Hanukkah Light in the Darkness - Day 7

We need more light in the darkness.?

The following essays are my inner thoughts in these dark days, published for the celebration of Hanukkah, the holiday we, Jewish people, celebrate for the past 2187 years (yes, in 164 BCE the Jewish people, in the Land of Israel, also known as Zion, were able to yet again have their religion freedom in the temple).

Day 7 - Can I make a difference?

People are losing their lives way too early. They have not yet made their dreams come true. Have not married and created families. Children are here for a fleeting moment, being taken from their parents as pure angels. They never harmed anyone. They never even got to know what harm means.

And then there are the heroes around us. Those who jump into the fire without any hesitation. Those who sacrifice their own lives to rescue others. Those who endure prolonged hardships, keeping their sanity and faith for the days after. We hear stories about these heroes. And we see their faces and names. And many heroes are hidden, we might never know their stories.?

So where am I in all this??

When I hear the countless stories of Holocaust survivors, the things they had to do to stay alive, the horrors they have been put through, I always think what would I have done? Would I be strong enough like them to stay alive? When I read stories of war heroes, men and women who charged through enemy lines, fought heroically and selflessly to eradicate the evil enemy, to save their nation, I always wonder whether I could have done it myself??

And I always come to the same conclusion - No. I would not have survived the Holocaust. I would not be able to save anyone. I would be too weak and play it safe. I would lose faith and would not fight hard enough.?

I pray I will never have to come to this situation.

But my brothers and sisters are in this situation. They are fighting for the safety of our nation and for the State of Israel, it’s right to exist, and it’s right to live peacefully.?

So where am I in this? How can I help?

Most days I feel helpless. Propaganda and lies are spreading around the world faster than fire in a dry field. I try to fight it but people don’t want to listen. It feels like people are in love with their own ignorance, that they can’t see white from black. Antisemitism is knocking on our doors, so I am trying to fight that too. Not very successfully I might say. Chants and rants are everywhere, calling for my people, and my eradication.?

Some days I feel that my contribution is pointless. That I spend my time on work that does not help in any way to the existential crisis we are facing. That the danger is so acute, that many things we deal with have no real meaning, their priority is miniscule.?

But there isn’t much else I can do. And working distracts me from the daily bad news, for some time at least.

So I pray. I pray to the universe, to good energies that might change the winds of things. I pray and hope that this will help. With millions of other prayers around the world. With millions of other voices that want peace.

Most days, that’s all I feel I can do.