How Do We Get Out of History's Way—This Time? 

Substack

Is it only me or do we all hear the wings of Time zooming by, forcing us to contemplate our mortality, brood over what we've not yet done? Are we all running out of time or is it only me?

How fleeting one's lifetime is in the eye of eternity; we are here—and then we are gone, all in the blink of an eye.

Or is time only apparently speeding up as a function of one's age? Do children ever feel anything like this? I rather doubt it. I never did, did you?

When I was a child there was "all the time in the world." Wasn't there? And the seasons were all so distinct, at least in the Northeast, and each season rolled out majestically and stayed for a good long time. Or so it once seemed.

Or: Is time itself rushing by, trying to outpace what is happening in our world? Everything has gotten so much darker. Life in the inner cities. The war zones everywhere. The violent demonstrations both against reality and against hated individuals.

Then there’s the unnatural heat—and also the even more unnatural cold. As a senior who has developed serious arthritis, I am sensitive to every climate and to every temperature. Despite the current heat in New York City, I still wear a sweater and keep my air conditioner off. How strange is that? The air climate is "bad" in NYC today. What are we supposed to do about this?  Hide away from it? What about those who simply cannot do so?

The homeless, the delusional, the dangerous, the vulnerable—all, all surround me if and when I dare to go out. I do so less and less. Too perilous. As if the times themselves are not hazardous enough.

How will people stop the religious fanaticism, the hatred, the unholy evil that, more and more, seem to define our times? You know what I'm thinking about, right? First, the vulgarity and aggression of so many Marxists, Islamists, and even the women who identify as such and who hold high and public office. Their behavior is so "street," so Jihadist. Aren't you worried about this?

I'm thinking about Iran, which has spread its ugly tentacles out all across the world. Iran, which has been torturing and murdering its own citizens for 47 years. It’s greed that has led to supporting such a pitiless reign of terror, yes? Turkey, Qatar, China, Russia? I cannot get this out of my mind.

Of course, always, there is the most terrifying rise of Jew hatred everywhere on earth, on every continent, at every cultural event, in universities, publishing houses, and in the media,  the censoring of Jewish work, the boycotting of Israeli and Jewish produce.

As we know, "in the beginning" God clothed us in garments of light.” Those who still retain that light have a hard time defending themselves against such genocidal hate. It is not normally in our nature to hate our enemies or to boycott them for their menacing ways.

But lately, I've been thinking: Why don't Israelis consider the unthinkable and start refusing to contribute, even to sell, their magic medicines and unique surgical procedures, as well as all those products, both scientific and artistic, to those countries that boycott Israel on the basis of lies? Would this even work? Surely it would dampen the Jewish soul and end up punishing all those who spent both the time and the money to create this computer chip, that robotic surgeon.

Well, this has come to mind a few times, actually each time I see yet another young Israeli soldier fall in a battle of self-defense; each time I see a civilian murdered in a battle they have not chosen and are not equipped to fight—yes, I begin to consider unusual options.

I know: What's happening in Ukraine/Sudan/Somalia/Afghanistan matters just as much, but I am a Jew, an American, and a Zionist,  and Iran and all its many proxies are coming for me, for us, for you.

The Four Horseman (of the Apocalypse) are here; they are palpable.

How will we all get out of history's way this time?