Is There Hope?

Sometimes it’s difficult to see our way forward. These past few years have  been a roller coaster ride.  First the pandemic, where division became more infectious than the actual epidemic. Families became fractured, “How selfish, you won’t wear a mask!”  “How stupid you are to think a vaccine is safe!”   I’m certain not one of us managed to escape without some sort of discord throughout this traumatic time.

    And now here we are again,  as Jews, fighting for our right to defend our nation, and our existence.  How do we overcome?

      I’ve always felt an affinity for my Jewish heritage but never fully understood how deeply connected I was with my tribe.  Of course I honoured the stories of my Bubbie and Zaidy…how they came to Canada and built a life of wealth from nothing.  I did the small traditional things, you know, made latkes for Chanukah, (How do you spell this anyway? I’ve seen three different ways) made a pseudo Seder each year while trying to recreate some of my Bub’s delicious holiday fare.  OK some years I just ate chocolate covered Matzah.   I went to Hebrew school up until grade seven,  can  speak a few phrases, but I never felt religious.  Maybe I was a pseudo Jew…

     That all changed on October 7th.   A jolt went through my body, as if a giant defibrillator shocked my heart. I never realized how deeply connected I was to my Jewish roots.   A whole new roller coaster ride began.

   I watched and listened in shock as the media rhetoric quickly switched from Israel experiencing one of the most horrific attacks ever to big bad Israel killing Palestinian babies…WHAT?

   What was happening…my brain became so confused.

And the media coverage became more and more distorted.

Wait!  This is insanity!  Words like genocide and colonialism and apartheid…. How come nothing was being said about constant bullying and attacks upon Israel, the women who were raped and murdered, the families burned to death… what about all these terror tunnels? Why were these reports from Hamas being considered as fact?

It was not the first time my  mind has been boggled  however throughout these months, my brain has exploded with an unprecedented confusion.  The conclusion became clear for me… sadly, antisemitism was alive and rampant.

      I suppose what I did next, and have continued to do for the past almost eleven months, is try to make some sense of it all.

Easier said than done.   As a songwriter/producer I wrote this song. Have a listen. (Click on Link)  How Do We Overcome. Here is the link and the lyrics   

How Do We Overcome…

I ask myself, how did we get here…To this place of fear, so divided

I ask myself, I scratch my head …Seems Our world is so double-sided

I ask myself could this be hell ?  How did we become so incited

Is there a God, I cannot tell, this hatred feels so misguided

     How do we overcome sadness and confusion

     How do we overcome hate and the intrusion…

     How do we live in peace- is this dream just an illusion…

     How do we overcome…

I ask myself How do I find relief.  I can’t understand hatred  and war

My heart is breaking, my heart is aching.  How did we become a world so torn

      How do we overcome sadness and the confusion

      How do we overcome hate and intrusion…

      How do we live in peace? Is this dream an illusion…

      How do we overcome…

           I don’t know…. I don’t know…Is there hope…

I ask myself how does this anger arise, we need to search deep in our heart

We run and hide, we pick our side, how can we find  light in the dark?

      How do we overcome sadness and the confusion

      How do we overcome hate and the intrusion…

      How do we live in peace- is this dream just an illusion…

      How do we overcome.…  Is there hope?

Every day I continue to work on my ‘hope’ muscle. I suppose it’s our only option.  Never in my life has the saying, “all I know is that I know nothing at all” held more true.

  Maybe wobble is my new normal.

If only I had imbibed upon  a bottle of fine wine to make some sense of  this new out-of-balance state.

   How do we overcome?  Is there hope?

In my heart I have to believe there is.