You Know More Hebrew Words Than You Think
5 min read
It’s knowing the world will never be the same again and wondering how we will ever go back to any kind of normalcy.
Being a Jew in America today is watching in horror as videos are posted of demonstrations for Hamas marching on your college campus. It’s contacting the head of your alumni association and the university president to protest allowing these groups on campus, only to be met with appalling silences and empty platitudes.
It’s being a Jewish student at an Ivy League university who went home last week because he was terrified to walk to class.
It’s being locked in a university library because there is a pro-Palestinian group surrounding the building and police are “afraid” to interfere.
It’s signing petitions and resigning from executive boards only to have the demonstrations continue.
It’s sitting in a staff meeting and having a colleague suggest a pro-Palestinian support group for a client. It’s biting your lip to keep yourself from saying something unprofessional in your meeting because you are beyond furious and losing your composure.
It’s having to look in the eyes of the people in your office who are protesting donating money to help Israel because it might cause a controversy. It’s having to go to the office the next day and pretend nothing happened.
It’s having dozens of police cars outside of your children’s day school and watching your child look out the window at drop off with an unfamiliar look of despair flickering in their eyes.
It’s watching the news and wishing you hadn’t watched it. It’s staying away from the news and then feeling guilty for not knowing what is happening.
It is going to demonstrations for Israel and prayer gatherings and feeling like you’ve hardly helped at all.
It’s waking up nauseous in the middle of the night thinking about the hostages. It’s wondering where they are and picturing the kidnapped children. It’s walking into your children’s bedroom and sitting on the floor to watch them sleep as you cry for the parents and children across the ocean.
It’s calling relatives in Israel and asking if they are ok multiple times a day.
It’s making a trip to Israel with equipment and safety gear for soldiers and coming right back to collect more and go back again.
It’s putting up pictures of the hostages all over your city, only to have anti-Israel activists tear them down.
It’s being unable to stop looking at your phone at all hours of the day and night even though you know you should put it down. It’s waiting every day for something to change and being frustrated at night when the news is the same as it was yesterday. It’s waking up and immediately checking to see what happened in Israel while you were sleeping.
It’s wearing your IDF shirt and Jewish star and wondering if you will be attacked for it. It’s knowing the world will never be the same again and wondering how we will ever go back to any kind of normalcy.
It’s looking at a map of Israel being bombarded with hundreds of rockets and listening to people insisting on sending more fuel into Gaza.
It’s praying for our soldiers but trying not to look too closely at their pictures so you don’t have to see how young they actually are. It’s wanting our soldiers to go into Gaza and simultaneously wanting them to go right back home to their families.
It’s feeling the incredible unity of the Jewish people and wondering why it took such a tremendous tragedy to realize we are all one family.
It’s hearing the pain from the families who have lost loved ones or are waiting for their relatives to come home, and it’s being speechless in the face of such unimaginable loss. It’s knowing that you can’t go on with your life the way it was before but not knowing how exactly to go on.
It’s speaking to your mother early in the morning and hearing in her voice that she was up in the middle of the night too. It’s knowing she also could not get the images of the children being held hostage out of her mind, without her having to say a word.
It’s lighting candles and saying Psalms and trying not to talk about the news in front of your children.
It’s being shocked by the people who are silent in the face of our suffering.
It’s exclaiming “mazel tov” in shul for the birth of a new baby and moments later crying silently into your siddur as you pray for our soldiers protecting Israel’s borders.
It’s realizing that Israel is not just the home of every Jew around the world but the insurance policy for each and every one of us. Because saying the Holocaust could never have happened in America sounds naive now.
It’s waking up to a new reality in which we need to fight every day for our right to exist. It’s knowing that we are in a moment of history in which we will all be asked: Did you speak up for Israel and defend its right to fight against terror, no matter what the world said?
It’s waking up tomorrow and not giving up, no matter how many petitions and letters and gatherings and donations and trips and prayers it’s going to take. Because we are fighting not only for Israel but for our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.
It’s waking up in the middle of the night and hearing that faint whisper in your heart that says: the Jewish people need you. And to realize that you can no longer ignore that whisper.
In the comment section below, share what you think it means to be a Jew in America today.
Read more about if Jewish Lives Matter.
The human DNA creates 22 amino acids
and these have exactly the shape of the 22 letters of the Hebrew ‘aleph-bet.
We need leaders - who will clearly teach and present to all media venues and outlets - including the "UN" - as well as antisemitic demonstrators - that Jewish lives have mattered - since the time of Abraham. G-D - also told Abraham - those who bless you - will be blessed - and those who curse you - will be cursed. And - since G-D gave us the Written Torah 3500 years ago - and gave the Jewish People/Converts Nation - the whole of the Land of Canaan - FOREVER! BTW - much of the world since then - has believed in the ONE G-D - of the Written Torah. So - what part of what G-D said - don't you understand? Those who ignore this - should be asked - are you now calling the G-D we believe did this - a liar?
It means standing up for what you believe in and being strong while working to educate others about the Jewish people and the state of Israel!
It's when you are notified by your local police that it would be best for everyone if we close our doors of our shul during Friday and Saturday, to remove the mezuzot from our doorposts, and reconsider displaying our chanukiot in our front window because we can't (or I ask won't) protect us from anti-Israel protesters. It's telling us we should cancel our interfaith Holiday Bazaar and breakfast, but doing it anyway.
It's hearing my Grandma Jennie's voice 7 days a week telling me to keep on going and not to give up the fight!
I'm always educating non-Jews about how good the Jews are and trying to keep faith.
The campus hate has been 2 decades in the making .... as we all ignored the group 'Students for Justice in Palestine'. They are on 200 campuses - grown since 2001. They preach hate, that is all.
it means that it's time to get serious about cultivating jewish friendships. my mother was right.
So were my 2 grandmas!
mine too
So true
It’s reading articles like this one with tears flowing down your face because as much as there is nothing new in it- the hard cold reality of seeing it all in print is just so painful.
I thank the Lord for Israel and all that God has done for Israel! I thank the Lord for the Bible, which says that we are to pray for Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem. I fully support Israel in protecting herself against her enemies and fighting for her people for peace in their land.
Being a Jew in America today means realizing that as comfortable as we are (were?), we are still in Exile. We have shuls, schools, kosher supermarkets and restaurants, and many, many other amenities, but this is NOT our home.
Sometimes we need a reminder of this from G-d.
But those doing the reminding will be held accountable at the End of Days....
i'm with you
A éste paso no nos extrañe una "Noche de Cristales Rotos" en USA.
Terrible.....
Estremecedor, este admirable pueblo es digno de todo el apoyo para que no se repita el trágico Holocausto.
Rezaré para que puedan vivir en paz sin miedo a salir a lugares públicos y continúen desarrollando su gran país.
Why should being a Jew in America matter?
Seriously.
There's a Jewish state to live in if your are serious about being a Jew.
America is not that. Never gas been. Never will be.
When you choose to live as tiny minority in a hostile place bad things happen as they have every other place Jews have lived.
And every place sooner or later is hostile to us.
Every place from time to time has been hostile to every minority. Not usually with the same violence as people inflict on us. But still it's just the way it is.
If you're living in the us you're an American. Your Jewishness is your own problem. Ask any goy you know. They'll set you straight.
Not every place and not every people.
The Dharmic World, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains comprise 2.5 billion people and have never once been anti-semitic.
Once this war is over, we need to pivot away from Europe and America and turn instead towards India and China.
In both countries, men have volunteered to fight for Israel.
Friends and allies are out there and we need to cultivate them.
AMERICAN Jews have won almost 1/3 of Anerica's hard science Nobels. We have Freedom of Religion in this country. America is worth fighting for. This episode will pass.
Joseph - ask the Jewish college students - all over America - if they're free to openly practice Judaism at their school. Ask the people who've been arrested for praying outside of an abortion clinic - as well as those who've been dispersed or arrested - for other public religious prayer meetings. Never before - has America experienced such a HUGE increase - in antisemitism and religion in general. It should also be noted that - in the news - it's been questioned WHY - are the Muslims not having a problem with their open praying. We need to stop pretending that - there is no problem - and this will go away.
Pass..doesn’t mean it will ever go away..we are hated, and now it is out in the open.
No matter what happens, everyone hates the Jews. We have always been the scapegoat.
GAS>>>Freudian slip?
Being a Jew in America today means wondering whether or not it will be safe for your 11-year-old son to wear any Chanukah-themed clothing to his public school this December.
Better yet, enroll your son in Jewish classes, so he knows precisely what being a Jew anywhere means. That will give him the inspiriation and strength of conviction to contend with what the outside world sends our way.
I hope these events, which have been eye opening, mark the end of Jewish invovement in Democrat, Progressive and Left wing politics.
We can all see their blatant anti-semitism.
Or perhaps it means enrolling your child in a Jewish school which can give him access to true Jewish history, Jewish thought, Jewish practice, all surrounded by brothers who share his past and his (very bright) future.
Being a Jew means actually BEING a JEW, by embracing all that it means and not just the world's view that Jew = victim. Welcome home! Keep accessing Aish and all its resources!
Being a "proud Jew" is no longer enough, now every man and woman has to be a militant Jew.
Only Militancy will save us now.
But what does that mean?
It means no apologising for Israel; strident defence of our land - it is ours not theirs - every man has to have military training whilst every woman promotes Jewish identity by wearing her tichel.
We have to.become a militarised society, a band of brothers or we shall be lost.
Militarized? Arms are the weapons of Esau's choice; a Jew's weapon is his connection to God through prayer and other means of devotion, connection to God through helping all his children / our Jewish brothers. If we become militarized, what will distinguish us as Jews? What will that do to 3000+ years of our history, to being a light unto the nations, to bringing morality and conscience to the world?
Militarizing would make us just one more power-hungry, empire-building, quick-to-disappear people, of the kind that have stood against us over the centuries.
No, thanks. I think I'll keep my identity as a God-fearing Jew, living a life dictated by God's word; not yours.
With all the pontificating rationale - there seems to be one major thing not being talked about. That is - over the hundreds of years - our Jewish Leadership - has not CLEARLY taught to all peoples and nations - who derive their belief from the Written Torah - that G-D 3500 years ago - gave the Jewish Nation People and Converts - The Land of Canaan/Israel - and it was given FOREVER - to us. It wasn't until 1500 years later - that a new belief of Chr-stianity evolved - and 600 years later - that the Muslim belief evolved. The latter beliefs - slowly eroded the concept - and began claiming this land - as rightfully theirs. Rather than confront this egregious error - FEAR and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS - stopped any refutations. Let's start teaching it again.
We should also remind the other peoples and nations that - as G-D told Abraham - "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you".
And - how many times - G-D HAS saved the Jewish Nation - and the curses that came upon those - who didn't HEED G-D's word. Maybe - it will give them a reason - to reconsider whether they want a blessing - or a curse - from G-D.
Hooray,,,well done
Being a Jew in America today, is learning that institutional antisemitism never went away in the last 80 years since WW2. It exists in the UN, US colleges, Congress, Mass Media, Hollywood elites, some US businesses, in the White House, in the Depts. of Justice, Homeland Security and State, and in a significant portion of the US population. It proves the ADL worldwide survey on antisemitism was at least correct on the conservative side of the numbers. Antisemitism is a virus in the bloodstream of humanity, is based on conspiracy theory fears and political usage, weaponized for political and social unrest. This is our "pre-WW2/Holocaust" wake up call in America. Europe is already lost. This is why Israel exists, by the grace of G-d. My passport has been renewed.
Indeed. Anti Semitism has never really gone away. For a period of time it moved underground. We Jews have always advocated for others. Now I expect people to advocate for me.
Don't hold your breath.
In the UK the already high number of anti Semitic incidents has risen by 1,300% - Read that again, yes, it's gone up by 1,300%! I remember telling my kids when they insisted anti Semitism was just old history and I tried to caution and protect them from that naive view. How I wish I had been wrong. But the truth is that this is another time in our long history when the evil try to wipe us out. They will fail and we will win but the pain goes on as we realise it doesn't matter what type of Jew we label ourselves the monsters will seek to murder you simply for being a Jew. They don't differentiate, just like the Nazis and the Cossacks and on and on through history. That's why we must remember that we Jews are one tribe, one people and an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
I definitely saw myself in this article. I sign petitions and letters to elected officials every chance I get. Many with no reply, a few genuine replies, and one official who shared his annoyance at receiving it from me twice. I’m “on guard” every time I go to my college classes. I see hijabs and hear “Palestine” spoken in groups around campus. I go to bed and wake up thinking of my comfort that the murdered families and hostages no longer have. I see my family and friends taking self defense and weapons classes. A hand gun is close at hand in my home for defense. I post about it all on social media with silent response. Thanks for this article. Now I know I’m not alone, in a tiny bubble.
Amen! I am also praying more, saying Tehillim, learning with 9 learning partners throughout the week and teach Torah, with a focus on a variety of relevant topics. Getting closer to Hashem its all about.
MAM IS AN OCD THERAPIST: i HAVE OCD. BUT i STRONGLY FEEL IT'S JUST NOT USA BUT ALL OVER THE WORLD: WE JEWS ARE MOST PERSECUTED BUT SOME SAY MUSLIMS ARE MOST PERSECUTED SOME SAY PROTESTANTS-CATHOLICS ARE MOST PERSECUTED (NOW DON'T KNOW WHAT IS THE TRUTH) BUT WHEN A PALESTINIAN [OF WHATEVER RELIGION] COUGHS THE WHOLE WORLD COMES TO KNOW. BUT WHEN A JEW BLEEDS (A JEW IS MURDERED) , ONLY THE FAMILY OF THE JEW COMES TO KNOW ABOUT IT!!ONLY AFTER THE SECOND HOLOCAUST HAS BEEN STARTED BY HAMAS THAT IT IS IN NEWS!!: THEREFORE IN QOL INDIA WE READ "IT TAKES MORE THAN A CRY OF PAIN TO BE HEARD"
I feel exactly the same way. It’s been stressful since the second intifada but I’m extremely tense and frightened now. I find myself singing Ha’tikvah throughout the day and night. Israel is never out of my thoughts. I wish there was something more I could do but have some solace in believing Hashem will have this work out for us. I hope my faith will increase.
It’s Democratic, not Democrat by the way. And my friends DO NOT side with or march with anyone who sides with Hamas or shouts “Free Palestine”.
In any case, can’t we all put political differences aside and support Israel?
The sad thing about being a Jew in America is that the war against radical Islamic terrorism is here too, but hasn't manifested yet as it has in Israel. Most Americans have stuck their heads back in the sand. Business as usual. "Oh look: turkeys on sale for Thanksgiving, shiny ornaments going up for Christmas." They cry peace, peace when there is no peace. We too easily forget that Jihad calls the U.S. the GREAT satan. if they perpetrate this level of evil against the little satan, what's in store for us?
We are at war, but no one seems to know this yet.
I made aliya alone at the age of 16 and a half fifty two years ago so my experience of being a Jew in America was completely different from what you are going through now. I hear your fear, desperation and your total uncertainty of what the future for you as a Jew in America will be. I beg you to come home. It may sound absurd with the current situation being what it is, but there is no safer place for a Jew than in Israel. My son and son in law are both out there protecting us.
Wow this is so powerful I have never felt so proud to be Jewish so full of hope that G-d will speedily redeem us as He has promised in the Torah. Amen.
Based on various shirim I have attended, and much study of Tanach sources, I have the sense we just entered the "End of Days" conflict known as "the war of Gog uMagog". As a Jewish US Army veteran, and historical scholar, I also see this war escalating as all the biblical players are in place in the region that supports that view from Tanach. Time will tell, maybe in 6 to 9 months or so. Bad news: it will be uncomfortable; Good News: Israel will still be standing and win.
For years I have been warning American Jews in sites like these that Holocaust II was well under way there, and that all of you should get out of that country ASAP and come home to our ONLY homeland, Israel, as I did over 52 years ago from NYC. Now the Holocaust is upon you - and yet you still stay there??! What is wrong with you??! YOU need to be here and WE need you ALL here!
I and the majority of Americans voted for an American citizen with strong plans for the US, a man who was largely estranged from his Kenyan Muslim father. The Obama administration was generally a good time in the US. Obama’s administration was in charge when the US military found Osama bin Laden and Obama gave the order for the raid in which the rasha Bin Laden was killed.
Many college students know little about the history of Israel, so they respond with emotion to the sad pictures of children in Gaza. One can be completely pro-Israel and still feel sympathy for children caught in a war zone. The Biden administration and most Congressional Democrats support Israel. If you want to make a difference in US politics, donate to primary candidates running against Omar, Tlaib et Al
It means to put away your beautiful magan david necklace that was a gift to you because your afraid to wear it in public.
Dear Rivka: I still wear my kippah and tzitzit out. I will not let this change me.
I'm with you. I have my star and my chai and if they are going to beat me up for it, so be it.
I put away my beautiful magan david necklace and wear my late mother's, which is larger and more beautiful than mine. I will not be intimidated.
I also plan to learn how to shoot.
My tears flow all day and all night, my heart is not here in America my heart is in Israel with my people. I feel the fear when rockets sirens go off... I hear the cries of my Jewish mothers for their children, I feel the hurt and pain of a Jewish wife who has just had to say good by to her husband as he goes into Gaza.... My Jewish body may be in America but my heart and soul is in Israel and with every one of my people that are fighting this fight for our survival. Yet among all the hurt and pain I know that any nation of people that comes against Israel comes against our G-d of Israel and no nation of people can stand against HIM..... HE WINS..... they lose... its that simple. Blessings over all those fighting to secure our Land and protect our people... Am Yisrael Chai
In my community, we are all connected to family and friends in Israel. 9 of the American Jews that grew up in our Orthodox shul, are in uniform fighting in Gaza as we speak. The stories coming back to us, below the media's radar, indicate small and large miracles are happening. Many Jews are returning, lighting candles, praying, donating, helping each other. This is what Hashem wants us to do ALL the time, going forward.
This was beautifully and well said. Unlike you, however, I do stare into the faces of the Israeli soldiers. I look deep into their eyes. It is so very painful for us, as a family of Jews. to lose one of “our” brave children. Thank you for this. You nailed it! Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱❤️🙏🏼💪🏼
Speaking as someone who lives in England, it seems to me that you guys are starting to experience what we have experienced in England for over 15 years. I can tell you that when this conflict ends, the antisemitism will die down, and you'll think life is going back to normal, but the next time Israel is attacked, the antisemitism will return and it will be even worse than this time. That's the pattern. I never understood why so many American Jews were so embedded into left wing politics, because for British Jews it has been clear for years that the left wing is the friend of antisemitism. The far left shout loudly for every cause you can think of, and some causes you didn't even think of, but they have a remarkable blind spot when it comes to Jews.
Well said. I, too, could never understand why our liberal progressive Jews fought for every underdog except their own state and people. Now those Jews who fought for all the other causes are in shock wondering why their “friends” aren’t standing beside them.
Its called assimilation, running from their identity and heritage. That is what a 2,000 year exile does to many of our brothers and sisters. Think of it as a collective "Stockholm Syndrome". We can run, but we cannot hide from Hashem's providence.
Stephen Fry, Simon, is a horrifying example of this. He's been quiet since October 7th.
The loaded semantics of the phrase, “To be a Jew in America,” necessitates precise dissection. “To be a Jew” is a reality, not an identity. One can elect to become a Jew, but never the inverse. In America, one can change their name, body, religion, political ideology, beliefs, and some say even their gender and race- but one can never shed their Jewish identity. To be a Jew is, was, and always will be, to be a pariah. “Avraham Ha’Ivri” means “Abraham the transcendent” meaning Abraham stood alone against a corrupt society. Jews are called “Hebrews/Ivrim - [the] transcendents” because we are forever the counterpoint to corruption in society. America strives to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”, a safe haven for pariahs. Alas, this land of the free is not a home for the Jew.
Jesus was a rabble rouser who tried to turn Jews against Judaism. Throughout history, Jews have died because of him and their refusal to accept him as their god.
From pogroms, to Crusades to the Spanish Inquisition to the Cossacks and Chielmnitski, an evil, and depraved person, the Jews have suffered plenty over him.
So DO NOT call him a Jew. If you believe he represents Judaism, you are truly confused and misguided.
You expressed it perfectly. I feel the same way. How many Jews have been killed across the millennia "in JC's name"?
Debbie, in your last three paragraphs, you express my thoughts and feelings more precisely and eloquently than I can. May HaShem hear our prayers, protect us, and strengthen us to do whatever we can do!
I live in a small Oregon city on the coast. Strangely, I knew this is where we are headed. Last year, I met with a Rabbi in Eugene and made it clear: IF any Jew feels unsafe in Eugene because of evil lunatics, they are welcome on the Coast. MANY of us will take them in and protect them. This conflict must be seen for what it is; Good vs evil, Hashem vs Hasatan. We have been promised a great outcome. Let us pray and remind our G-d of that promise and may it happen very soon.
Thank you Dvorak. You nailed it!
Being a Jew in America means putting a "We Stand with Israel" sign in your front yard, and hoping no one vandalizes it.
Add the sign "protected by Smith & Wesson".
Why don't we Jews have "groups" of demonstrators ? Why are we only at the mercy of other groups? Why don't WE have a JEWISH LIVES MATTER group shouting back? Why do we cower and hide and fear to shout that we have as much right to live as the other??? It stinks that Jewish students lock themselves into a Library rather than getting out and shouting back? Yes -- we, too, can have sticks, knives, guns, whatevers to threaten in return when accosted!! But no, we run and hide. That's how we give these insane bigots thei power -- we ALLOW them the freedom to push us into the ground! We don't shout back. That's why "Never Again" is happening NOW! WHY doesn't Aish, Hillel, and other organizations help organize Jewish College Students to rally against bigotry?
I am ready to fight back. I am furious.
I am armed already, trained (ex US Army). My family was also trained in the use of firearms.
Dvorah, I agree with you 100%!!! When I saw the Jews locked up in the library, I thought: I wonder how this would have played out if it were, say, black people who were being harassed. Would they have cowered and begged for protection? Absolutely not and rightly so. We Jews are people of the book. We study, invent, teach, etc. It’s time we learn how to fight back! 🇮🇱❤️🙏🏼💪🏼
In complete agreement.
We don't have these groups because someone is always asking 'others' to organize a group, a demonstration, a march. If it is important to you, reach out personally to your local Jewish organization, to Jewish schools in your area, etc and 'be the change you want to see'. Asking why we don't have what you consider to be important, while posting comments as your most active contribution, is not going to get us where you want to go. Get out front and lead!
Am Yisrael Chai!
As stated I am not Jewish but I stand tall with them. I wear a Star of David and a Cross and I will not hide either. I am proud to stand beside the Jewish people!
Hear! Hear!
Anni- you are an inspiration!
Good for you! And thank you for doing so!
The Nazi website is the other way......
I was not born Jewish. It’s time we stand up and speak up for their rights! They are good and honest, they love their families and neighbors just as we do! They did not cause this war! The hamas are fighting a war they can’t win! They are evil people using children and elders as shields. Quit believing the propaganda you are hearing and find out the truth through listening to Israel! Pray for our Jewish neighbors! They need us! They need our prayers!
I will support the Jewish people!
I have always been proud to be Jewish. I also love Israel I have lived there and have a daughter who served there. I’m shocked at the hate in this country usa for hate of the Jewish people.I’m shocked that some of my friends have said nothing. I’m scared now with all the Muslim in the states. I’m scared to walk around and someone will look at me and know I’m Jewish. I’m sad I want to wear my Star of David and not worry. I’m sad I told my daughter do not show your Star of David when u go to New York.
Do you know what women are doing now?
Wearing their tichel!
Bowing down to bullying only invites more bullying.
Take advantage of the Second Amendment, go to a gun club and learn how to defend yourself but never, ever hide who you are.
It's about time.
Too many Jews and non-Jews are silent sitting on the sidelines. It is time to take a side and shout out. Hamas' terroristic action is a religious action against ALL dimis. Try to read the history, cry and shout out.
Being a Jew in America today means trying to find moments of peace in between feelings of deep sadness and anger, fear and courage, despair and hope. It's doing my job every day, a job I love, while feeling at times that it doesn't really matter much if evil people want to murder my entire Jewish family. It's fearing for my children, while taking comfort in their commitment to Israel and the Jewish nation writ large. Being a Jew in America today is painful, but that pain currently pales in comparison to what my Israeli brothers and sisters are feeling. Then again, their pain is my pain, because we are family. And yet, I'm so blessed to be Jewish, and my Jewish pride is what's ultimately keeping hope alive. עם ישראל
!חי
The United States is one of the least anti-Semitic societies in the world. But being openly Jewish here still seems to mark one with a stamp of strangeness.
The world has been this way for two thousand years. Tragically, frighteningly, but realistically, what we are seeing now HAS been the world’s “normalcy” throughout history. We’ve lived in an anomaly, a bubble for just under 80 years. The facade of civility and “tolerance.” The walls of that bubble have grown thinner and thinner until they burst, on October 7.