How I’m Going to Save the World

I scroll and read and share and quote about Israel & Jews non-stop. I consume ‘Suicidal Empathy’ by Gaad Saad and agree with every example, every conclusion. I follow increasingly conservative commentators and news outlets, arguing with my various screens about a self-evident truth that Israel is not the problem, Jews are not the problem. That the far left has been co-opted by the most sophisticated psyops, a concerted psychological operations campaign by both the Islamists and communists to influence the emotions, thinking, and behavior of progressives with the full cooperation of the far left.

The far left has willingly exchanged their liberalism with a level of extremist hatred, intolerance, and censorship that they would reject if only they could see it. But they can’t see it. They are certain that they see a Truth that all others are blind to, that Jews are evil, and Israel is the center of evil. And that any proof that Jews are not evil is the work of evil itself.

With friends on the left, friends squarely in the middle, and friends on the right I can actually see where each stands. Regardless of where you align politically, every Jew I know thinks about having an up-to-date passport and an escape plan if things go bad…WHEN things go bad. We all fear what is now and how it could get worse. Whether you stand with Israel’s enemies or arm yourself so that Jews will never be victims again, the world sees you as a Jew. On October 7, no one checked the political affiliation of the Jews attacked.

That is how we have lived for millenia. It’s embedded in our DNA. We ultimately can trust no one. We saw how our G-d was forcibly replaced by other gods. We found out the lands we belonged to willingly took away our citizenship. We saw how little value our lives had in Babi Yar. We learned that the close friends in our Austrian apartment building turned us into the Gestapo because they wanted our apartment. We have learned to cooperate and succeed but always with an eye for how things can go wrong, knowing that we must always be prepared.

This concern isn’t hypothetical worrying. Here in Kansas, an antisemetic lunatic killed three people in our Jewish community in 2014, just outside the office where I worked. Sarah Milgrim (z”l) and fiance Yaron Lischinsky (z”l), beloved members of our local Jewish community, were murdered outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2025. Jewish safety isn’t an abstract concern; it is an undercurrent in every aspect of our lives no matter what lives we’re living.

Following radiation for cancer in 2017, I was left with a series of neurological issues including issues with balance, dizziness, and orientation, and no capacity to function normally in any high-stimulus environment from a loud restaurant to a thunderstorm. I can’t push my nervous system even a little or my brain revolts and just shuts down. After Sarah and Yaron were murdered, I considered getting a concealed carry permit for a gun. Ironically the classes were too long for my addled nervous system to withstand. When I considered going to a shooting range, my inability to focus my eyes and lock my gaze meant I’d be more dangerous with a gun than any attacker. This is my reality. Whatever happens, I won’t suddenly turn into an action superhero capable of defending myself or my family.

I don’t have the stomach for the political fight, and my brain doesn’t have the strength to stay angry, confused, afraid, sad, and frustrated, putting everyone into either the attacker or ally category. And we know that when or if folks come for the Jews, they don’t care what you believe, where you stand, how you practice. They don’t care if you love Bibi or support Kahanist settlers. They don’t care if you voted for Mamdani and Bernie Sanders. They don’t care if you transported Palestinians from Gaza to their medical appointments. They don’t care, because their hatred isn’t actually about anything other than hatred. It doesn’t have nuance, subtlety, or sophistication.

So instead of thinking about what I will do if the tides turn terribly, I think about what I can do where I am, how I am. I can keep cluttering social media by reposting every opinion and meme I agree with. But I need to do something that feels real & meaningful to me both as a Jewish human being and spiritual child of G-d. How do I step out of the circle that goes from far left to the far right and instead create a space of meaningful action?

My way out of the political fight is to step fully into the spiritual. To step into the place where I can access the only power I do have, and that’s the power to bring love and light into the world through my own personal efforts. My theme song is “This Little Light of Mine.” I’m going to let my light shine, because I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have the money, status, or power to impact the political sphere, but I can still make a difference every single day.

I can bring the love that I feel from G-d into this world and share it with His other children. It gives me a simple sense of meaning & purpose in my own life, a sense of agency and power. It’s not the kind of power that money can buy, but it’s a power that assures me my own life has value and significance.

My spiritual practice has helped shape my character and life’s trajectory, but I’m still just a Jew that someone hates because I exist. For me, there is no spiritual practice that frees me from this reality. This past year, G-d has been showing me that I need my feet firmly planted on the ground. He needs me to step fully into my own human experience and not use my spiritual perspective to escape reality. He wants me to bring every gift He gives me squarely into this world and share it with others in the most ordinary ways. He wants me to bake a cake and share it with friends over coffee. He wants me to listen to a stranger when a caring heart is required. He wants me to be patient when impatience is my habit. He wants me to sink deeply into my own humanity and help others from there.

And in getting to know my own humanity, I find I’m like a lot of us, impotent in making sweeping changes, funding massive movements, or influencing the political world. But I’m able to love and care and listen in ways that help. So as 5787 unfolds in front of us, I’m asking G-d every day, what can I do today that will matter? And then I do it. This little light of mine? I’m gonna let it shine.