The Wildfires and The Antisemitism

My heart goes out to those affected by the fires in Los Angeles. Especially to those who persisted in staying in their homes even after they received evacuation notices. They are not totally irresponsible; the children have been moved to a safe place, and they have their “go bags” in the car. They are ready for a quick getaway. Still, they stay in their homes, holding down the fort. If the fire makes a turn for them there is nothing that they can do to prevent the inevitable conflagration. The house will burn down, with anything and anyone inside. They know this, but they stay. Why? There is zero chance that burglars or looters will be in the neighborhood. A big-screen TV is not worth being burned to a crisp. So why does the homeowner stay?

I have to say, I identify with this homeowner. I would be doing the exact same thing. It is his home. It is his property, his space. It is what he knows. The house was built to provide protection from the elements. Now and then, rarely, that protection proves to be insufficient. Wildfires and earthquakes on the west coast, hurricanes on the east, tornados right down the middle; no-one is disadvantaged when it comes to potential disaster. When the fire or wind bears down on you, no-one in their right mind thinks that by standing between it and your house one will be able to stop it. Still, we stand there and howl against the wind like latter-day Lears.

I picture the hard realist standing there, not bemoaning his fate, not blaming Climate Change or whatever, and above all, not feeling sorry for himself. The man or woman standing there stands there because they must. Their stance is a statement. In its simplest form, that statement says: “I am not happy with the way the winds are blowing.” But it is more than that. That simple statement could be made from the safety of an evacuation center. No, by making that statement while standing until the last possible moment it becomes something more. There is an expression of human will in this kind of statement, a whole-body expression of will. The statement becomes: “I am against the way this wind is blowing.” The expression of this resistance, emerging from the deepest roots of one’s existence, now pressing hard against the outer confines of body and soul, and being willed out and beyond those physical and, if one is religious, spiritual boundaries, is the essence of prayer.

Having said that, looking from the outside in, all that is left is to call out to our brethren in their time of anguish and say: “It is time to leave.”