I always find New Year's messages a little difficult, partly because I'm usually so busy around this time of year that it's tough to stop and take stock of things -- to do a "spiritual accounting," as the Jewish phase goes ("cheshbon nefesh" ).
But let me say this: first, I am grateful for all the wonderful blessings our family has enjoyed. My daughter's bat mitzvah; my sister's new baby (my nephew), and now my own new baby boy, Rafael Micah. So many happy events in one year.
Then there is the war, which began a year ago and has haunted our lives, even here in the United States. I am grateful to have been able to travel to Israel often to write about things firsthand. Today, I feel confident of Israel's victory.
The U.S. election is looming, and while I usually feel nervous during election season, this time I am fairly confident that Trump will win. That will bring a kind of vindication, and open new possibilities, but there will be new challenges.
My own personal goals are to get my expanding waistline under control -- I have to figure out a new system, since I eat well and exercise. I also need to manage my finances more carefully in this inflationary environment.
I wish victory for all the forces of good in the world, comfort for the bereaved, and health and good fortune and love for all of the people in my life, especially those searching for the right partner, which is the greatest blessing in life.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
