CHANUKAH, ANTI-SEMITISM, ETC., ETC.

Tonight is the 8th and last night of Chanukah. I lit my candles. Meanwhile, at a Chanukah party in Monsey, NY, five people were stabbed in the rabbi's house. Anti- semitic attacks have escalated to a scale I have never seen in my life in this country. It is really scary and horrifying. Tree of Life synagogue, kosher market in Jersey City.

It's on a global scale. Protestors are in the streets all over the world too fighting for Democracy, Hong Kong, etc. I predict we will see that here too, very soon. In times of such economic inequity the anti-Semites come out. We have a president who is stoking the flames. We are living in dangerous times with no leadership, no statesmen (statespeople ?) The best leader we have now is Nancy Pelosi. The female lawmakers are speaking up louder than the men. I have hope in young people. We need their idealism and strength, i.e. Greta Thunberg. I seriously admire her. She is angry about climate change and has no problem yelling at world leaders about their absolute inertia regarding doing anything about it. Go Greta !

As I am pushing 70, I have the long view. History or progress is not linear. Rather it's cyclical. It

swings to the right, the center, to the left. In the 60's and early 70's, young people protested in the streets, on college campuses and effected Change. We got womens' rights, civil rights, black rights, etc. Now it's swung the other way. I watched almost every Representative cast their vote, yea or no to Impeach the president. The Democrats are white, black, brown, beige, Asian, Hispanic and Indian American. The Republicans are almost ALL WHITE MEN. They don't want anybody else to have any rights, they don't want women to have control over our own bodies, they are against pro-choice, it's so repugnant. We will see thousands of women and people of all genders in the streets in America very soon.

Chanukah celebrates religious freedom, a victory over the desecration of the Temple by the Syrian
Greek kings led by the rebel band of Maccabbees, guerilla fighters of their day. It didn't last long but we are still talking about it. We are reliving it too. Assimilation was rampant in those times. Israelites went to the gymnasiums too and adopted Greek customs. Fast forward to America, same thing. I once commented to Roby that in my research on synagogue architecture I learned a lot of jewish history I didn't know before. I did not know we were thrown out of so many countries. And I said to Roby, "it seems the only time the jews unite is if they have a common enemy, otherwise we are constantly bickering, arguing and debating amongst ourselves." He said that was a good insight and agreed with me.

I got some nice Chanukah gifts. Dorothy gave me a 'smart wool' neck warmer and a subscription to Lion's Roar, a Buddhist magazine. Laurie gave me a great pair of chanukah socks !

Happy holidays to everyone. I've watched a lot of Star Wars movies lately, The Force Awakens, Rise of the Jedi..... May the Force Be With You......

ADDENDUM

The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BCE, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. Wikipedia

The Temple of Solomon was destroyed by the Romans c. 70 A.D./A.C.E.

FIFTH NIGHT, RON + PAM

Tonight is the fifth night.

Ron and Pam sent photos from Willits, CA.

WINTER SOLSTICE, CHANUKAH

HAPPY CHANUKAH. 

Tonight is the first night. 12.22.19.

3:40 PM

Winter Solstice, 3:39 PM....here is the dim, milky light we get in Boston. Winter Light.12.21.19.

WINTER SUNSET

For some reason our winter sunsets
are more spectacular than any other time of year. 

Paintings in the sky.

4:09 PM

4:26 PM

4:29 PM

4:29 PM

4:30:03

 

POLITICS, IMPEACHMENT

So much is going on. The President is Impeached. I can't believe I have lived through three presidents getting impeached. Just as I was glued to to the TV during the Watergate hearings and the titillating Clinton impeachment, I can't tear myself away from the debacle otherwise known as our government, i.e. the Intelligence Committee hearings led by Adam Schiff, the Judiciary Committee hearings led by Gerry Nadler and the Articles of Impeachment hearings being discussed before the Judiciary Committee. And I was spellbound watching our elected representatives casting their vote, yea or no to impeach along with commentary.

LIFE IS NOT THE SAME living in a Monarchy or a Fascist Dictatorship, take your pick.
It looks the same, (although we are seeing effects of climate change.) but it isn't.

It's hard to believe watching the Republicans denying reality and the FACTS. Put another way, the Republican party is officially a FACT FREE party. Denying the facts. In fact the Republican party has defaulted to the Party of Trump. It's become a cult. It's viscerally painful to watch Democracy go down in tatters. We are hanging on by a thread. We are out on a historical limb that we have never been before.

I remember learning about the separation of powers in the Robert Treat Paine School in Dorchester. The history book (yes we had books back then in the stone age) said we have an Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. Today, the only functioning branch we have is the House of Representatives led by my hero, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. The Executive branch is corrupt. The Judicial branch is corrupt led by William Barr, a Trump toadie.

I feel like we are living in a real life version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (the best version is the original with Kevin McCarthy, Shirley and I loved it.) Listening to the Republicans casting their vote throughout the day, I marveled at their denial of facts, their complete willingness to not care about the president asking the Ukranian president to "do us a favor though" while he held up financial aid and weapons WHILE THEY WERE FIGHTING A WAR AGAINST THE RUSSIANS IN CRIMEA. UKRANIANS DIED while he held up the aid.

My Zaidy is twirling in his grave. Bubbe and Zaidy schlepped from Russia to live in a Democracy in 1910. 109 years later, Democracy is hanging on by a thread, not just here in America but all over the world. Democracy is taking a hit while Fascist dictatorships are making a comeback.

Everyone wants their Empire back. Russia, the Muslims want their Caliphate (Jihadists), North Korea and South American dictatorships. AND WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO ADMIRES THEM and not western democracies.

GREED. CORRUPTION.

Trump should be tried for Treason. I don't know why he gets away with denying Russian interference in our elections. He quotes Putin ! "Well he said he didn't do it..." YIKES !

ANALYSIS
We are going backwards. Coming of age in the 60's brought civil rights and social change. Sixty years later. I am watching the Republican party, consisting of almost ALL WHITE MEN overturn rights for everybody except WHITE MEN. It's hard to take. They don't want anybody else to have any rights, not women, not people of color, only white men. Many of those republican men spoke of the 'rights of the 'unborn'. Such hypocrisy makes me want to throw up. Where are those people when unwanted babies are born ? Nowhere to be found ! And this is all about overturning Roe v. Wade which might actually happen in my lifetime. It is unbearable for women not to have control over our own bodies. Why do men think they have a right to dictate what women can and cannot do ? Are Republican women brain dead ? More and more draconian laws have passed limiting or restricting abortion by MEN. That's all they seem to do;pass laws about taking control of womens' bodies.

Trump has packed the courts with 187 conservative judges and counting. The conservative agenda will continue long after Trump is gone. Frightening.

THINKING OF ROBY

Roby passed away nine years ago, 12.17.10. His yahrtzeit according to the Jewish calendar is Tevet 11 which corresponds to January 8, 2020, lighting the candle the night before.

Bad news regarding my friend Joan in Oakland. She has stage 4 lung cancer and it is not going in the right direction after three months of chemo. She was such a good friend to me when I lived in Berkeley. She stayed with me for a couple of weeks in 2013 when she came to attend a conference.