2025 Off to a Rough Start. We Can Hope for Better

A long-time friend in Montreal texted me on Groundhog Day, shocked by recent unfolding stories in the U.S. and inquiring about my well-being. He suggested that I move back to Canada, and I jokingly replied that if I waited long enough, I would just be moving to another state.

We are only one month into 2025, and I am struggling in my retirement to remain optimistic with all that’s happened. On a personal level, this year has been challenging.

It began when I awoke in New Orleans on New Years Day to the news that a disgruntled military veteran, inspired by antisemitic ideology of the Islamic State, mowed down and injured or killed dozens of early morning revelers on famous Bourbon Street. I had walked that street the day before and had to look in my son’s room in the morning to reassure myself that he had returned home from his night out.

A week later, the wildfire conflagration and catastrophe in Los Angeles led to the destruction of over 16,000 residences and structures, including my other son’s home in Altadena. At least 29 people have died overall, and tens of thousands of people are displaced with limited available housing. Many are uninsured or underinsured, and many have lost their livelihoods. The financial cost will be billions of dollars, but the emotional impact has no bounds on those directly and indirectly affected.

As the fires burned, Martin Luther King Day, for only the second time, converged with Inauguration Day on January 20. The traditional activities celebrating the life and accomplishments of Dr. King were overshadowed in the news by the inauguration of Donald Trump as our old/new 45th/47th President.

Much has already been written about the President’s various speeches on inauguration day; his controversial executive orders resulting in chaos in many government-funded programs; and his unconditional pardons of virtually all the? convicted, many violent, rioters who committed one or more offenses by invading the US Capital on January 6, 2021.

And then the purges, punishments, threats and payback began, both within and outside the government, promising to deprive the public of seasoned and dedicated workers who help people navigate the vicissitudes of life. ?

In the midst of? this, we had the Senate confirmation hearings for nominees for Cabinet level and other leadership positions in the new administration. The approach of some in responding to questions was predictable -the weaving and bobbing of the candidates’ responses was vertiginous . The expectation is that the full Senate will approve most of these nominees. Their views and roles in policy making and execution will affect all of us, for better or worse.

Which brings me to International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Every January 27 since 2005, the world observes this day honoring the 6 million Jews and millions of others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis before and during WWII. This year, the day commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau WW II concentration/death camp in Poland.

Two years ago, around this date, I wrote an opinion piece about my then 96-old mother, a survivor of the Holocaust who, along with my father, was briefly imprisoned in Auschwitz in 1944.

She died not long after that piece was published, but I am glad that she did not have to witness what has transpired since Hamas attacked, murdered, and kidnapped Israelis and others in an unprovoked attack on October 7, 2023. She would not have been surprised by the rise in antisemitic attitudes and incidents since then, aided and abetted by social media.

In the one-year period following the Hamas attack, there were over 10,000 incidents reported nationally, an over 200 percent increase from the same period the previous year.

Concurrently, in the first half of 2024, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents also rose 70 percent nationally.

I could cite more data, but the picture is clear: the latest flare up of the regional conflict in the Middle East has exposed festering, latent antisemitism and religious hatred in the US ??(and globally). Religious hatred is like a wildfire that can never be extinguished. The recent limited scope, short-term cease-fire deal (not a peace deal) between Israel and Hamas is unlikely to temper that hatred and may yet fall apart.

With all this gloomy news, how do we prepare for the future? None of us have a crystal ball, but we need to remain as optimistic as we can and still have hope for better days.

Hope that we will be able to prevent more mass murders, whether by terrorist groups or disaffected loners.

Hope that we will continue to mitigate climate change and its impacts and help those who have suffered its consequences.

Hope that our new administration and congress will pursue policies and take actions that will make our country and the world a better and safer place than it already is to live, work and raise a family.

Hope that there will be permanent peace in the Middle East and other places of armed conflict.

Hope that overt bigotry and religious hate in the US and globally will decline.

A recent article provides guidance on how to enhance our personal resilience and preparedness by hoping for the best. At the same time, we must also expect the worst. This mindset balances optimism and realism. Taking this approach, we can maintain a positive outlook and aspire to favorable outcomes, ?while concurrently preparing for potential challenges or setbacks.

This attitude helps manage expectations, reduces stress, and ensures resilience in the face of trials and tribulations. It reflects both hope and vigilance—acknowledging that things might go well but also being ready for setbacks.

As part of the process, we need to nourish our souls by:

• staying in touch with family and friends
• doing the best we can in all we do
• helping people as much as we can through donations and volunteering?
• speaking out against misguided policies
• not giving in to hate.

There is a flag flying in my neighborhood that reads: “Hate Can't Make Us Great.”

We all need to take that to heart and steadfastly proclaim that mutual respect, compassion for all and speaking truth to power will make our country even better than it already is.

#Resilience #Hope #Leadership #Unity #HolocaustRemembrance #NoToHate