Exhausted

I am weary and old. Exhausted. Fatigued. Bone-tired. Drained. Fed up. Exasperated. In despair.

Also prolix and repetitive and redundant, but those are matters for another day.

How many times can I try to explain that self-defense is not aggression? That protecting your homeland is not colonialism? That only Iran and Hamas are responsible for taking and killing hostages? That it beggars belief to take seriously, even support, someone who invades another country, takes hostages, kills them, and then blames their murder on the fact that the invaded country fought back? That blaming anyone other than Hamas for actions taken or not taken by Hamas is the height of folly?

Or, getting my troubled soul out of the Middle East for a blessed few moments of relief, that men who call themselves women, even if they identify as women in all good faith, should not be able to be classified as women in sports competitions, especially boxing? Or that high achievers should not be discriminated against on the basis of race? Or that otherwise decent people should not be canceled because views that were in vogue centuries ago are no longer deemed admirable? Or that countries should not abandon disfavored sources of energy or means of transportation until the market provides alternatives that people want and can afford? Or that mathematics, tests measuring achievement in a classroom, and grades are not inherently racist?

If I write about those things from now until the messiah comes, which I am constrained to believe may occur at any moment, but whose tardiness is also contributing to the weariness, exhaustion, fatigue, etc., I will persuade no one in need of persuasion.

So why am I wasting my time?

The formerly renowned Hebrew poet Yehuda Leib Gordon, whom many of you know as a street in Tel Aviv, wrote a brilliant, and formerly famous poem called “L’mi Ani Amel” (“For Whom Do I Toil?”). Stanza by stanza, he wallows in the despair of self-pity as he describes everyone who either disapproves of or no longer has any interest in him and his work. His pious parents, who belittle his artistic endeavors and scorn his “atheism.” His brothers in the Haskala movement–the Jewish Enlightenment–who have become so enlightened that they have abandoned Hebrew and Yiddish in favor of European languages. His sisters, who scorn poetry, study the bible, and pray. The next generation that is “advancing” forward ceaselessly to unknown places from which he fears they may never return. And then he turns to the sparse audience that is left, lonely sheaves in a field, expresses his affection for them, and wonders if they are the last surviving readers.

I think that wallowing in self-pity would be very satisfying and I am going to take it up as a hobby.

But until I get the hang of it, I am going to try, at least for the duration of this blog, to write about other things. (Also because I am really struggling with that peace proposal–I am up to 2,000 words and every solution that presents itself is either flawed or impractical. Who knows? Maybe the Palestinians don’t even deserve self-rule.)

If any of the following (or foregoing) is (was) offensive or politically incorrect, I apologize, I am deeply sorry, and I may have been under the influence of medication. Or something else.

This is the first year in a long time that there will be no Jewish players on the rosters of the National Football League on opening day. This is one of the highest-paying jobs in the United States, and, apparently, based on incontrovertible statistical evidence, Jews have been systematically excluded. According to an article by Jacob Gurvis, when the Green Bay Packers released Greg Joseph, a kicker, nine days before the first kick-off, the NFL became Judenrein. The fact that many of the teams are owned by Jews does not excuse the blatant discrimination at the player level.

Where is the outrage?

And don’t get me started on the NBA, which has a long history of excluding Jews since the days of Dolph Schayes. Deni Avdija does not get enough playing time, and Jordan Farmar is a token. Amare Stoudemire was not Jewish when he started in the NBA and who knows whether he would have been afforded the opportunity to play if he had been born Jewish and named Avraham? (Interesting facts: Dolph Schayes, a”h, was born in the Bronx in 1928, played in the league from 1949-1964, was a 12-time All-Star, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973, died in Syracuse in 2015, and may have been the last prominent Jew named Adolph.)

On the brighter side, while, according to an ADL survey, the Palestinians are the world’s most antisemitic people, with approximately 92% harboring anti-Jewish views, only 76% of them expressed support for Hamas’s October 7 massacre, according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Thus, we can take some comfort in the fact that 16% of the Jew-haters draw a line somewhere. However, it should be noted that the Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research also says that Palestinians have won over 12,000 Nobel Prizes in medicine and the sciences since 165 B.C., when the early Palestinians fought the Greek army of Antiochus for national liberation. The Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research also says that Palestinians in the NFL are too numerous to count.

Oops! Found myself back in the Middle East. Sorry.

Doug Emhoff, who will be the first Jewish First Gentleman if Kamala Harris is victorious, has been married two times and has had one affair with a nanny that has been disclosed. As far as I can tell, none of the women involved has been Jewish. Oh for three. These are statistics that are worse than those of either the NFL or the NBA. Should we be concerned? He has said that he will place a mezuzah on the White House doorway if his wife is elected, so that’s OK. It may also contribute to the hiring by Kamala of more Jewish women on her staff. Why take chances?

Abbas is reported to have a net worth in excess of $100 million, while Arafat left an estate estimated at between $1-3 billion. Ismail Haniyeh died with estimated assets exceeding $4 billion (more if his heirs can defeat that pesky assassination clause in the insurance policy). Yet another lucrative profession from which Jews are excluded.

Where is the outrage?

Good news. To keep him busy, Dr. Jill Biden has found Joe a job in the school in which she teaches. He has been appointed Assistant Debate Coach, and will be wearing a baseball cap that says “Unburdened.” The Secret Service was concerned about providing security in a school setting, but, in the interests of safety, the family has requested the Secret Service to just go away. It appears that Hunter has kept some firearms, and those will suffice for protection.

In 43 states, the highest paid public employee is a college sports coach. The other seven states have lousy teams.

The Israeli Court ruled that the Histadrut was engaged in an unlawful political strike and ordered the workers at various government offices back to work. There is no way for the Court to know whether workers at Israeli banks or the post office are complying with the order, since there was no apparent change in their behavior before, during, or after the strike. This is not contempt of court, but many Israelis find it contemptible for other reasons. The Court withheld its decision for a few hours when it was advised that the striking union was on its side in the judicial reform debate.

That was refreshing. But I’m still weary, exhausted, and fatigued. I’ve already published my book on weight loss (“The Manly Man’s Diet For Manly Men”). Maybe I’ll write one on how a manly man can overcome fatigue.

Or maybe I’ll just go to bed.

I wish I had thought of that in the first place. I’ll bet you do too.