HAPPY (BELATED) CHANUKAH 2024

 A bit late, but most sincere..

This is what I wrote on the first night of Chanukah:

Tonight's off key, but very enthusiastic rendition of Ma Oz Tzur was, once again, dedicated to the following individuals and entities (partial list): (thankfully) former USSR, Communists, Socialists, NKVD, KGB (especially the agents who spied on my family, opened our mail, listened to our phone, arrested my father, and told him that he would rot in Soviet Union forever); all the philo-Semitic Russians who politely called my mom "kike b-tch who whelped too many little kikes" and other choice words and expressions; all my classmates from various Moscow schools (especially the older ones) who jeered at my pride in being a Jew, mocked my yearning to visit the Holy Land and learn about my heritage, gave me claustrophobia by constantly cornering me during breaks, and once tried to set me on fire; also to the ones who saddled me with years of guilt - because my Jewish pride ended up hurting my siblings (both physically and emotionally).

To all of you (and countless others) I would like to, once again, issue a following reminder: my family is free!! We survived, we escaped, we prospered, we reconnected with our religion, we visited Israel countless times (and some of us even live there), we lead happy and fulfilled lives as proud Jews. You, on the other hand, will end up in the trash heap of history, nameless and forgotten.

Chanuka Sameach, boys and girls! To freedom, to victory over darkness and evil, to all of our lost brethren finally finding their pride and their brains, to hope and refusal to surrender! To light, to miracles, to our hostages' immediate return, to our warriors gaining total victory over our enemies! May The Father bless and protect us! Am Israel Chai! L'Chaim!

NEVER LOSE FAITH

 On January 6, 2021, I wrote the following:

"To all the right wingers who are right now claiming that our Republic is dead - don't you ever dare say this again!!! Where the hell is your fighting spirit?!! The memories of Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin deserve better from you! The memories of our honored dead who bravely fought at Lexington and Concord, who stormed Tripoli, who charged Omaha Beach, who raised our flag on Iwo Jima, who ran into the burning Twin Towers - they deserve better than that! Every single person in the world fighting for freedom and looking with longing at our flag - they deserve better! Our Republic deserves better! Stop your bloody whining! The enemies of our Republic want you demoralized, and they want you to surrender! Get armed as well as you can - and never, ever dare to give up!"

That day was one of the darkest in the history of our county - not only did the domestic enemies steal the federal elections; they were also successful in jumping over every hurdle set up by our laws, and on January 6th our last attempt to stop them failed, resulting in four long years of darkness and thousands of political prisoners.

Well, today, January 6, 2025, when President Trump was officially certified as the President-Elect, and we are looking at the triumphant come back of patriotism, MAGA, and law and order, Facebook politely reminded me of my sentiments.

Never surrender, never lose hope, and, most importantly - never lose faith! May Gd bless and protect this great Republic of ours!

CHANUKAH SAMEACH!

 

Chanukah is a wonderful holiday, literally full of light (and delicious fried foods) - and we all love to celebrate it!  But what we keep forgetting is that on Chanukah we celebrate the victory in the bloody, bitter civil war!  Not just a war and a victory over the foreign enemies (although that too) - but a civil war and a victory over other Jews!  You see, the majority of Jews at that time decided to abandon the dictates of their outmoded, strange, arcane religion - and instead they followed the most progressive ideas at the time and became Hellenists.  

As it usually happens, the people who decided not to follow the modern, hip, progressive trends, and instead clung to their outmoded religion, could not just be left in peace - oh, no!  They had to be declared the enemies of the state, persecuted, arrested, tortured, killed. Eventually, the rebellion broke out - a small group of Jews fighting for their spiritual independence against the most powerful army at the time - and against the Jews steeped in “progress”.  Beating all odds - and with the help from The One Above, the rebels won; they won their right to be true to who they were, to practice Judaism once again, and to rededicate the Holy Temple.

Unfortunately, that won’t be last time when a large number of Jews would decide to abandon their religion, their heritage, and their true calling, and follow some other “great modern idea”. Personally, I always have in front of me the wonderful example of the former USSR - the great step-mama country of my family.  Now, Russia was never known as a bastion of human rights - but the glorious Bolshevik/socialist/communist revolution really made it hell on earth; and, unfortunately, a large number of Jews who, again, decided to follow the clarion call of these new great ideas, played a major role in the revolution, and the events that followed.  

The consequences for the religious Jews and the Jewish community in general were truly devastating - not only did the religious observance become nearly impossible; not only did the adherence to Judaism bring severe consequences - (people were imprisoned for simply teaching Hebrew, or possessing any kind of Judaic books), but Jews themselves eventually became second class citizens - and, again, only a miracle from above in the face of Stalin’s death in 1953 saved the Jewish community from potential mass extermination. 

In light of this, I always felt that Chanukah has a special meaning for the Jews from the former USSR, and that every religious celebration is not only a very happy occasion, but a chance to basically flip a nice bird at the commies and tell them: See?!! Not only did we survive, not only did we remain Jews, but we are proud of it!  And our children, our biggest blessings and our victory dance - they grow up to be proud Jews as well, learning again all about our strange and outdated religion!

The other thing about our holidays is that not only do we commemorate a specific occasion, but we get a chance to experience it ourselves again and again.  Every Chanukah we get a chance to re-dedicate our little inner Temple, our soul, to the true meaning of being a Jew.  And, unfortunately, as I said before, we always have large swaths of Jews who abandon Judaism, and instead follow the latest crazy, excuse me, progressive idea.  

Right now, we have huge numbers of our brethren who are infected with the disease of the Leftism; not only do they deny the beauty of Judaism, but they actually defend every single one of our sworn enemies!

The miracles of Chanukah showed us that we are never alone in our battles - but we have to have the faith to begin them!  Maccabees started the rebellion against all odds - and they were granted victory!  There was not enough oil to rededicate the Temple and to light the Menorah - they did it anyway, and the oil lasted till more was available!  The Heavenly Father is always with us, but we have to do our part!  And we owe it to the Maccabees, to all our ancestors who suffered and who fought for the right to remain Jews; we owe it to our children; and we owe it ourselves - to always remain true to ourselves, our heritage, and our true calling; to fight against all the moronic and deadly ideas that keep infecting our brethren!  Rabbi Sacks, of blessed memory, once said: “Chanukah candles are the light Judaism brings to the outside world; when we are unafraid to announce our identity in public, live by our principles, and fight, if necessary, for our freedom…..”  So, pick up that sword, pick up the bow and arrows, light the tiny bit of oil - and The Heavenly Father will help you in your fight!  

Chanukah Sameach, everyone!  Don’t forget to enjoy the delicious fried food! 

MY UNHUMBLE AND UNPOPULAR OPINION ON UKRAINE

 Dear Ukrainian Patriots, 

1. If you are naturalized citizens of the USA and you live here, America is your homeland; if you disagree with this, you are more than welcome to go to Ukraine and fight - there is no iron curtain holding you here.

2. I completely understand the desire to fly Ukrainian flags at times like these; however, if you decide to fly it without the American flags, please see above.

3. The Naturalization Oath begins with “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen”. We have had “the most secure” elections, which ended up installing a senile old poppet in the White House, resulting in the most hostile Executive branch in the modern history.  Our economy is on the brink of collapse, our border is wide open, we have political prisoners (about whom almost nobody is talking), our Constitutional rights are eroding as we speak, and now we have BABY FOOD SHORTAGE!   Somehow, I see no concern about any of that - why?!  

4. For those of you who are Jews - Israel is experiencing another wave of constant terror, yet I still see more concern about Ukraine. Again, why?!

5. Ukraine repeatedly votes against Israel in the UN; why should Israel help them (aside from being perennial morons, and practicing kindness towards everyone)?

6. I see that the most independent minded among you somehow found a way to blame President Trump, conservatives, and the right wing in general for Putin’s invasion.  May I remind you that it was President Trump who kept in check every single tyrant and despot, including Putin?  If you are so smart and open-minded, can you stop watching CNN for one minute and explain to me your train of thought?

7. I also enjoy watching ad hominem attacks on Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other members of Congress who refuse to automatically send our non-existent money to Ukraine; why are they attacked for doing their jobs, ergo - protecting the interests of American citizens?!

MY UNHUMBLE OPINION ON WHOPPI GOLDBERG'S LATEST

Here are my bullet points and subpoints (in no particular order) regarding Whoopi Goldberg’s latest verbal diarrhea, and the subsequent mini fallout:

1. As usual, The Left got grade A chutzpah:

a) they are the ones who not only ban books on the regular, but routinely attack people for any speech not in total agreement with their mantra, perform constant virtual hangings and auto da fe on the various social media platforms, advocate for the “amending” of the First Amendment, and basically clamor for any and all available thought police.

b) the only reason they paid attention to Maus was because some little school district in the boondocks of Tennessee (read “probably right wing”) took it out of their curriculum.

c) they are the ones who continually and shamelessly spit on the ashes and mass graves of our murdered brothers and sisters by constantly comparing any and all of their pet projects and victims du jeur to Holocaust and its victims. 

d) they never consider Jews a persecuted minority unless doing so serves their political agenda and/or general propaganda.

e) they have among them the biggest collection of anti-Semites and anti-Semitic groups in the entirety of American history.

2. Any person with a brain, logic, and a modicum of knowledge in the area of child development knows that you simply can’t allow children to read everything available to the general public:

1. It’s one thing for them to encounter violence in fairy tales (monsters, dragons, scary old witches and warlocks, ets.) - they actually need it for their emotional development.  It’s an entirely different kettle of fish to let them read about the real violence that human beings could be capable of - they need to be introduced to it very gradually, and, obviously, at the appropriate age (which, by the way, also varies from child to child), so, logic and caution are highly recommended!  One of the hypocritical utterances I saw online was to the tune of “it’s age-appropriate to make the twelve year olds read Eli Wiesel’s The Night because he was twelve at the time” - wrong!  No amount of Marvel and DC comics can prepare a normal twelve-year-old kid to read about the horrors that the subhuman monsters subjected young Eli to!  Seventeen/eighteen - yes, but not before!  It’s simply cruel and completely counterproductive to do so otherwise!

2. The other subject that children have to be introduced to very cautiously, and at the appropriate age, is human sexuality, and everything connected to it.  This is where the Left once again shows their cruelty and tendency towards child abuse by trying to force this knowledge on children beginning with the toddler years!  As the former B & N children’s bookseller, I can personally testify to the staggering amount of board- and picture books (which are usually aimed at children 0 - 6) which are specifically dealing with the issues of sex, gender, homosexuality, so-called transgenderism, etc. - and the horrifying number of times these books were sought out because they were an assigned reading in school!

3) The Left sees everything - and I mean everything - through the prism of their bigoted concept of intersectionality, and their absolutely unscientific concept of race and ethnicity.  It’s actually amusing to watch and see them trying to stick the Jews into these groups and ladders - because they actually can’t figure out if we are just a religious group, or an ethnic minority, or a race; of course, the prolonged brain activity is not their forte - so, they just decided to stick us with whities and be done with it.  The part that really infuriated me personally was the one that most people ignored - it was when the honorable Whoopi mumbled that the Holocaust was “you white people doing it to yourselves”!  How convenient - not only are the whities the subhumans, the source of all evil throughout history, and the “black and brown” people perpetual victims, ergo, morally superior, but we can simply write off the entire history of European anti-Semitism as internal problems between “you white people” - brilliant historical analysis, what can I say!

4) The staggering amount of various right-wingers and libertarians, bless their hearts, saw it as a matter of honor to immediately jump on the various soap boxes and bloviate ad nauseum that Brilliant Historical Scholar Whoopi has her First Amendment protection just like everyone else, and, is, therefore, entitled to run off her piehole any which way she desires.  Under normal logic and circumstances, yes, she is not a politician, or any kind of official spokesman for anyone, so, yes, she should be able to say whatever she damn well pleases.  After all, there are politicians and former politicians - notably, our illustrious former Governor and even more illustrious former Mayor, who basically kept accusing Jews of spreading Covid, then offered some lame apologies, then continued with their accusations - and nobody ever brought any kind of criminal charges, or even civil proceedings, against them.  However, the level of black anti-Semitism, especially in the recent years, got to the levels beyond alarming.  Started, among many other contributions, by the tireless efforts of the late unlamented Desmond Tutu and still residing on this plane Louis Farrakhan, it is growing by leaps and bounds.  Not only are these people showing black ingratitude (pun not intended) for the part our naive brethren played in the civil rights movement, but it seems that they accumulated all the ancient anti-Jewish blood libels under their umbrella - and added some of their own invention.   So, when a “wise black woman” on the national TV show starts yammering garbage about Holocaust, yes, it has a very negative effect in general, and adds to already very murky waters of the black racism and anti-Semitism in particular.  

5) Likewise, from the righteous right and libertarians came the repeated analysis and assertions of Ms. Goldberg not being an anti-Semite - wrong!  She is a racist and an anti-Semite par excellence - just check her extra wise utterances regarding the so-called Israeli-Arab conflict.

6) As mentioned above, the Left are the ones who impose rules on speech; they are the ones who cancel people - making sure that anyone who disagrees with their dogma not only loses their employment, but is made a complete pariah, and Whoopi Goldberg is one of the most ardent supporters and promoters of the cancel culture.  As such, her two-week suspension was just a very weak taste of her own medicine - in the best traditions of the cancellers, she really should have been fired. 

7) The saddest in all this - and, unfortunately, by no means news - is the glaring fact of the ADL, which long ago ceased to be any kind of defender of Jewish rights, and instead became another arm of the politically correct army of the Left. 

SIGNS FROM HEAVEN, Part 1

There is a popular trope in fiction and movies - at a certain point the hero or the heroine would ask The Heavens (or a dearly departed) for some kind of a sign to know for sure that whatever action is about to be undertaken is the right one.  This makes for a touching, or a romantic, or a heart-wrenching scene; but the real life is much more simple - and much more complex.

I firmly believe that Gd speaks to us all the time, and there is no need to ask for signs - they are just there: in the majesty of nature, in the love of our families, in the myriad of blessings bestowed upon us....heck, even in the craziness of this world and our fellow humans...and sometimes the message is so clear that it takes your breath away....

This past Monday Beloved Sibling sent me two consecutive media "bombs" - first was of the Israeli freedom convoy; the second was of our beautiful Sabra One donating her hair, which she painstakingly grew after the last donation so that she can donate it again!  This, right there, was to me the entire meaning of life encapsulated in a bunch of Internet messages.

Our children are the best of us; they are our miracles, our hope for the future, our victory dance over our enemies.  They are the biggest blessing from Heavens; their love, their innocence, their complete lack of guile, their unabashed enjoyment of simple stuff in life, their constant awe at the things that our jaded eyes just can't see anymore - all these and more make for the best balm for the troubled soul.  

And in return, we have to ensure that the world we would leave for them is at least as good (and hopefully better) than the one that we had inherited - and that means standing up to the real monsters.  It is that simple and that complex.

FACEBOOK ADVENTURES, Part 2

 Back in the summer I had to haul my behind to the city (which used to be fun, but, thanks to De Blasio's regime and the lockdowns, is, sadly, not anymore).  Once there, I decided to visit the old hunting ground of Marshall’s and T.J. Maxx on Sixth Avenue.  Since the story took place in late August, I found the all too expected rainbow products on clearance in the far corner.  Most of it was the usual junk, but a wooden toothbrush with rainbow bristles really made me chuckle - so, I snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook.  That post produced a very interesting exchange, the most pertinent part of which is presented here without edits - aside from the name changes (in order to protect the innocent and the guilty).

Name key:

BC - yours truly

N - my friend from Pittsburgh; for full context - she is in her late sixties, a practicing Catholic, a mother and a grandmother, and also a very wise, logical, and tolerant person.

L1 - a former coworker of mine, with whom I was on good terms while back at B&N; also for context - that coworker was born and raised in the USA; she is in her mid-twenties, and she is a lesbian

L2 - L1’s then-fiancée; I have never met her; all I know about her is that she was also born and raised in this country; she is from a very religious rural family, and, obviously, also a lesbian

*****************************************************************************************************

BC: “I am OK with everyone living their lives and not sticking it in mine at every turn...but the corporate idiocy really gets to me...our store never flew the American flag, even on the Independence day, or Memorial day...but they went all out every June

N: “BC, I hear ya, GF! I hate "follow the leader" bullshit. It's mindless! That's why I said that if they're on that LBGQ bandwagon, it's stupid! I can't stand that!! Sheeple.

Did you notice, commercials now are mostly black people or mixed race couples? 13% of the population is now 98% of the commercials.”

 

BC: “yep, I did notice this a while back…”

 

L1: “BC, Seriously? Straight sex and romcoms and fucking everything has been in everyone’s faces and perfectly acceptable since the dawn of time. The rainbow isn’t hurting you or harming anyone. What it does is help people who have historically been outcasts feel a little more comfortable. Let people have their representation. It’s a toothbrush. Jesus fucking Christ grow up”

L1: “N, How would you feel if the tables were turned and people said they couldn’t stand who you are and who you love? Bc if you want to experience, I can make that happen.”

BC: “L1, are you telling us to grow up?!! N and I?!! That's one of the funniest jokes I have seen this week!”

N: “L1, What the hell are you raving about? Who said any of that? Why are you being so confrontational and vulgar?”

N: “L1, Are you threatening me? Are you? Do what you gotta do.”

L1: “N, Why are you being homophobic and racist?”

L1: “BC, Yep”

N: “Wow! It doesn't take much to set you off. Have some Xanax.”

N: “L1, Where is my racist comment?!”

L1: “N, Eh, I’m good. Not big on drugs thanks “

L1: “Here (screenshot of N’s earlier comment about commercials)

N: “L1, And???? That's a fact. Do you see Asians, Muslims and Jews in that disproportionate numbers. Whites? Pacific Islanders? Get a grip.”

N: “L1, Maybe you need drugs to calm the f*ck down.”

N: “L1, How about Native Americans?”

L1: “N, You’re the one being all salty about the existence of a rainbow toothbrush”

N: “L1, You're reading between the lines and not doing a good job of it. My suggestion would be to take a deep breath, calm down, and read without emotion”

N: “L1, You're overfocused on sentences taken out of context. Can't see the forrest for the trees.

CNN is hiring.”

 

N: “BC, I object to Jesus F*cking Christ. That's blasphemous. But, it's all OK when it's a liberal doing their thing.

I object but God is bigger than that. ”

 

BC: “you keep, forgetting, L1, that we are way older, more experienced, and yes, wiser...and that's the problem with your generation - all young people think that they are smart, but your generation decided that all older people are racists, bigots, nazis, etc, etc, etc, and you, guys, are the best of the best! You lead charmed lives that you don't appreciate, invent hardships, don't appreciate this country, and refuse to really educate yourselves on real history and facts. Young leftists in the USA are the most narrow-minded, entitled, and intolerant people I have seen in my life - and I have seen some doozies...there are plenty of things that offend us on the hourly basis, but WE BELIEVE IN LIVE AND LET LIVE!”

 

L2: “BC, Except you don’t believe in live and let live. You believe in being stuck up, biased, cruel, and hateful, and then you get offended if anyone calls you on it. If you truly believed in live and let live, a toothbrush wouldn’t bother you so much. Also, you can take your ideas about a charmed life and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine. Entitlement is expecting to never see a rainbow toothbrush. Entitlement is losing your whole asshole when someone asks you to stop being so myopically self centered for just long enough to consider other human beings might exist. Entitlement is condescending to people and micromanaging their lived experiences. If you don’t wanna be called a racist, don’t say racist things. If you don’t want to look like a bigot, don’t act like it. If you don’t want to be associated with nazis, STOP ACTING LIKE NAZIS. Also, there are plenty of old people who aren’t bigoted, hateful, idiotic, and selfish - I see them every single day, so stop claiming that age equals a shitty personality and no empathy. Stop claiming that experience means that you can’t treat other people like humans. Stop victimizing yourself over a goddamn toothbrush. The hypocrisy is so thick I’m fucking choking on it. Grow up for a goddamn second and let the gays LIVE.”

 

N: “I'll say this for a 68 year old "boomer", if a toothbrush comment offends you, you have a problem. Life is going to kick your ass so buckle up ladies. You have a rocky road ahead. Your choice! You can move on or constantly argue and work yourselves up.

Neither BC or I are homophobes. Not in the least. The comments and posts were all about "woke" people jumping on bandwagons following what they think will make more money. Do you really think those companies give two sh*ts about you or anyone else? If you really do, you're so damn naive, you better make some in-flight adjustments.

You need to learn to pick your battles in life. This silly thing isn't a hill to die on. Trust me, life and people are going to clean your clocks for the remainder of your lives! The best thing you can do is develop a healthy sense of humor about who you are and learn how to laugh at yourself in order to survive. You ain't getting out of life alive no matter how you REACT.

Yes, these are reactionary comments made by you. They're not thought through. Just reacting while filling in the blanks.

Can't you just scroll past what you disagree with? This is BC’s timeline. She's the queen here and she can say as she pleases. Don't like it? Move on. Life is too short and if this is the most homophobic thing you've ever seen .... WOW .... you do have a charmed life so far. Buckle up and lighten the f*ck up! The best gay jokes I ever heard in my life were told to me by gay male friends who learned to love themselves and don't give two sh*ts about who doesn't love or accept them. They found themselves and accept who they are. They don't need to get all butt hurt over jokes. The funniest black jokes I ever heard were told to me by black folks I taught in college. I grew up in a 35% black town.

If you're trying to fight some LBGQ battle, this ain't it! I remember days that gays, blacks and other minorities really had something to whine about. You do not! Life for your generation was easy compared to those who went before you.”

 

N: “One last thing ... if you wish to be accepted and treated with respect, vulgarity and insults won't help you in the least. If you want to be treated with class and dignity, blasphemy isn't going to generate much respect from others. You do much better learning and developing grace.”

 

L2: “N, ok boomer.”