisis. We need to decide on our future. Is it to be the world of Knuckleheads, where truth counts for naught or is deemed a crime? Or is it to be a future built upon the dreams and wishes of humanity of the true progress earned? Can we understand deep within our marrow that we are one, that humanity is one and we have been gifted with one planet. Ours to treasure or ours to destroy and aren't we doing so well in the second choice!!   

 Once upon a time in a land now far away, I was an optimist. Once upon a time I spoke of an idealism. A dream achieved. War obsolete. Hatred defeated.     No more the need to look over both shoulders at one and the same time. No longer to fear for our children. Once such were my hopes and dreams. Once. I look back now, and I wonder. What the hell happened?  

We became too self-involved and forgot others. We allowed the building of a Knucklehead wall and came up hard against it. Their voices grew louder, ever more strident and growing in numbers. Voices of the opposed grew weak, lower in volume and certainly fewer in numbers. We allowed the better world to be dissolved in the acid spewing forth from the Knuckleheads. We have reaped what we have sown - or neglected to sow.  Deeper, darker instincts of humanity crawled forth into the light and darkened the world.  And we continue to     blunder ever more backwards into a darker, uglier, more violent world. 

America was a strong and proud ally, to be trusted. Today it turns on its head and has grown a skin of cowardice. It kowtows and bows to the aggressors and deserts the aggrieved. Mayhem around the world is ignored and an ancient hatred and victim are revived. Again. Always again. Most probably today and tomorrow and the day after and the week after and the month after that.   

Where is my place? The place of Jew in this horrid new world. Attempts to wall us off from society, to shut down our voices, to stop our very breath, are growing. Frightening. What is the future to be for us. Will we be allowed a future? The shining faces of our young and the sounds of their tinkles of laughter now fill me with angst.         

It is incumbent upon us to fight these Knuckleheads and remind ourselves that we are better than this. We can achieve victory if we internalize that thought and are consistent in refusing to back down. Those who choose to sit on the fence and absorb the pain and discomfort must now make a choice. No neutrality in the fight between Good and Evil. It is impossible to remain neutral. Silence is acquiescence to Evil. We must find our own inner integrity and do what must be done.  

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Yitzy, the holiday of Pesach, Passover, is almost upon us. You enjoyed it so, the most enthusiastic and wide awake one at the table. You glowed, brighter than the candles. Brighter than the electric lights. Your glow came from a powerful internal source. We will miss the glow and the room will be the darker for its absence. We have lost that light, we have lost you, though you always remain with us in our longing for you and our memories of you and our thoughts of you. We miss you so much, Yitzy.

 Always and forever. Always and forever.   

     

 

ANY ALLERGIES?

Actually, yes, I certainly do. I have a severe allergy to any and all stinging insects. I also have an allergy to the adhesive on the back of tape. However, the greatest allergy I have is the one that   doctors cannot address. Worse, it is an allergy intensified by the times and the society in which I live. No escape.

 The allergy is a strong reaction to stupid, sick- minded, unable to be educated, moronic knuckleheads who persist in unseeing the seen, unhearing the heard and continuing on a most destructive path. They, their followers and proponents, their enablers, are destructive to and of themselves and society as a whole. How do we stop the stupidity, this dangerous ignorance, this denial of reality and truth?

 I have no idea other than to maintain efforts to reeducate, to open doorways to sanity and truth, and to fight their dangerous theories and platform planks tooth and nail. Continuously. Until they are no longer the dominators of society. If we choose not to oppose, vigorously, do not respond, do not find a path to negate this, then I believe we, all people, are in peril. Not so much of losing our lives, but of losing our morals and our rights to have a free society. To be able to determine our own lives as long as it does not inflict or conflict with the rights of others. If we sit back and allow others to do our job, then we are dooming ourselves to a life of struggle, of hopelessness, of inequity, of injustice, of stupidity to such a degree that even breathing will prove to be a most challenging activity. The dream and reality of America- gone.   

What is the stupidity to which I refer? Simple.   We have lost sign of a basic truth: society is run on compromises, this way and that, with extreme views and insistence of inclusion, are oppositional to a sane and productive, functioning society. One side cannot always dominate, nor can one remain on the sidelines, claiming neutrality and evenhandedness. By opting out, others will opt themselves in with an agenda, a manifestly unfriendly one, one we most certainly do not care for. History has taught us so.

At present the extremes are predominating in our government and have the loudest voices to shout and over speak. Each extreme demands a society functioning strictly according to their dogma even as they refuse to comprehend or admit that such a society would collapse under its own structural faults and the element of collapse would spread, like an epidemic without cure. The other extreme would also collapse, its structural flaws overwhelming the integrity of its structure.

Inevitably, worse will follow, for policies contrary to their own selves, cannot exist simultaneously. Not in a sure and safe environment. For example, one cannot demand control even as one vows less control. It simply will not work, but the knuckleheads in charge refuse to see and know the truth. At present, both parties are doing exactly that and the electorate is left behind, confused and ever angrier. It is a tinderbox just waiting that one spark.  

The Great Abraham Lincoln warned us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Why arodies at this present moment. Much to our dismay and certainly lessening the odds of building a good and positive future.

            A government cannot be run strictly according to the views of one point. Opinions and ideas of others must be taken into account. We must look upon the positive to be found. We also cannot jump from one extreme position to another. Nor can we remain on the sidelines, claiming positions of neutrality. One cannot be neutral and be a positive factor in society. In fact, complete neutrality will encourage devastation and destruction. One has to pick one's battles and one must choose to fight the proper battles for the proper causes. If we cannot understand that and act accordingly, then we will   perish in a maelstrom of our own instigation and construction. 

More tomorrow along these lines. Unless events cause a deferral to other topics of concern, Hopefully, my concerns are clear as is the imminent danger unless we act------------------------------------

Yitzy, golden boy, you have left us bereft of your bright smile and sense of optimism. Your presence - and absence- are stronger the nearer we get to the holiday of Pesach and your enjoyment of it.

Miss you so. Love you so.

 Always and forever. Always and forever

 

WHERE OR WHEN

  The title once again comes from an old song (can't help showing my age, huh!). It is one of those plaintive old songs, longing for a return to what was, but the doubt remains re that possibility. Hence, the title. Today, our tired, disillusioned world knows what follows. Even should that love return, it will never be as pure, simple, clear and clean as it once was. One can try to go back, but backwards does not really work well. 

Mark Twain had one of his characters say that one must go forward, for backwards is basically not an option.  However, that forward direction is too often blocked by those who insist upon the values of a troglodyte to be adopted as our own, hugged tight within and without, an ugliness which gains power with every misstep of society. To go forward in that misshapen society is, actually, to go backwards. It is self-contradictory, self-destructive and infinitely harmful with no positive aspect whatsoever.

Today we live in such a world. Getting worse every day, compounding its errors every day. So where do we stop? Where in fact can we start? Is there a possibility any more to redirect the world - to redefine its good and bad impulses?  To go forward by taking a brief change in direction, sifting the past, discarding the remnant chaff hanging on, and delaying our forward movement on our new path.

Unfortunately, today, too many of us have taken giant steps, leaps actually, backwards, embracing its foulness and propensity for evil. Giving in to wicked impulses is fun - for the moment. The    memory of that moment of indulgence, the high it imparted to us overpowers the thoughts of the consequences inevitably to follow. 

Society becomes addicted to the wrong, to the evil, to the selfish, and their magnetic pull tows us right back to where we were when we first went wrong in a major overwhelming manner. At that point, we willingly entered a phase of stasis, which prevented us from moving forward, from self-evaluation and truth seeking. Unknown are the concepts of honesty and honor.   

Is it possible that we regain our senses and our moral backbone? Is it possible that we have enough grit within to afford a true deep dive. into our conscience, recognize where we went wrong? Can we come to understand. where and when there will be a possibility. of goodness ahead of us. However, the where with the when is not automatic and needs hard work and consistent forward movement. At this point in time I am not quite sure that anybody, at least the majority of society wishes to give up its newfound freedom of indulgence in evil and hate. Its ugliness is visible within Gaza and its lines of temptation for the world, for their indulgence in JewHatred buoyed by their false accusations and denial of rights for Israel to defend itself and rescue their kidnapped citizens. 

How do we stop this? How do we stop a snowball from ruling rolling down the hill at ever faster speed? I damn well wish I knew. I really do. All that I do know now for certain is that if fear were able to be quantified it would overflow the tube of measurement. The world has moved backwards, dived headlong into the bog, an evil smelling swamp with an overwhelming miasma of negativity and hate.  

Society hides remnants of goodness deep within us and joins in lustily with those who champion the retro society. We are now well within. For the Jewish people this retro leap is of grave danger. Rampant antisemitism has morphed into toxic JewHatred. Chanting, shouting, acting out, their objective an open goal of genocide. Even as they pervert the truth and reverse the roles, claiming the status of victims - despite their aggression and initiation of this war and their continued holding of the captives and the brutality of the treatment afforded them. Endangering their own, they have failed in responsibility of a government, to benefit the citizens rather than prepare their certain death. 

Somehow, they have managed to persuade the world of the righteousness of their murderous desires. The world without great difficulty and slim reluctance, if any, at all, jumped right into that swamp, splashing all who stood around. The vapors and water drops flew an ever-widening evil eddy in the air of the world. A toxic air, a polluted air. Yet embraced by so many willing to forgo true truth, honor, justice in their acquiescence and surrender to evil and the momentary pleasure it imparts to those who practice it.    

The original aggression is forgotten. They debased demeaned, belittled, and perverted all into an assertion that Israel itself perpetrated the horror upon their own citizens. The gall! The numbers game is played. and the numbers of Israelis dead wound. disappeared have now lessened day by day by day. The original numbers are almost nowhere to be found. 

This takes place at the same time as the numbers emanating from Gaza are stretched into infinity, pulled out of the air. Dangers are exaggerated, even invented. Manifestly false, clear to seeing eyes and open minds, yet the world jumps for Hamas, empowering their openly and reiterated statement    of genocidal intent for the Jewish people, in Israel and round the world. It pleases the world to believe and act upon the accusations thrust at Israel, to accuse them of genocidal intent. Deny them the right to defend themselves, to ensure the safety of their citizens. In fact, the safety of every single Jew upon this planet. Why? Because hatred is a strong emotion and legitimizes brutal. vicious, beastly behavior emanating from it, and legitimized its consequences.  

The fact that antisemitism has been alive and. unfortunately well, a consistent part of the mesh of   the fabric of humanity, does not make it right. Nor does it entitle nations of the world to deny Israel its own nation, its own state, a haven, a refuge, for every oppressed Jew on the planet. And a source of pride for every Jew, and a determination to defend it even as Israel defends us.

     We Jews know from time immemorial that the land of Israel. is our homeland. Thus we have been promised. And thus we have lived. And though exiled from it, denied it we know the truth. The return to Zion is part and parcel of the Jewish religion, to be found within the marrow of every single Jew. We always return. We have always prayed for its return, and we live its return. Jews round the world must now and always stand tall and proud.  Flaunt that Judaism, embrace it and do not be afraid to do so. Do not hang your head. Do not bend low. 

We are the nation of Israel. We walk proudly with the righteous of the world who join us. We stand firm against hate not only of Jews, but of hate directed against any and all who are deemed 'other'. One day, one day ..... Where or when that day is not for me to say. I cannot say for I have no idea and actually very little hope of seeing it in my own time. Where has it gone? When did it disappear? Can we find another where or when. this time a lasting one? As stated, not a clue, only a yearning.

Yitzy, sweet boy, perhaps if you had lived, if science had been quicker, you could have grown up to save this ugly world. Maybe.

 But it was not to be.

You are missed and loved. By so many.

Always and forever. Always and forever.

 

NUMBERS

Numbers. Numbers can be made to do anything one wishes. Contrary to the thinking of many who think that numbers are absolute, they are not. They can be twisted and turned at will, to serve either the good or the bad. Some have consciously chosen to use numbers to serve the bad, the murderers, the evil, while others have used truthful numbers to show the depths of the sorrow, the angst and the anguish of the families and friends of those who remain in captivity. In fact, all Jews bleed along with them, for we are one family, no matter the differences among us. 

And we hope, for it is not known, the number facts denied, who is alive and who is dead. Who is with which band of animals? Is that statement true or merely a copout, ginned up to excuse and 'explain' the supposedly misplaced, lost captives. Does it enable them to keep these captives in a stasis of horror, to be used in the future as currency for barter? Or is it merely to inflict levels of pain unknown to most of humanity. a pain such as the family of a brutalized young lady, 19 years old. turned 19 during captivity, has felt. 

Seen in a video with a bloody face, her parents were sent a bouquet along with 'condolences' upon her passing. What is the matter with these people? How have they managed to shred any possible iota of humanity within them? Were they born this way? Were they inculcated by their parents, by their false teachers and religious leaders, with this vile hatred? I don't know. And I don't understand. Furthermore, I can never understand the cold shoulder the world has turned to these young women tormented beyond any possible path of comprehension, of full adjustment upon return, for how could they? The world? It could care less. 

The world cries for seven wounded in a tragic accident. The nations of the world shout to the Heavens about the need for more information. War is ugly. War is hard. War has no rules. And yet, what rules there are, have been blatantly violated by Hamas and their allies. I do not notice a single voice raised against it, other than voices of the Jewish people along with some righteous people who still understand and distinguish right from wrong. And so they cry for foreign workers, yet their own captives, dual citizens, receive not a single iota of attention, of care, of visits from IRC, from representatives of those nations, of sympathy, of care and concern, of attempts to free them. At this point among dual citizens, there remain five American Israelis in captivity. Where the hell are you, America? Where the hell are you, Biden? Where the hell are you Blinken? Where the hell is this government? Nowhere to be seen. Nowhere to be found. Nowhere to be heard. Other than to acquiesce to the upheaval, turning villains and instigators of war, inflictors of torture, into victims, ignoring the facts of Oct7.

So, to numbers. 185. These are how many days the captives have served in an ongoing living hell, worse than anything we can imagine. Their captivity has wrought renewed nightmares and fears to Holocaust survivors. and their descendants. It has spiked genetic trauma to be found within every single Jewish mind, brain and heart. This is not the first time, unfortunately, nor unfortunately will it be the last time. And in fact, with antisemitism ramping up so quickly, so violently the future is very difficult.

 Signs of light? The enemy has united the Jewish people around the world. It has united thousands, millions of Jews together as one, despite the fact that we can still vehemently disagree on many important issues. However, the main issue right now is to free the hostages, keep the hostages in the memory and the mind of the world. Not to be forgotten nor discarded as trash, unworthy of any effort.  

Over 4300 people killed and wounded on October 7th. Violently, brutally with great displays of bestiality. With glee. With sexual violence. Over 250 taken into captivity. Old and young. Infants. Young girls and boys. Young adults. Taken and brutalized. Thai workers, foreign students, Arab workers. All fell victim.    

More numbers. 250 children witnessed their parents slaughtered. 31 children are complete orphans. Others remain wounded in body and soul.         

More numbers? Jews are 0.2% of the World's population so how could we possibly have caused so much damage and trouble to the world? In fact, we have done much better and given much more to the world far, far above our punching weight.

 October7 is a fact. It is real and cannot be denied. The blood of the victims cries out from the ground upon which it was spilled. The anguish of the captives, of their families, of the Jewish people rise to the heavens. And will be avenged and will be heard. Even as the world mourns the tragic death of seven aid workers, they disremember the ongoing level of deaths among the captives, taken in violation of international law. But that seems to have disappeared into the fog and night of war.     

Robert Barrett Browning counts the ways in which he loves Elizabeth. We humans are better at counting the ways to slaughter each other. In the rampant violence. deaths, wars, famines (real) of the world, Israel is the target of choice. Apparently, it is much easier on the machinery of government. The numbers of victims around the world are too numerous to count, overwhelming us. Much easier to go to a smaller nation like Israel, where at the worst would remain in single digit millions. 

185 days in captivity. 185 days for families to wonder what horror and terror are their loved ones undergoing? How many numbers must it take? How many more numbers must we sacrifice? How many more pints and gallons of blood must be spilled upon the Earth? How many more footsteps must be taken as we squelch through that blood? How many more children must be killed? And that includes on all sides of the war. How many more times must we see numbers? Terrible numbers being perverted, being misused, being lied about being ascribed incorrectly.

Dear Lord, I think Your creations have had enough. Hearts are broken, arms are tired, legs weak, minds distorted. We need help and guidance far beyond our minuscule power to reengage broken souls, hearts and minds.  Wave upon wave upon wave of hate and violence. Why? Again?      From the depths of my heart, from the bottom of my despair, I call upon You. Help us. Help the world.

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Yitzy, your absence is a huge gap in our lives. We miss you so. Yet there are times when we say at least Yitzy doesn't have to face this. Hopefully. you are ensconced in the loving arms of your great- great grandparents and those who have preceded you. To learn with the great rabbis of Jewish history and heritage traced to our families. Perhaps we are selfish in wishing you here, still with us, but we miss you so. We miss you so.

I, we, will always love you. It transcends all barriers and boundaries. It will be there.

Always and forever. Always and forever. 

 

AND HERE WE ARE

  “I would love to live to see the moment. in which the great treasures will be dug up and shrieked to the world, proclaiming the truth. But no, we shall certainly never live to see it. And therefore, do I write my last will. May the treasure fall into good hands. May it last into better times. May it alarm and alert the world to what happened and was played out in the 20th century. We may now die in peace. We fulfilled our mission. May history attest for us.”

So spoke Dawid Graber in the based-on fact novel, "We Must Not Think of Ourselves". Asked to participate in the Ringelbaum  successful attempt to leave behind the story of Ghetto Warsaw, all that led up to it, and all that followed. The truth of the horror. The actuality of it.  More condemning and anguished, the fact of its open presentation to the world. A world which blindfolded its eyes, gagged its mouth, or cheered, or participated. The treasure trove of these writings, buried deep for safety, some still undiscovered, these summations of the hellish world that was the Warsaw Ghetto and the prior events that led to the Warsaw Ghetto have done their job.  They have fulfilled the hopes of Ringelbaum and his co-writers. 

However, the question arises as to whether or not they have actually done their job. Dawid, asked by Ringelbaum if he is a religious Jew, responded that "Before all this, I had barely remembered I was a Jew".  In response, Ringelbaum remarked, "Well, they won't let you forget now." 

In the universe of JewHatred there is no denying one's 'Jewishness', whatever that means. Try though they might, the world always reminds us, a fact irreversible and apparently a fact which needs 'trimming' every so often. No 'escape' allowed, not even conversion. for in the world's eye a Jew is a Jew. Actually, to be a Jew is to have a proud heritage, a contributive present and a wonderful future ahead. If. If the world truly internalizes morality and truth. The lackings of one are not the fault of others, certainly not as a group. A truly civilized society understands the commonality of humanity and lives true to that belief. It does not declare one group to be the convenient scapegoat for all the woes of the world. 

JewHatred,  actually all prejudice arises from the illogical. There is no 'explaining ' it. Nor any reason to try to do so for in such futile efforts, it merely legitimizes its ugliness and those who subscribe to that prejudice. Be the times good or bad there is always a reason found to cut the Jews out, deny just rewards for their efforts, their contributions for the world, to the world. Remind them they are 'different' somehow; hence deserving of the blame when things are not so good.       

Next up - the Big Lie, the more outrageous, the more believable, for who could make up such a story. These big lies come at us from all sides - right, left, middle with no discernible difference. For over 5 months we have been hearing, warned, of 'imminent' starvation in Gaza. Still waiting, the longest 2-day warnings ever! 

Next up: The cynical use of children as tools of war, as propaganda. "Children" who are dolls, even boards, wrapped up in blankets. Or the recycled children presented as babies (overgrown) on one day, and older the next. Wounded and dead are interchangeable. Absolutely amazing. Quite like the reappearance of the same rescuers from one side of Gaza to the other. Must run fast. Real fast. 

Of course, we must not leave out the numbers. Those false numbers we are fed every day by each and every form of media possible. These numbers are derived from numbers generated by Hamas reports given to the Dept. of Health - run by Hamas. No bias, no lies, right? Wrong, so wrong. We are not told that over half of the wounded or killed are Hamas terrorists. We are not reminded of the impossibility of such an imbalance among the dead and wounded, statistically, experts say, when there is an even ratio of men and women and similarly an impossibility of the numbers of children claimed as casualties. Yes. many civilians been affected, but remember who began the war, who embedded themselves among civilians, in their infrastructure?  Not Israel, but one must fight where one must fight, not elsewhere. Aggressors are not to be rewarded for butchery and massacre, ongoing with the hostages, merging with the attacks by Hezbollah, the forced evacuation of South and North Israel for the safety of the residents. And please, do not disremember the ongoing vicious attacks by crazed deluded individuals taught only to kill Israeli civilians, the more the better.        

We need to remember that what happens to Israel happens to world Jewry, barely any perceptible difference or space between. This is the reality. This is what the world believes and practices. You must remember that. We must remember that for when only "defensive" weapons are proposed it means we are being written off. Defense is generally the losing end of the baton of war. Are we expected to acquiesce to our own slaughter?  To welcome our murderers? As the world cheers? NO!  

Is that where we are? Is here where we are? Yes, here we are. If we do not like the 'here' then we must band together and fight against it. We can change the here, find another there. Where we can be free from fear, from uncertainty, from existential angst. Possible only with concerted effort and acknowledgement that Jews are one, our fates are tied together. Those who fight against, deny, that truth are fighting a losing battle.

Am Yisrael Chai.

The nation of Israel lives.  

Despite the eddies round the world of hate and violence.

Despite the calls for extermination. Again.

We Will Live Forever.   

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 Yitzy, I wonder if you are understanding of the crisis down here or are you still uncertain not understanding the hate, the ugliness pervading almost all down here. There are good things, though, bright things, and we must strengthen them. We must give them more power, so they exude more warmth, more acceptance of the right versus the wrong. Help us down here to understand all that is happening. We lack the wisdom of the Eternal One, so the challenge is great. But you are close at hand.

 Miss you. Love you so, so much. 

Always and forever. Always and forever.   

  

 

      

     

         

         

AND THERE IT IS

 What is there? I am not really sure, though I am indeed sure that I am living in the time when certainty, the feeling of being 'sure' is nonexistent.  Furthermore, anyone who feels, who insists, that certainty and security are definitely present in today's world, is immersed in self-delusion.        The world is roiling and boiling, skews this way and that, within the span of minutes and hours.     f   Positive values, virtues, once cherished are demeaned and sidelined.  People have forgotten truths. People have jumped whole hog. into life threatening situations, trying to balance themselves on a precipice crumbling beneath their feet, the jagged rocks below patiently waiting.    

It is difficult indeed these days to define self and place in society. Who is one now as compared to the one who was, and the possibilities of who one will be, could be, or should be? Who will be the others? Who will we all be? These questions without answers have increasingly plagued me, the uncertainty growing clearer, larger, day by day. What and where is my place? Where do I belong?  Will others acquiesce to the answer? There is no longer a nice, neat category into which I can insert myself with some kind of a feeling of safety and security around me and mine. Unfortunately, for quite some time the answer(s) is no. Sadly, terrifyingly so.

Once I could say I am an American, stand tall, with pride and certainty. Once I could say I am Jewish, and it generally was not of truly great import or effect. There was no need to delineate exact origins in every category. For the most part, it did not matter. Yes, there were times when prejudice in America was right there, peeking its ugly head out at times. However, for the most part, one was able to function on a daily, permanent basis without need for a string of adjectives. Still, that niggling irritant remained, always there, history reminding us of uncertainty of acceptance and definition. Are we secure, firm, in our acceptance?  

So, here we are, but exactly where is that here? Is there in fact a here anymore? I don't think so. I truly do not. The WSJ has a daily cartoon entitled 'Salt,,, and Pepper', with succinct commentary on life today. A recent caption was " Never before have so many known so little about so much". True, and bitterly ironic in a world where we know so much yet in actuality apparently know very little with any strong degree of certainty. In fact, despite scientific advances, our social intelligence has deteriorated, and we have regressed at faster and faster pace. A sad state of affairs caught cleverly by a 'Salt,,, and Pepper' cartoon. "I like a buttery chardonnay with hints of happier times romance and optimism.”

 Once upon a time. When we were happier? Open to thinking, to compromise. Capable of discussing differences rather than shouting. Where we knew free speech crossed the red boundary line and became the shouted fire.  Can we remember that?  I believe those memories are fading quickly. They are under pressure to disappear. We are under pressure to totally reevaluate who we are, where we stand, what we think. Our hopes, our dreams, are questioned, even denied, devalued. What will be the future, in the future, is up for grabs, and the hands reaching for them are too often grubby with contamination.  

Seniors worry not so much for themselves, but rather for the descendants, the next generations. What will be for them? Will there be anything for them? How do we ensure their safety? How can we go when we leave them in a society in a severe state of fluctuation often with strong overlayers of negativity and worse. We want for them prosperity, health, goodness, happiness and peace, a true, just peace, not an imposed one based upon oppression and suppression. That peace is worthless, for it allows no peace within one's soul, mind, or heart.

Will advances of science prove fatal or malignant to the mores of society, and the people who make up society? What will be the fate and state of humanity? Will they be able to distinguish good research and findings from the ones which bode negativity and conflict rather than advancements for humanity? Research misunderstood and misused poses great danger to the future of humankind.

We are going too far too fast. We find ourselves in a mess of primitive emotions, of old hatreds revived and intensified. Invective oratory leads to violence of physicality, always trending up to more, to worse. What do we do to alleviate the tension and prognosis? Can we indeed do anything of consequence or is the path too far gone, as we move along it at too fast a pace? 

I know in my bones. that there are many, many around who are feeling just like me. Where do I belong? Where can I belong? Can I trust the safety and security of America? Will it keep me safe? Will it prevent others from harming me and mine? Will it allow for a better life for all? The answer is very uncertain, even for me. I have no idea. Am I an American, born here from parents born here from grandparents who came here at a very young age, even from a great grandparent who came here in the 1880s. Is that not enough? My children. My grandchildren. My great grandchildren. They are more American than I am as they have more generations of American born and bred behind them. And what is in front of them? Will they remain American, or will they be defined as foreigners, invaders?  I don't know. I am a Jew and so are they. Why does that now carry an aura of danger around it, attacked on all sides - up, down, right, left. With hate, with bigotry, with threats.

The world today equates. criticism with hate. It is going way overboard into the realm of illegitimate criticism.  It wraps its targets within soggy hate filled stinking of rage blankets which restrict freedom of movement and grow ever tighter to the point of cutting off all breath. Why do we condone this behavior? Why do we not remember that hate spreads? That misbehavior grows into criminality into violence. Why did we refuse to remember that? Why? Perhaps I am too old to understand. I hope not. 

Moving forward is possible only if we step forward with precision, forethought, very, very carefully and always with grace and graciousness. We must think long and hard before we accept the words of proposed leaders and new plans, for too often, human beings have huge flaws within them. We must remember our heritage. - that of the tradition, the heritage of Judaism. and the dream of America. Where truly those "Yearning to be free" are welcomed without the screams and venom of today.

We must find new points. and places to anchor our ship of state safely. and firmly, a place which will allow for exploration and provide a safe haven to return to. Are we motivated enough to do that difficult ongoing task, or have we lost that incentive, that energy which came with being 'American'------------------------------------------

    Yitzy, I am beyond words at this point. Your pictures are here in every room of the home and the heart. In every inch of our soul. We smile at your pictures, the videos, and we feel the sharpness of your loss. You were a bright light of hope for the future and now that light is dimmed, though not gone. It lives on within those who remember, those who cherish, those who admired you. Those who love you and still love you.

 Always and forever. Always and forever. 

IPCHA MISTABRA

   Whether the words of the title are spelled correctly or not, it matters not. The point is this: It is an Aramaic term found in the Talmud meaning that all that has been said before is actually the opposite. An apocryphal tale of the Holocaust has this term used to warn those left behind in the ghettoes, to let them know that the words on the postcards are exactly the opposite of truth. In the present day, the same term can be applied to the reporting of the Hamas generated war. The very same war they instigated.        

Once again war is being waged upon the Jewish people. Yes, the Jewish people, for an attack against Israel is an attack on the secure existence of Jews round the world, Israel being part and parcel of the Jewish people. Always fighting or her life, the nation of Israel is denied the right of a nation to make its own policies, to wage its own strategy, to plan its own life, to value its citizens and rescue them wherever and whenever necessary. Instead, it is treated as a vassal state. independence denied. As are its contributions to the world. 

Israel is fighting once again for its very survival.  In fact, every war it has fought has been a war for survival, for to have lost any of the wars would have meant the death of every single Jew. In that land and then on to world Jewry. The remnants left behind from the Holocaust. Below you will find some numbers. that will give you a cold picture of the cost of the Holocaust. And understand that within those numbers is contained the individual stories. The individual lives. Never fulfilled. Never happened. Those to be born remained unborn. Those alive for the moment.

" Six million Jews were murdered. Six million. That’s over 60 percent of Europe’s Jewish population in 1933 and over a third of the world Jewish population in 2020. Today, only around one million Jews continue to live in Europe." 

     That same bloodlust continues. Yes. Despite all that has come before. and all that their enemies have wreaked upon them, apparently it is not enough. Never enough.  Israel's maniacal enemies see themselves as the true descendants of Hitler. trying to carry through his nefarious plans. They knew, deep within their bones that to persist in this behavior is to eventually win. 

Israel is limited. It is limited in size - a tiny nation, a little rowboat in the midst of a fleet of warships and destroyers. It is a nation of citizen army. pulled out from their offices, from the labs, from their classrooms. It is a nation that mourns. every fallen soldier. It is a nation desirous of peace, to be left alone. To live in amity with their neighbors. To return to and live in their homeland. To be accepted as a nation among the nations of the world.   

 Time and time again Palestinians have been offered their own land and each time they turned it down.  They nixed it in 1948. They nixed it with Olmert. They nixed it with Barak. They nixed it with Netanyahu. And they nix it today. Israel left Gaza in 2005, leaving a prosperous area. Destroyed by the 'innocent civilians' of that time, they elected Hamas as governing party, allowed it to continue as such, even as it robbed them blind and now look towards the towns and cities and farms and businesses of Israel. And cheer each and every drop of blood   shed by Israelis. So, tell me, with whom are we to negotiate? With whom to talk terms of treaties? With whom can they partner? Who can they trust?    Even as their false friends are allowing their true colors to emerge from the ragged veneers overlaying them.

Israel is chided for taking the battle to where the enemy is. Shot at from within hospitals - do not   fight back. Shot at from within schools, homes, centers, aid stations - do not shoot back. Complicit civilians - no shooting. The hostages? Discounted and disremembered by the nations of the world. Tears and concern only for captured terrorists. Of course. Why would we expect anything else?      

Unfortunately, the only way to peace is war. Nothing will bear fruit for peace other than defeat and destruction of Hamas and the return of every hostage, dead or alive. A full accounting for the dead, the havoc that the animals of Hamas wreaked upon Israel, wreaked upon their own civilians. Only when the world understands that Israel will not stand by and watch itself be destroyed nor roll over and play dead will there be peace. When that idea, that concept is firmly implanted within the heads and hearts will there be peace.

When will that happen? Only God knows, and He ain't talking.

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Yitzy, I hope things are easier up there, less complicated with truth, trust, decency dominating.  Yesterday, suddenly a picture of you popped up. There you were -on the screen. You stared at me with your beautiful blue eyes and your big grin and my heart broke again. And the tears ran down the face again. The hurt remains. The longing to see you remains. In fact, it gets sharper as we approach another holiday where your place remains empty.  

Yitzy, you are so loved, so missed. And it will always be so.

Always and forever. Always and forever.  

        

   

  

  

          

  

SO SORRY, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S LIFE

 That is a typical reaction to an attempt to discuss the rampant antisemitism of today, why and how to alleviate its horrors and falsehoods, and consequences. Its growing virulent presence in today's world is frightening, yet that fear is downplayed by too many, including those Jews with heads in the sand. Even should a discussion ensue, we are advised to take a 'chill pill'. It won't happen here, we are told. That's life. Deal with it.  Yes, we are dealing with it. But it is not easy when it reaches into one's own yard, literally and figuratively. 

When a horde of noisy Jew haters enters your neighborhood, blocking roads, intimidating the kids in your own child's school, can one indeed take a chill pill and get on with life? The truth is - NO, and what is more is the realization that oh yes it can happen here; in fact, is happening here. Where it stops? Like the spinning wheel - nobody knows - but oh, yes, we do know. Been there, done that and have no desire to return or live in as a new experience. We must stop that wheel while we can.

We must stand up and against all such acts of intimidation. We must resist the instinct to keep down, lay low. Stay out of trouble. That's what we've always been taught. However, no more. Figuratively, we must prevent them from getting past our lines of defense. Those lines must be strong and thick enough to withstand battering rams of hate sent our way, even waves of stones and threats, sharp, cutting. 

Furthermore, we must be prepared to resist, even` physically should it come to that. There are those who understand and react only to force and if so, we had better be able to return in kind all that is directed at us, prepared mentally and physically.  We Jews must do what we must do and if there are few who will stand with us, with the true and just law, well, we must do it ourselves. We have history behind us, and much more history ahead. Part of that history tells us that we must stand together, for united we stand, whole, intact. Separately we fall.

The following statements are presented as historical fact by those who believe it and sell it to willing blackened souls. Know that among them are not only the uneducated, but also the most highly educated for hate has no limits nor boundaries.          - Jews finance both sides of every war.                      - Jews killed Abraham Lincoln because he refused a Jewish offer to restructure the banking system.       - hence, they hired John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Lincoln. Why? Because he was Jewish. (most certainly not)                                                         -Jews control every form of media, the entire banking system, all stock markets.                          -    - Jews hunt human beings, particularly children, on a hunting estate of the Rothschilds.

The above statements are but a sample of the filth spread by Jew haters. Manifestly so wrong, they    serve to instigate hate. Refuted time, and time again. they yet remain, spread about by the worst of humanity. We must persist in our war against these falsehoods meant only to harm. We must be strong and. resolute, even in the face of the blockades against us as we try to spread truth round the world. It is serious and should not be waved off as nonsense. It is serious. It is real and dangerous.

References to Antisemitism can be found in the most unexpected places. For example, a fascinating article about "To Kill a Mockingbird " from RNS which presents that thought and discusses the interpretation of those sentiments in the play adaption of the novel. Sam Levy, a dry good salesman, chases off KKK members who came wrapped in the very same sheets they had bought from him. His contempt for these weak and venial troglodytes is clear to the reader. Atticus Finch, an imperfect being, a mensch in Jewish terminology, is a decent human being with a conscience, was verbally assailed by Ewell, an evil man, with this statement: “I detect something a little Hebraic in you.”  Nor can we ignore the teacher in class telling the students thus: "There are no better people in the world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me…. They contribute to every society they live in and, most of all, they are a deeply religious people…. You’ll learn that the Jews have been persecuted since the beginning of history, even driven out of their own country. It’s one of the most terrible stories in history.…"  

There are many good people who unconsciously fall into the traps laid by the haters. They begin to believe the garbage they are fed or silently recognizing garbage for what it is, but feeling they have no role to play, nothing of significance to say, nothing that would change the world. That is so very wrong. Standing silently by merely leave gives the purveyors of hate and violence room to maneuver and grow, to implant the falsehoods deep within the core of society, deforming their consciences. 

Silence is to be complicit. Silence engenders a mood grossly inimical to a good life, for a proper path for society to follow. The angst it imparts to the targets of this hate, this prejudice with no end, are extremely depressing and debilitating. The following are words from a long time close admirable and admired friend, a strong person, a mensch. Understand their power and know that this person is not alone in these thoughts and feelings.   It tells us a great deal about the state of the world right now, does it not?

"In today's world black is white, white is black. Evil is lauded, goodness is mocked. Excellence is despised and mediocrity is praised. Nothing is as it was. Mercy is awarded to the cruel while those deserving of mercy are cruelly treated."    

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Yitzy, sweet boy, you had no understanding of hate and the evil of the world for you had only faith and love for all that G-d had created and gifted to Man. It mattered not if it were bird or snake, fox or deer. It mattered not who people were- adult or child, ethnicity or skin color or language spoken.   They were your friends and acquaintances. That beautiful trait was mentioned by all who knew and loved and admired you.

You are certainly remembered, valued, missed and loved.

Always and forever. Always and forever.

WHAT?! WAIT A MOMENT ...NOPE, NOTHING DOING

  Democracy, Autocracy, and the Threat to Reason in the 21st Century,

 What could possibly go wrong with a speech meant to discuss and present the topics of the title?  After all, this is America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, a free country, as we always so proudly boasted. No one was to be the 'boss of me' other than our inner Angel who would work the brakes and the gas pedals and keep us out of uh oh situations. Abrasive mouths and words emanating from them were to be silenced or designated useless and unimportant.  

 However, the reality is otherwise. Angels seem to have abandoned their posts. The small red clothed devils of malicious intent sport evil grins on their faces. Their pride at the chaos, the hate they generate, the depths of the thefts and perversion of positive traits of humanity are grievous in number, vast and growing. The consequences for humanity are awful, particularly as we turn backwards to times of fewer restraints and an acceptance, even a valuing of the worst of humankind.  

Those who waged war, who fought on the battlefields were rewarded with free reign over the civilians. To rampage and slaughter, to harm, to rape, to enslave as they would. Basically, to lay waste to the civilian population, into their very homes. This savage brutal behavior came to brutal life in the actions of Hamas and allies on October7.  No, unfortunately, this behavior remains alive. And too well. Too warmly welcomed by the devils within us, the ones welcomed so warmly by the planners of Hamas and those who jumped on the bandwagon.    To the fields and homes, to a dance festival, on a double holy day for Jews, to wreak havoc and bloodshed upon civilians.  

When the civilian population happens to be Jewish, the world shuts up. In fact, it is encouraged. Celebrated, candy distributed to children taught to hate, by the ululations of victory and bloodlust of the women. This is what happened on October 7. In fact, this is what has happened. and is continuing to happen in Israel on a continual basis. No end is in sight. Yet the media of the world carries naught about these attacks, the harm, the deaths, they inflict. It is only Jews, so, not such a big deal.   The hundreds of thousands of evacuated, embattled civilians of Israel go unmentioned, discounted, as are the deaths of civilians by the missiles of Hezbollah and the complicity of the UN forces and the Lebanese government. No words of condemnation. None. Nothing. Nada. Ef-ess. Zero. Zip. Israel is at war. In its entirety.  Once again.   

What do we do now? Well, we try to reason. We try to appeal to the better elements of humanity, to the little sparks of decency which might still remain, flickering dimly. Jamie Raskin tries to give his speech of sanity and rationality. What happens? No reason. No intent to listen. No attempt to converse. No attempt to negotiate. No attempt to mediate. No attempt to meet each other somewhere in the general vicinity of middle. No grounds for anything positive. The only grounds that remain are the grounds of. violence and raucous shouting down anyone who thinks other than the murderous beliefs of Hamas and pro-Palestinian enmity.  The administrators of the universities which should be front and center in the fight to maintain the   gestalt of the title of the intended speech by Jamie Raskin, are the very ones who are complicit and implicit in the encouragement of this kind of behavior, of the hate behavior of mobs as they say Tsk, tsk, babble re 'context' and enable violence.       

Where do we go from here? Where can we go from here?  Is there, in fact and reality, any path which leads in positive manner into the future? More and more my doubts grow larger and ever darker. A huge cavalcade of cars of pro-Palestinian, pro slaughter of Jews parade in Teaneck, a Jewish area.  Calculated to send out vibes of hate and peril.  Get the hell out of this country. We don't want you. A continuation of the eternal sentiment or attitude towards Jews. No. you can't live there. You can't live here. In fact, we don't want you living anywhere. It is the embodiment of the most vicious tropes of antisemitism throughout the millennia.      

I cannot begin to explain the intensity of concern in the present situation. There is a siege waged upon    me and my people. The world does not remember nor wish to understand that hate extends its boundaries as it attempts to sate its unsatiable appetite. This is the world we have chosen to bequeath to our children. Is hate always to be a constant, not a variable, in the makeup of human beings? We are doing quite well in generating the causes of our own destruction, the consequences of our behavior, or rather misbehavior. Time, and again, we have managed to cover over the brightest. moments of humanity with the ugliness of the worst moments of humanity. The dross of humanity, the slag of its values, gain the upper hands and repair has become a Sisyphean task. 

Where do we go from here?  Is there any way to go? Unfortunately, I and, more and more, people, have a deep within our core feeling that there is no 'here' from anywhere. The "heres' of safety are overrun by the hordes hacking away at the foundations of decency and humanity. The echoes and vibrations of their tools of destruction are now constant. This feeling of unease and insecurity of the Jewish people are to be found in every nation of residence. Our countries do not want us. They do not want us here. They do not want us there. They certainly do not want us in Israel or its environs. They do not wish to acknowledge the right of the Jewish people to have a nation amongst other nations of the world. 

 What has happened? Why are we beginning to relive the initial steps of the civilization of Hitler. Why are Jews, their supporters, their backers, those   who stand for the best of humanity under constant attack? How to fully explain this hatred which arises time and time again from the swamps and bogs of hate, time and time again to wreak havoc and bloodshed upon the land.  

   The veneer of civilization is very thin and is cracked easily. JewHatred is a great tool of deflection.  Even here, in America. where the Tempest tossed were to be welcomed, well, that America is gone. Words of damage and use of violence are now the norm. Every Jamie Raskin will continue to be shut down. The evil synergy of the extreme right and the extreme left will continue to grow apace, swallowing all in its path. Reason. Understanding. Civility. Education. Shared humanity. Disappearing. By the hour. By the minute, by the second. 

Can we stop this? Is there any realistic possibility? At this moment I am extremely pessimistic. When the world forgets the hostages, so many already dead in their brutal captivity, well, where is safety? Where is the 'here' of safety and refuge? Where do we go from here? From all the 'heres' of the world? Nowhere? Where do we go from here? Are any left? I don't know. I myself am seeking a here.  Increasingly, that here is not America. Perhaps Israel. It has always been our refuge, our constant theme of return and the promise of the One Above to keep His people safe. I think I will place my trust in the refuge of His hands. Is there any other choice? -------------------------------------------    

Yitzy - this is such an ugly, filthy world at present. So much so that your purity, your inner and outer beauty were under constant siege.  And so, G-d took you home. Leaving behind your memory. Your inspirations.  Your grieving family and friends. The pain is still sharp. The wound still bleeding. But we know you are safe. Remain so.  

We love you.

Always and forever. Always and forever.  

ORIENTEERING OR ORIENTATION

  Orienteering is defined as an "activity in which participants use a map and compass to navigate between checkpoints along an unfamiliar course (as in the woods)".

Orientation is defined as "familiarization with something".

In the latter it is a case of becoming familiar with something new or something which needs refreshing. Orienteering occurs when one needs to find out exactly where one is, the surrounding area, literal or figurative. Then follows the questions of   what to do now, to move onward, find helpful guiding signs or position markings to avoid going astray. The best way to tackle the task of orienteering is to first attend or find an orientation which will aid the orienteering person to find success. 

Today we are either avoiding, denied, or misinterpreting orientation.  That is a grievous and dangerous error. Orienteering is finding a way along the paths in and of life. It can be fun, exciting or frightening, depending upon one's skills and   available aids. Apparently, most of us are quite unskilled in this activity and cannot successfully, safely, navigate the paths to the exit and the positive goals we wish to achieve. 

Some of us remain lost forever. Others eventually find the way through. However, there remain those within who know the way out but deny it to others, gaining control over them, indoctrinating them in the whys, wherefores and ways of the new reality once they emerge. One in which they remain forever subservient to greedy, demented, immoral evil people who crave control, wealth and power.    

 Democracy will fail and fall. Brilliant minds, far better than mine, have reached the same conclusion and have attempted to warn those who would rather not heed the clarion call of warning. Deborah Lipstadt spoke out: " ...  I do believe that what we’re facing is not just the threat to the Jews in north London or any other place like Manchester, Leeds …  because this is the shutting down of democracy, and with that comes a threat to national stability and security.” 

The trend is obvious, yet once again, we deny, deny, deny. We unsee and unhear anything warning us of what awaits us in a very near future should we continue to do so. We do refuse the burdens of the responsibilities of maintaining democracy finding it easier to cede these responsibilities. We lose the skill of asking proper questions and then, lose the necessity for proper answers. Instead, we find massively flawed individuals to carry the burden for us and stand by as democracy is ravaged and then - gone. We then reap what we sow and do not reap what remained unsown. The consequences are upon us. Nobody else. Reality always catches up.     

It is now time for Hamlet to enter stage right. We echo his iconic question: "To be or not to be".  It is upon us to answer. Do we wish to live in an apocalyptic world, or do we choose option B, a better world demanding much of us to install and maintain? To be or not to be or is it rather a question of the format of the "be"? Do we go low or high? Who are we and who will we be in the future?  

 Most people in the world are uneasy and confused. As such, they are ripe for the picking by those who encourage anomie, hatred and violence.  Scary, certainly, but for Jews I feel it is more, a question of existential survival. Not how we will be, but if we will be - at all. Will we, the Jewish people, continue to exist or will we once again find ourselves in literal peril of extermination? Yet again. Always again. Does it never end? Evidently, the answer is that it does not end. And here is one explanation:  "trying to rationally understand the irrationality of the world’s oldest hatred.

If we start way back, they hated us when we challenged paganism and introduced the idea of one God; then they hated us when they accused us of killing their god .... From these two earthquakes, it was off to the races: two thousand years of using Jews as ultimate scapegoats and as symbols for anything a society hated."

 We cannot continue in this manner. We cannot continue to say, "Well, what else is new? It has been thus from the beginning of time and so it will remain until the end of time. Let's just move on."    That, however, is the absolutely worst approach. To remain passive in the face of a toxic hatred such as we are today, will only serve those who wish to destroy all Jews, exterminate their being and their memory. Forever. 

Tune into the words, actions, the posters, the chants, the invasions. Trace the escalation, from annoying chants to deeming the actions of Hamas justified - or accusing Israel of murdering its own people! These self-empowered and society empowered bigots raise the level of toxicity into the red danger zone. They now brazenly deny the right of Jews to speak, to act, to do, to write, to sing - anything and everything. And why? Because they're Jewish. Do not fall into the 'rationality' of hatred, this and any other, for to do so is to legitimize it. Hate is irrational and 'explaining' it, inevitably ends with laying blame on the victim of this or any hatred. Today's JewHatred has engendered a grin on the face of Hitler as he watches the world from his place in Hell. 

We, and all right thinking, balanced people are called upon to fight this hatred in all manifestations. As a speaker said yesterday, "We must embrace our Jewishness and use it to empower our inner warrior". She is correct. We must not hide. We must not be ashamed. We must not be afraid. Put on your Jewish emblems. Wear a slogan shirt. Your kippah.  Let your mezuzahs hang prominently on your doors. To hide is futile and its only result is to give encouragement to the beasts of humankind.

To everything on earth there is a time. Now is the time to stand tall, straight, proud, and spit in the face of those who would negate you and yours. And indeed, all and any who disagree with them, displease them. Here, again, there is no explaining or understanding, for it resists all rationality.  

These people and all of their ilk are inimical to any likelihood of remaining alive, of this planet surviving the external and internal pressures we place upon it.  If we do not wake up and fight tooth and nail, with all our energy, with every breath, we are doomed. We will reduce ourselves to a state of constant war, down to sticks and stones, and the hatred will continue to generate acid, though all will have forgotten how and why it all began. 

There is so much more to be said but it will have to wait for another day, or two, or three and on. In the meanwhile, what the hell do we do this November for presidential choice. The one is a demented man, a fraud, a traitor, who belongs long ago to have been incarcerated. The other is now collapsing under pressure from vile JewHaters and enemies of democracy. The spoiler is altogether, long ago, gone off the deep end or ridden right off the track. So - where do we 'x' or circle or pull the lever or push the button? The lesser of the three evils, I guess. Shame on this country and shame on its citizens.  

Indeed, we reap what we sow and do not reap the unsown. Heads up, folks, heads up and eyes alert. Danger ahead.

________________________________________

Yitzy, what you must think up there as you gaze down upon these imperfect beings stumbling and falling, refusing lessons which long ago should   have been internalized. Alas, they never were.  

You be safe and keep our love for you close to your heart, as ours is for you.

Always and forever. Always and forever.

    

      

   

 :  

MAYBE, MAYBE, MAYBE, MAYBE

 The title of this blog is borrowed from the title of an iconic oldie from the early years of rock and roll. It was sung by an early girl's group, the Chantels,  a wonderful example of the heartbreak songs of the times. The rich and powerful voice of the lead singer struck clear, straight to the heart. It is a song beloved for its words are relevant to many situations. Its plaintive tone, its repetitive "maybe", how things could have changed strike deep. 

"Maybe, if I pray every night...
 And maybe, if I cry every day
You'll come back 
Oh, maybe

Maybe, if I hold your hand
You will understand..."

Maybe. Maybe.  Maybe.

 Today, we all live in a world of maybe. People seek long and hard trying to find the maybe which would increase understanding of our present status.    Maybe, that maybe we could go back and undo, redo and change the maybe of loss to a maybe of certainty, a positive certainty. That possibility is a nonstarter. Try though we might, the past cannot be undone save in a science fantasy format. The maybes of relevance are the maybes of the present and future. Maybe, if we change our ways, then maybe, maybe, we can reform, for the better. Choose our ways far more carefully, and maybe we can influence things and generate a brighter, better future. Maybe.    

One question being asked today. is whether Israel would have suffered October 7 if Trump had been president. Definitely. The animal members and supporters of Hamas are not deterred by others, driven only by an internal engine of hate and bloodlust, particularly the blood of Jews. Nor is Trump a true lover of Jews, i.e., his penchant to demean any who vote for another, not him.     

An opinion piece of the WSJ written by Joseph Epstein discusses the pathetic half century of pathetic leadership in the United States. While I disagree with him regarding Eisenhower and JFK, he is correct. Our leaders have had huge feet of clay and too often refused to acknowledge that. 

Today the situation is even worse. There is a frightening absence of participation and attention by many adults. They have forsworn the news, the realties so difficult to tolerate, never mind understand. It is the only way, they feel, to maintain sanity in an increasingly troubled insane world. However, we must not, cannot, for this is a very bad idea. If we opt out, send in our letters of resignation, we leave behind those who spew only hate, violence and lies. Toxicity beyond measurement, and a dismal forecast for the future.  

The article by Epstein is entitled "Maybe One Day We'll Get a President We Feel Good About".  "He'd be someone with honor, courage and genuine desire to unite the country. It could be a long wait."  How sad is that? How true is that? Honor. Courage. Decency. The ability to be an adult rather than play or fight like a child. All missing from the battlefield. Instead, tantrums, selfishness, egotism, narcissism., and sheer arrogance and disrespect to all. Public service is a misnomer, for today all that means is a path to wealth and power, especially for the deranged as in Tlaib and Omar or Gaetz or   Greene. Certainly not the desired qualities of a president.  

Our current candidates leave little to be desired. Both are flawed and both should not be running. It is a national shame that this situation exists. However, holding my nose, I will vote. Biden has disappointed me with Israel, but Trump is deranged, dangerous in his temper tantrums and irrationality, and his massive criminality.     

 The corruption within this country, the incompetence and ignorance willing or otherwise, the growing antisemitism and toxic Jew hatred, the indifference of the world to the severe existential problem for Israel, well, all this frightens me. A great deal. The time has come to clear the air and send out messenger pigeons, smoke signals, whatever we need to serve notice on the world that Israel will not go down.  them Whatever it takes Israel will do as it must in order to survive.   History tells us that and thus it will be for all time. No maybe involved. Israel will not be defeated, in any way. Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. We will not forsake or abandon our hostages as the world has done so quickly, their indifference cutting to the quick though not surprising. 

No more violins to be rescued and refurbished, to sing the voices of the butchered. No more. No more. No more echos of the dead and dying. They will be drowned out by the dying voices of those who planned, perpetrated and enabled and then received forgiveness from the oh so very tolerant world. October 7? Say what?  Think not? When was the last time there was a sincere concern for the hostages? Demands for the IRC to meet them? Barely a whisper of their existence and their torment.      

     As stated in Friday's blog: we are here and here we remain. Forever, part and parcel of the nations of the world. That world must learn that we will not tolerate antisemitism no matter how disguised. We will not be forced out of our current countries of residence. We will not go away so as to earn your approval. Nope. No maybe about that.

-----------------------------------------------------------  r         My little grandson.  Now we have to face another holiday without you. Passover. You will not be the youngest now, to recite the Ma-nishtanah. We will miss your voice. We will miss your enthusiasm.  We will miss you. 

Look down at our seder tables and come, stay with us for a while. Just a little while. Yitzy, we live in troubled times but at least we know you are at peace. No more hurt. No more pain. We love you. No maybe about that. 

Always and forever. Always and forever.