From my FaceBook page - October 7 after 3 years

Today's musing minute. Trying to see through the sadness.

October 7 came and went this year, and I did not post about it. I thought about posting but could not overcome the inertia holding me back, a pervasive, nagging sadness.

Truth be told, I don't know what more to say about it, or any reason for saying anything more. The details and the implications of the event are so shattering, so wide ranging that it seems depressingly futile.

Suffice it to say that as time goes by, I become more distressed by what Oct 7 revealed about the mental makeup of large numbers of humans on this planet; about the persistent, irredeemable, diabolical existence of Jew-hatred. A singularly evil phenomenon that still evades my complete understanding; about the abysmal ignorance and lack of concern about all this, about October 7 and its details, and even more about the perverse reactions to it in involving a monstrous inversion of morality, about the doubling down on eggregious double-standards applied to Israel - even while falsifying the sins she is accused of. It goes on and on.

And then there is the failure to recognize that Oct 7. was much more than a display of gleeful barbaric depravity, accompanying a clearly stated larger objective of completely destroying Israel - it was much more than this, because it is part of a much bigger religious ideological agenda to destroy Western Civilization itself. Once again, the Jews are the canary in the coal mine, the litmus test of threats to freedom in any society. [excuse the mixing of metaphors.]

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When a Palestinian student of mine asked me why I was sad and I tried to briefly explain, it became clear that he was ignorant and misinformed, but said quite sincerely that he wanted me to explain it all to him. In the current environment I felt apprehensive but agreed to make a time to meet with him - after the end of the semester. Maybe if one person can gain a bit of understanding, it will spread and do some good.

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In the meantime, i think we are at a crucial point in this struggle for our civilization that could go either way. America, as a representative of certain core values, has endured many serious challenges. Can it do so again? Benjamin Franklin wants to know if we can keep it?