How trigonometry prepared me for 2025

A funny memory surfaced recently. It was from my year 11 or 12 maths class with Mr Peter Nicholls Z”L.

He was presumably trying to explain some kind of mathematical function (probably sine, given the explanation I remember).

He described holding on to the handle of a water ski being pulled by a boat. The boat would continue forward quickly and move from side to side, pulling the person from side to side in an dramatic fashion, their movement following that of the boat’s, but with a slight delay.

As he held his hands in front of him and leaned backwards, as if holding the handle of a waterski, I remember laughing uncontrollably (and possibly the only person in the class actually laughing), as I imagined the incongruous image of serious Mr Nicholls rapidly pinging from side to side while waterskiing.

Mr Nicholls, please forgive me for not remembering exactly all the details you described orhow they translated into the features of a sine function.

But I find the image comes to my mind when trying to describe how I am (and possibly some of you are) experiencing life in Israel that is post-ceasefire, and yet still mid-war: holding on to a reality that is moving to-and-fro ever faster, barely hanging on with the increasingly rapid and extreme changes of direction (or increasing period and amplitude – see I do remember something from the class!).

We feel disoriented. We feel exhausted from the massive forces exerted on our fragile bodies and our efforts to hold on. We feel numb and breathless from the water being continually sprayed in our faces, while we continue to gasp for air.

War? Hostage deal? IDF control of Gaza? Strikes on Iran. Country-wide lockdown. Sirens. Broken sleep. Schools closed. Anxious children. Educational programming? Maybe. Actually, no. Try again. Ceasefire? Ceasefire broken – what will happen next? Nope it’s holding – okay everyone, back to regular programming.

The war started so suddenly and ended (if it has actually ended?) so abruptly, that it will take time for any of us to catch up and process what did/didn’t/might/mightn’t have happened and what it all means. And in the broader context of 5 years of changes and uncertainty since the first COVID lockdowns, the resultant confusion and discombobulation is amplified exponentially.

I don’t have any answers about what to do with all of this; many others who are far more qualified than me to give mental health advice have written helpful pieces about the importance of self-compassion and self-acceptance in this crazy transition back to some kind of ‘normal’ (whatever that is). They are worth reading, to try and find some kind of normal in an upside down world that isn’t likely to make sense anytime soon.

But if there’s one person reading this who, like me, can giggle at the thought of a serious-looking man on a waterski, and can feel a little less alone in their self-perceived insanity, then I will be glad that I shared this memory. Thank you, Mr Nicholls.