I’ve gotten used to it, unfortunately, but it’s crazy the amount of misinformation and hate that exists for the Jewish people, for my people. 

Key word there is “people.”

Because many want to see us as something other than human beings. Or they see a few bad apples and declare the entire tree to be rotten. This past year on X has been eye opening in that regard. How can you write off an ENTIRE group of people? I’ve never understood that concept. 

But I’ll tell you something about the Jewish people, something that, maybe more than anything else, defines us… despite all the ugliness in the world, in the face of evil and the darkest of lies, the Jewish people are filled with hope and light and the capacity to thrive no matter what the world throws at us.

The thing that most people, especially those who hate us, fail to understand, is that that ability is not something solely owned by us. Anyone can choose hope over fear. Anyone can choose to laugh rather than cry, when all seems lost. Unfortunately, the Jewish people have simply had to make use of this talent more often than we would like. We’ve had a lot of practice.

I think many of our beautiful traditions and cultural beliefs wouldn’t have come about without all the hardship faced through the generations. It’s sort of a bittersweet thing I’ve come to understand. If everything had been easy, we wouldn’t have needed to become who we are today. Strength through adversity and all that…but it’s true, even if it’s sometimes hard to remember when doomscrolling on this app. 

Anyway if you’ve read this far, thanks for stopping by. Happy Hanukkah if you’re celebrating and Shabbat shalom.