Bring Goodness On
In the grand spiral that is time, the hatred we’re seeing now has only started. Sadly, there will be a ways to go. The clock tracking antisemitic hatred began ticking thousands of years before. But on October 7th, the clock shattered our comfortable reality, sending shards of glass through every Jewish soul who witnessed the atrocities inflicted on the innocents that day.
And there’s been more deaths since, on all sides. It seems the media has been engaged in a perverted contest of who can post the most outrageously evil atrocities. The goal is to keep the flames going. All are culpable for this. I say this even though I chose a side.
I feel guilty if I take a break from being a part of this story of my people. I can not pretend that my life goes on as usual. So I resort to reading all I can, posting on X endlessly, and shouting into the cyberspace.
I don’t like how angry I’ve become. There is so much to be angry about that it is head-spinning.
How did we arrive at this inextricable place? Years of failed attempts at peace and compromises have been condensed into the Israel-Hamas War.
The world just can’t absorb how quickly people have sunk into the hatred abyss. Previous shouts of Anti-Zionist and Anti-Israel protests have seamlessly become shouts of Death to the Jews. There is an unending thirst for blood from those who bear hatred in their hearts. The rampant hatred and spreading of misinformation is getting too dark.
But for now, I have to pause. I am pausing to find the Good, and if I can, to be Good. We have an impossible-to-believe history that provides us with the tools to dismantle our doubt.
I believe what I say daily in the Birkat HaMazon [blessing after meals]. That our world was created in Goodness, Kindness and Compassion. If these horrific and hateful times have created a blockage of those qualities, then it is up to us to break through it. We have to consider that it is not only IDF soldiers who are on the front lines. In standing on the side of Justice, we are in this mission, although our lives are not at risk.
Despite all the hardships and challenges, we are still here. We have survived all our enemies and God willing, we will survive this also—-this has been the promise that has not been and will not be broken.
We have our culture of doing to spur us into action and provide support. At Sinai we barely got over the miraculous nature of receiving the law when we said “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:3-7). The doing came first.
We are a people who are not idle. We are able to get into action—-by donating1, praying, writing, studying. Up your game by adding just one new mitvah to your day, every day. A mitzvah can be so many things [you can read more here] besides saying a prayer or blessing. Like being kind. Not gossiping. Helping those in need. Giving tzedakah.
Imagine if each person did just one more thing.
These spiritual tools will help Bring Goodness On and open up channels of positivity.