One Of Those Days

It's one of those days where you want to think and write about something profound or remotely interesting, but nothing comes to you. You feel as if your brain has, either, absorbed too much information and can't process it all properly just yet, or your brain is just rejecting all the news that's been streaming through there.

Another scandal here. Some more nuclear development goes unnoticed there. Sprinkle that with more bad and terrible in other venues, and your brain just seems to absorb and compute that nothing good can be happening in the world right now. Logically, you know that can't be true. If there was no good, the world would cease to exist. But, emotionally, you just can't quite get there. You can't quite grasp that something other than evil, corruption, and apathy is spreading like a cancer throughout the world. At the very least, in your immediate world.

Things are very bleak in Israel right now. Another political scandal is popping up, it seems like every 5 minutes. The people that you and I have entrusted to care for us are deceiving and betraying us at every possible turn. Is there any honest, dignified, and moral men or women left in politics? Or, should I start protesting for the anarchists? The situation is making me feel dirty. Parliament of Whores has never been more correct as it is here now in Israel. I came to this country, not just to fulfill the Jewish dream, but to build and create something. Something new and fresh. It may sound corny, but I want to be part of the pioneering tradition that my ancestors passed down to me. I want to build a home and a life in a place where I feel secure and taken care of. Right now, I feel nothing but shame for what my country's leadership has become. There is no such thing as moral clarity anymore. Had this same government been around in 1967, Israel would have ceased to exist, and the Jews of the world would still be slowly led to the gas chambers.

I hope and pray that as Elul passes into the New Year, and the New Year passes into the Day of Atonement, it will not only be an individula effort of introspection, but a national one as well. A New Year is coming. A time, another chance, to start fresh and anew. A time to put all the cards on the table, lay it all on the line, and start the game again with a fresh deck of cards. The country is begging the government to follow that lead and do the same. It's time for this country's government to admit its wrong-doing and corruption. It's time for our government to go to confession, accept their responsibility, and allow the country to start fresh with a new deck of cards. This year's Yom Kippur will be a Judgement Day for the entire Nation of Israel. This year seems to have more riding on the line. It's time to step up to the plate and be honest with ourselves. If we don't, we can only expect next year to be worse than this one.

Oh, but, pay no attention to me. I am truly an optimistic person. I am optimistic that this country's people and all of Am Yisroel will come out stronger on the other end than they did going in. That's the will and the everlasting resolve of the Jewish people. We carry this motto like a prayer: "Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger." I do not have any more faith in the current government; not that I ever did. But, I have faith in the Nation of Israel, and I have faith that they will force this government to do what is right and what is necessary. As we knock our chests and beg for forgiveness, it's also a time to remember that we are each responsible for our own actions. If we don't make those responsible for the current state of affairs stand up be held accountable for their actions, than we will be equally responsible for the consequences of having done nothing at all.

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