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Hate? 2 Thoughts..one From Bernie Farber

avrum — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:15:09 +0000

Love Hate Baby

From Bernie Farber: The Director of the Canadian Jewish Congress

I have learned that those who feel power behind a computer screen and use the keys to malign are nothing but the old version of the school yard bully. It took some time but I now choose to ignore them …trust me it drives them nuts…while libel-masters were busy looking in the dictionary for better adjectives with which to attack me…I was elsewhere …as if they didn’t exist…they are so used to having people react to their craziness.

A Comment from Me

People who hate shoot an arrow of xeonophobia (or however their hate manifests itself) and then draw a circle around it, of unsubstantiated facts.

An Anonymous Comment

Yes, because if you actually looked at facts you would stop indiscriminately hating whole groups of people. knowing the truth would make that kind of hatred impossible. So how do you make the truth attractive and desirable?

I ask, why must I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders?

avrum — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:35:54 +0000

Avrum:

I rarely smile anymore, much less laugh. How can I ? How can one be jovial knowing that millions (if not billions) are suffering, some horribly? Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to enjoy even the most mundane things. It is a terrible injustice that some are blessed greatly and other much less so. For this, I question G-d; sometimes sternly. The Torah is clear: oppose injustice ! So, if He gave me (us) a strong sense of justice, then we are obligate to strive for equality for all. You spoke of “balance.” But, I know I have not nearly enough. I suppose a shrink would catagorize me as melancholy, socially poorly adjusted. Yet, how can one turn a blind eye?

I ask, why must I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders ? How easy it would make life if I could simply accept the state of things, turn my thoughts to trivial pleasures !

So very few understand …

Shalom, Ken

Question: Is it okay to feel joy while children are being butchered across the word?

avrum — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:17:10 +0000

Thanks for your Aug 23 column in CJN. I thought myself alone in the feelings you’ve expressed so clearly. I rarely smile anymore, much less laugh. How can I ? How can one be jovial knowing that millions (if not billions) are suffering, some horribly ? Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to enjoy even the most mundane things. It is a terrible injustice that some are blessed greatly and other much less so. For this, I question G-d; sometimes sternly. The Torah is clear: oppose injustice ! So, if He gave me (us) a strong sense of justice, then we are obligated to strive for equality for all. You spoke of “balance.” But, I know I have not nearly enough. I suppose a shrink would catagorize me as melancholy, socially poorly adjusted. Yet, how can one turn a blind eye ? I ask, why must I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders ? How easy it would make life if I could simply accept the state of things, turn my thoughts to trivial pleasures ! So very few understand … Shalom, Ken

Touching Thoughts from a reader on Aging Parents

avrum — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:40:16 +0000

My parents are 81 and 82. My dad who is 82 is suffering from the late stages of Dementia and my mom at 81 is tired and having trouble coping. Me and my children live with my parents. It is easier for me to be their to tend to what they need and to ensure that someone is always in the house….the kids, who will be B’nei mitzvahed in March have a tough time understanding it. My 22 year old who is still at home takes them to appointments during the day when she is doesn’t have university classes. It is hard, emotionally, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, When my sister says I am coming to your house Friday, I always say you mean mom and dads. I agree, when I am sick with a migraine or have a bad day…I go straight into my mom’s room and lay down on her bed. I sit with my father and watch tv with him, just to be with him They are my world. They are always there for me, the door was always open…no questions asked. The only thing they ever asked is, ‘are you happy?’. That was their only concern. My happiness, for when one is happy, everything falls into place. My father showed me his Tallit, I cried. My mother talks about Baycrest for my dad, I cry. The thought of them leaving me forever it too much to bear. My father is a survivour of the Holocaust. He lost his entire family at age 13 and now at 82 he is forgetting us. He is losing the memory of this family. I cannot cope with that loss. I believe in Hashem (God) , but how could he take another family away? It weighs heavily on my mind. On Thursday there is a meeting at my house to put my dad on a waiting list for Baycrest…I can’t attend….to painful I am the sensitive one. My sister who is a social worker can deal with these things. I know I am not the only child dealing with this issue, but it is a painful…life is the best when they (my parents) are around…..

…we need to do something, otherwise we will disappear!

avrum — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:37:28 +0000

….so according to me, a great community is not the one that goes deep into intellectual discussions and stuff, but the one, where on a cold day a member sees you standing and waiting for a bus and gives you a ride: Just because it is too cold to be outside….we are not prepared ( saying we I mean North American Jews) because we are too spoiled…it is too comfortable; life is not challenging….it is not like when you come from the part of the world where you have to fight for your rights…it is all about status – even shuls, all about bar-mitzvahs, cool guests, menus…nobody believes that something bad can happen….well, not in Canada…but if we go back some 90 years ago…Germany…German Jews also did not believe…..I know, it is a bad thing, but maybe a current recession will take people out of their comfort areas, and show them that still there are challenges and insecurities….yes, we should all dance, sing, and drink and be happy…some Rabbis says it is Jewish to suffer, but I strongly disagree….I mean we need to do something, otherwise we will all disappear from the surface of the world ….like mammoths did! (Anna Leah, Toronto)