Greetings one and all and welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links.
Over the last several months, I've been dealing with a multitude of "real life" issues and challenges, muddling through them all with varying degrees of success and failure. Most of these are too personal to write about at this time. I remain relatively heavily mired down in various layers of the muck of life. Not all days are bad of course and there are many moments of great joy indeed throughout many. But no matter what has happened throughout the day, at the end of the day, as my weary eyes crave sleep, I put my hand over my eyes and say the Shema Yisrael prayer. A sense of inner peace takes over and I can finally rest.
Then morning comes quickly. I feel as though I just put my head down after only a fleeting moment I have landed in tomorrow, washing my hands and thanking G-d for returning my soul to me for another day on Earth.
I was thinking lately about one of my favourite Jewish tales. As the story goes, an impoverished Jew with many children who lived in a rickety house in a miserable shtetl, goes to the local Rabbi to complain about his situation. The Rabbi advises him to get a goat and bring it into his home and come back the next day. The man reports that the goat was not making things better, but actually much worse. So the Rabbi tells him to add a few chickens into the house and return the next day. This continues for several days with new animals added every day, and the man returning every day after to the Rabbi, reporting that nothing is getting better – it's just getting smellier, dirtier and more crowded. Finally the Rabbi advises him to take out all the animals and come back the next day. How are things, the Rabbi then asks? And the man reports that he is delighted! His house has never felt cleaner or bigger or better, his house – it's wonderful, he loves it!
It's important to remember that this moment, and this day may seem insurmountable.
You may not have goats and chickens and horses prancing about your house, but you have challenges and issues and problems and they are bringing you down. It may be hard to picture a better tomorrow. But do try, as I am doing as well, to focus on what is really good in your life, and in your day.
We humans often don't appreciate how good things are until they are not.
I myself would love to be in a reset situation with a number of things that I am dealing with but there's no way to turn the clock back. Try to be grateful for today, for all the individual moments in the day that are not hard and for all the bits of joy you can gather mentally and physically. It's certainly easier than adding goats and chickens and other livestock into your home (or maybe not – I'm a city slicker, so what do I know).
I'll leave you with a few things that I did not want to get lost below, so please do read them all. First: the great Victor Davis Hanson on "What Were the Hamas Monsters Thinking" and this excellent essay from Brendan O'Neill: "We Mustn't Let The Left Erase the Truth of 7 October".
Life is full of surprises.
Take care and please continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
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North America:
This is not "just" a Jewish problem. It's a problem for America and for Western civilization as well. RELATED.
As Mark has always said: the process is the punishment.
Socialist medicine means the government owns your body and those of your loved ones. Now we can see that a Canadian citizen isn't even worth $200K.
Where free speech ends and law breaking begins.
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The Great Walkbackening:
Imagine my surprise.
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Israel and Jews:
A two-fer from the great Rabbi Dov Fisher. First here. Then here.
What makes Hamas worse than the Nazis.
Melanie Philips on the hostage deal.
Believe All Women – except when they are Israeli rape victims.
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The Formerly Great Britain:
"Muhammad is the most popular boy's name in Britain.
Saying the quiet part out loud.
Related: Refugees Welcome, etc.
"White privilege" struggle session in Ireland.
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Europe:
OK Germany, I'm sure this will make a huge difference. Great job, Bob.
VDH: Can Europe become Western again?
The banality of evil 2023: "Six teenagers go on trial in connection with French teacher's beheading.
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South America:
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Human Grace (pretty Jewy this week but that's what the universe provided):
Caring for the disabled in a time of war.
This is the nation of Israel. The first wave is 7000 volunteers.
"What Now?" A nice collection from Tablet, post-October 7th thoughts on what to do.
"In a time of pain and darkness, what can I do to make the world a little brighter and a better place?"
Douglas Murray: mensch
It's open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from week that was. Commenting privileges are among the many perks of membership in The Mark Steyn Club. While going off topic is permitted on Laura's Links, do stick to the other rules as you engage: no URLs, no profanity, and no ad hominem attacks.