In this past year of change, my mind and heart have overflowed with people. People I think of and pray for, and sometimes cry with, people with names and faces, people who died without saying goodbye to those they loved, families in difficulty, even going hungry, because there’s no work.
Sometimes, when you think globally, you can be paralyzed: There are so many places of apparently ceaseless conflict; there’s so much suffering and need. I find it helps to focus on concrete situations: You see faces looking for life and love in the reality of each person, of each people. You see hope written in the story of every nation, glorious because it’s a story of daily struggle, of lives broken in self-sacrifice. So rather than overwhelm you, it invites you to ponder and to respond with hope.
These are moments in life that can be ripe for change and conversion. Each of us has had our own “stoppage,” or if we haven’t yet, we will someday: illness, the failure of a marriage or a business, some great disappointment or betrayal. As in the Covid-19 lockdown, those moments generate a tension, a crisis that reveals what is in our hearts.
In every personal “Covid,” so to speak, in every “stoppage,” what is revealed is what needs to change: our lack of internal freedom, the idols we have been serving, the ideologies we have tried to live by, the relationships we have neglected.
When I got really sick at the age of 21, I had my first experience of limit, of pain and loneliness. It changed the way I saw life. For months, I didn’t know who I was or whether I would live or die. The doctors had no idea whether I’d make it either. I remember hugging my mother and saying, “Just tell me if I’m going to die. I got taken to a hospital by a prefect who realized mine was not the kind of flu you treat with aspirin. Straightaway they took a liter and a half of water out of my lungs, and I remained there fighting for my life. The following November they operated to take out the upper right lobe of one of the lungs. I have some sense of how people with Covid-19 feel as they struggle to breathe on a ventilator.
I remember especially two nurses from this time. I learned later that following the first examination by the doctor, after he left she told the nurses to double the dose of medication he had prescribed — basically penicillin and streptomycin — because she knew from experience I was dying. Because of her regular contact with sick people, she understood better than the doctor what they needed, and she had the courage to act on her knowledge.
They taught me what it is to use science but also to know when to go beyond it to meet particular needs. And the serious illness I lived through taught me to depend on the goodness and wisdom of others.
This theme of helping others has stayed with me these past months. In lockdown I’ve often gone in prayer to those who sought all means to save the lives of others. So many of the nurses, doctors and caregivers paid that price of love, together with religious and ordinary people whose vocations were service. We return their love by grieving for them and honoring them.
Whether or not they were conscious of it, their choice testified to a belief: that it is better to live a shorter life serving others than a longer one resisting that call. That’s why, in many countries, people stood at their windows or on their doorsteps to applaud them in gratitude and awe. They are the saints next door, who have awakened something important in our hearts, making credible once more what we desire to instill by our preaching.
They are the antibodies to the virus of indifference. They remind us that our lives are a gift and we grow by giving of ourselves, not preserving ourselves but losing ourselves in service.
With few exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the well-being of their people first, acting decisively to protect health and to save lives. The exceptions have been some governments that shrugged off the painful evidence of mounting deaths, with inevitable, grievous consequences. But most governments acted responsibly, imposing strict measures to contain the outbreak.
Yet some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions — as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom! Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals. It means having a regard for all citizens and seeking to respond effectively to the needs of the least fortunate.
It is all too easy for some to take an idea — in this case, for example, personal freedom — and turn it into an ideology, creating a prism through which they judge everything.
The coronavirus crisis may seem special because it affects most of humankind. But it is special only in how visible it is. There are a thousand other crises that are just as dire, but are just far enough from some of us that we can act as if they don’t exist. Think, for example, of the wars scattered across different parts of the world; of the production and trade in weapons; of the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing poverty, hunger and lack of opportunity; of climate change. These tragedies may seem distant from us, as part of the daily news that, sadly, fails to move us to change our agendas and priorities. But like the Covid-19 crisis, they affect the whole of humanity.
Look at us now: We put on face masks to protect ourselves and others from a virus we can’t see. But what about all those other unseen viruses we need to protect ourselves from? How will we deal with the hidden pandemics of this world, the pandemics of hunger and violence and climate change?
If we are to come out of this crisis less selfish than when we went in, we have to let ourselves be touched by others’ pain. There’s a line in Friedrich Hölderlin’s “Hyperion” that speaks to me, about how the danger that threatens in a crisis is never total; there’s always a way out: “Where the danger is, also grows the saving power.” That’s the genius in the human story: There’s always a way to escape destruction. Where humankind has to act is precisely there, in the threat itself; that’s where the door opens.
This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities — what we value, what we want, what we seek — and to commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of.
God asks us to dare to create something new. We cannot return to the false securities of the political and economic systems we had before the crisis. We need economies that give to all access to the fruits of creation, to the basic needs of life: to land, lodging and labor. We need a politics that can integrate and dialogue with the poor, the excluded and the vulnerable, that gives people a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We need to slow down, take stock and design better ways of living together on this earth.
The pandemic has exposed the paradox that while we are more connected, we are also more divided. Feverish consumerism breaks the bonds of belonging. It causes us to focus on our self-preservation and makes us anxious. Our fears are exacerbated and exploited by a certain kind of populist politics that seeks power over society. It is hard to build a culture of encounter, in which we meet as people with a shared dignity, within a throwaway culture that regards the well-being of the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled and the unborn as peripheral to our own well-being.
To come out of this crisis better, we have to recover the knowledge that as a people we have a shared destination. The pandemic has reminded us that no one is saved alone. What ties us to one another is what we commonly call solidarity. Solidarity is more than acts of generosity, important as they are; it is the call to embrace the reality that we are bound by bonds of reciprocity. On this solid foundation we can build a better, different, human future.
SEE WHO PENNED THIS OP-ED: HINT - NOT A RABBI!
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https://spectator.us/reasons-why-the-2020-presidential-election-is-deeply-puzzling/
Newt Gingrich believes the 2020 election may be the “biggest presidential theft” since 1824 and is urging state legislatures to “demand recounts.”
“The more data comes out on vote anomalies that clearly are not legitimate the more it looks like 2020 may be the biggest Presidential theft since Adams and Clay robbed Andrew Jackson in 1824,” the former House speaker said in a Friday tweet.
On Saturday morning, Gingrich encouraged Republican state legislators to read an analysis from Patrick Basham, founding Director of the Democracy Institute and senior fellow of the Cato Institute. Basham lists ten “peculiarities” which he believes lack “compelling explanations,” including swing states halting their ballot counts on election night and removing observers, statistically abnormal vote counts, and “historically low absentee ballot rejection rates.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/08/researchers-question-reliability-of-dominion-voting-systems-election-systems-software/
MSM long complained, echoing experts, that Dominion voting machines are suspect for fraud.
That changed when Biden "won" which makes Trump a "deranged liar" when he says the same thing.
Former Clinton adviser Dick Morris said Monday that Democrat presidential voter turnout was disproportionately larger than the population gains from 2012 to 2020 in key cities where President Trump is disputing election tallies.
Appearing on “Greg Kelly Reports,” Morris pointed out that the vote for Joe Biden in Phoenix was 48% more than Barack Obama received in 2012, when the city only witnessed a 14% gain in population. Similarly, he said, Atlanta saw a 30% larger vote for Biden than Obama in 2012, despite a 9% gain in population, and Detroit had a 10% higher vote total for Biden than Obama while seeing no increase in population at all.
“And the only way that increase can be justified is by ballot stuffing,” Morris said. “The non-Democratic cities didn’t realize that kind of gain. And even cities like New York and Chicago, that were not in swing states, didn’t realize that kind of a gain. It was pure ballot stuffing with absentee and mail-in ballots.”
Morris admitted that Democrat antipathy toward Trump could account for increased voter turnout overall, from 135 million in 2016 to 150 million earlier this month. But it doesn’t explain why the turnout was significantly higher in the states where claims of fraud, particularly in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia, are being made, but not across the board in other Democrat-controlled cities.
“Sure it did,” Morris said. “But in these particular cities and in these particular states, where Biden won by 80,000 in one state, or 20,000 in another, these kinds spikes in turnout are indicative of ballot stuffing. The secretary of state in Michigan sent out 7.7 million absentee ballots, and got huge numbers back, and that permitted them to stuff the ballot box with phony ballots. 200,000 absentee ballots in Pennsylvania, alone, were counted.”
A member of the Hasidic Lev Tahor cult has escaped Israel & traveled to Guatemala, his lawyer said today, 6 months after he was indicted for abusive behavior against 9 & 10 year old children.
Rabbi Elazar Rompler, 46, was charged in May @ Jerusalem District Court with assaulting & abusing children mentally + physically in 2009-2011, when he served as principal of a school belonging to the fringe community in Canada.
A former cult member said Rompler, who was in charge of kashrut, would starve children by forbidding them to eat almost everything. He also barred some taking medicine — even when urgently needed — without his written approval.
In one case, according to the indictment, Rompler had a child stripped, tied up & beaten for several hours over suspicion he stole money from a charity box.
In another, he's accused of instructing other teachers to hold a child down & beat him repeatedly for allegedly lying about needing eyeglasses.
Rompler left a 17-page letter with his lawyer, Gabriel Tronisoili, who updated the court on the development today, shortly before a hearing scheduled in the case.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Rompler managed to leave Israel.
Lev Tahor, which has 230 members, has frequently relocated to escape criminal accusations.
In 2014 it moved from Canada to Guatemala following mistreatment of children including abuse & child marriages. In 2017, members are believed to have crossed the border to Mexico, though they've since returned to Guatemala.
Rompler was arrested in Dec 2019 after arriving in Israel for unspecified reasons.
But despite having a Tzavaat Ikuv order barring him from leaving Israel, Rompler managed to travel to Guatemala, claiming he wouldn’t receive a fair trial & that he wants to see his family.
“He emphasizes this isn’t disrespect of the court, but in light of everything to do with Lev Tahor, he won’t receive a fair trial & forced thru prolonged legal proceedings under restrictive conditions, unable to see his wife & kids,” Tronisoili wrote the court.
Tronisoili asked the court to delay the hearing. Prosecutors asked for 30 days to look into the matter.
Other Lev Tahor members were previously indicted in the US over child abuse, including kidnappings & underage marriages. Arranged marriages between teen girls & old men are common. The group shuns technology & females wear black robes from head to toe, leaving only faces exposed. It also rejects the State of Israel, saying the Jewish nation can only be restored by God, not humans.
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn today met state prosecutor pick Amit Aisman & told him though sexually explicit comments he made to female subordinates are unacceptable, they don't disqualify him from a senior role
Nissenkorn intends to bring the appointment of Aisman, currently Haifa District prosecutor, for govt approval at next week’s cabinet meeting
The issue concerns an incident 12 years ago & another 6 years ago, in which Aisman made sexually explicit remarks to subordinates. Justice Ministry Director-general Emi Palmor ruled though inappropriate for a civil servant, the comments didn't constitute sexual harassment. Aisman was instead warned in internal disciplinary proceedings
The minister impressed on Aisman “importance of independent rule of law in a democracy & fundamental duty of independent gatekeepers”
Aisman expressed “deep regret for things said” & committed to “respectable discourse in his position & in general”
The meeting came a day after a committee headed by AG Avichai Mandelblit selected Aisman from 10 candidates to fill the position, vacant since Shai Nitzan ended his term in 2019. Mandelblit is acting state prosecutor
Deciding on Aisman, the committee considered the remarks to find they “don't characterize Aisman’s work + behavior” & “don't prevent him to serve as state attorney” They also point to Aisman’s regret over the incidents
Israel Women’s Network calls the selection “improper”
Aisman’s appointment to “such an important position as state prosecutor & making light of blatant sexual remarks to legitimize the choice is improper” the women’s rights lobby said
Also today, Haaretz reports in 2015, Aisman opposed criminal proceedings vs a senior policeman accused of sexually harassing a subordinate
Aisman was the only one at a meeting to charge Roni Rittman to express doubt on the accuser's credibility
The case vs Lahav 433 anti-corruption head Rittman, was closed when he resigned
The State Attorney pushed back on the report, noting the then AG & state prosecutor didn’t believe the accusations warranted charges
Aisman’s nomination must still be approved by govt, which teeters on collapse, speculation rampant elections will be called in days. If Aisman's not approved, Mandelblit's expected to take the matter to the High Court, Haaretz reports
After Aisman, the leading candidate's Deputy State Prosecutor Shlomo Lemberger
Part of the coalition agreement, Likud & Blue + White put off senior nominations they're likely to clash over. But in Oct, Gantz said it's time to end “chaos” in govt & fill senior law enforcement posts manned by stopgap temps
Nissenkorn began the process to select a new state attorney, including convening the committee, despite no agreement with Likud
Bibi, on trial in 3 corruption cases, is unlikely to want Blue + White’s preferred pick
Aisman was a prosecutor who worked on cases vs Bibi & also preferred choice of the previous state prosecutor, Nitzan, who recommended Bibi be charged
Notice how the Con Man with the Kippa, Avichai Mandelblit, picks predator Aisman from the whole pool of applicants because he has the deepest anti-Bibi credentials
A senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in a drone strike along the Syria-Iraq border, according to widely circulated reports in Arabic media Monday.
Iraqi security sources told Saudi al-Arabiya News that a drone killed Muslim Shahdan, a senior commander in IRGC, in a targeted strike on his car.
Other Iraqi sources told Lebanon's al-Hadath that 3 of his companions perished with him.
It was the latest in a rapid escalation in military action over the past weeks that saw a top Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated & air strikes that killed Iranian troops in Syria. The attacks have all been attributed to Israel.
Iraqi security officials separately said Shahdan’s vehicle was carrying weapons & was hit shortly after it crossed the border from Iraq into Syria, Reuters reported.
Israel & the US target Iran + its proxies for attempting to smuggle weapons via Iraq to Syria-Lebanon to be used against the Jewish state.
IDF chief Aviv Kohavi said Israel will not let up its campaign aimed at keeping Iran-backed fighters from gaining a foothold in Syria.
The campaign has included 1000s of airstrikes on Iranian targets & weapons convoys, according to accounts from officials speaking anonymously.
However, Israeli strikes on the Syria-Iraq border are more rare.
Last week, Iran warned that it would bring an end to what it called Israel’s practice of “hit & run” strikes in Syria.
Tehran made the threat following a major Israeli assault in response to what Jerusalem said was a failed Iranian explosives attack on the Golan Heights.
Shahdan’s assassination comes days after the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsin Fakhrizadeh, in an ambush on his convoy. Israel's widely reported to be the perpetrator of the targeted killing, though Jerusalem has stayed mum on the issue.
Fakhrizadeh’s death puts Israel & Jewish institutions around the world on high alert, as Iran publicly vows revenge & repeatedly claims Israel's behind the assassination.
Investigating suspicions that agents of UOJ also have the capability of penetrating the isolated regime, Der Yid newspaper is reporting that the IRGC broached the possibility with their long time confidant Lipa Margulies who dismissed "overblown" abilities attributed to UOJ. But a North Korean diplomat at the United Nations in Manhattan said he had popped in to Agudath Israel at 42 Broadway where Avi Shafran told him he had just warned Iranian leader Mohammed Khatami that Margulies has a Pavlovian predisposition against crediting UOJ for anything, which ended up being very damaging to the Agudah when they used to heed his advice.
In January, a US drone strike killed senior IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani. Iran responded by firing missiles at US bases in Iraq that caused dozens of injuries.
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