The Wolf At The Door

So, I am constantly looking over my shoulder, not like Yogi Berra, who urged us not to because THEY might be gaining on us. I am looking back over my shoulder because I am afraid THEY ARE gaining on us. I think about Nietzsche, whose writings and thoughts had such a profound effect on the ideas so many of the thinkers who have shaped our views of today’s world. Because the Nazis twisted his words to suit their own ends, he was given a bad name for so many. The Nazis did that. They provided chapter and verse on how to repeat lies often enough that so many in the crowd begin to accept the oft-repeated lies as the gospel truth. (There’s a contradiction in terms, when we know that the Gospels were full of lies.)

Today we see the airwaves full of oft-repeated lies by Trump and his minions, those who knowingly abase themselves and submerse themselves in the filth he peddles, just to curry his favor. And as many as one-third of the American public have bought in. The Russian media are full of Putin’s lies about Ukraine, and how many Russians have accepted his words as truth. The kleptocracy in that country is now being sanctioned by the world, clarifying at last what has been true about that country for decades, its people are being treated like mindless sheep, keeping quiet so there will continue to be food in the trough. These people have learned well from the Nazi’s minister of propaganda, Goebbels.

These realities, realities brought home to us with the stark image of a devastated Ukraine, while we stand by wringing our hands, making mewling sounds to imply sympathy. The Nazi references are appropriate because the same was true of our world in 1933.How many countries were swallowed before the victims began to fight for their lives. AND THERE WERE EIGHTY MILLION DEAD before the wolf was laid to rest, and six million Jews directly targeted.

The ultimate result was the illusion of the United Nations and the reality, ultimately, of the Pax Americanus .The PAX AMERICANUS is long dead, and all of us potentially face a wolf at the door.

There was no policeman, not even America under Truman, in 1948, when the armies of seven Arab countries surrounding Israel descended on the new state (population 648,000) as a rich carcass to be dismembered and feasted upon. And the major powers responded by banning arms shipments to Israel. The Jews there had only their secret weapon. They had nowhere else to go. They had ten per cent casualties, but they threw back the enemy.

The Ukrainians are fleeing their borders by the millions. Will Ukrainians from abroad rush in to defend their former homeland? Many hundreds of Jews did that in 1948.

Today there is no guarantee that what we are being told is the truth. In our era there are multitudinous sources of news. You can choose the flavor that appeals to your biases and trumpet to all of your neighbors on social media. How will we know our neighbor is not a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Can we be alert enough to distinguish one from the other?

Will Putin’s actions strengthen the resolve of the Chinese Supreme Leader to reach out for Taiwan. Will the Ayatollah in Iran see this as the time to unleash the Iranian Guards in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen? Will Putin occupy Moldova and Belarus? Will he dare challenge NATO? Are there others eyeing their neighbors for a rich prize? Will there be a wolf at every door when there are no longer any international policemen? Truth and Democracy are at risk everywhere.

It is a small thing in the scale of things at play. But when we have lived for the last two thousand years without a policeman we can call to for help, it is important. When lies about us are being told by those with evil purposes in mind are met with no defense, it is important. There are one hundred thousand Jews left in the Ukraine. I have had personal experience that many people of that origin did not take a kind view of my Jewish background. The experiences of Jews in that country have not been of the best, to put it mildly.

Nevertheless these numbers of Jews have clung to their Ukrainian heritage, one rich in Jewish history, song, and literature. The wolf is at the door, and this not a good time for Ukrainians, least of all, Jews of Ukrainian origin. Jews in the Ukraine will be in danger from both their immediate neighbors and the invaders. One thing they can count on, there will be Israelis on the ground sent there by the government of Israel to assist them where they can. There is no other source of help Jews can count on. That is a truth you can take to the bank.