Honouring Thy Parents

Hello one and all and welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links.

Truth be told, we are still digging out from two rather massive snowstorms that dumped a good 60 cm of snow on us here in southern Ontario. We have been shovelling and shovelling and there's just nowhere to put the freaking snow anymore. It's bad enough to be snowed in, but if there's one thing that makes a snowstorm and its aftermath worse, it is the abject stupidity of the decision-makers in local government. Here in Toronto, the kook communists at City Hall have prioritized clearing the bike lanes of snow before the roads and streetcar tracks. Toronto in February! Frigging bike lanes. And please don't get me started on the maddening cycle of city ploughs trapping our cars in our driveways with the snow banks they created, which literally turned into miniature ridges of solid, heavy, dirty icebergs in the freezing weather.

OK that's enough about the weather, but I'm not finished being a crank just yet. There is something else that makes me absolutely sick. You know what it is? Guess.

I hate gutlessness. I really do.

And I hate all the wokestapo, cowards in the world of the arts who pretend to be courageous and avant guard when they are just rotten, morally corrupt, boring, ass-kissing, low-IQ dhimmis who don't have the guts to cast a bald, black actress as Muhammad. So, please, Hollywood, ping me when you cast the movie about Islam.

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I spent a lot of the day today hiding from the news, and a lot of time trying not to think about how someone like Yarden Bibas will be able to live after the murder of his wife and children and in-laws. How do you live after a Holocaust? I probably should have spent more time with my copy of Psalms instead of trying to banish the acute heartbreak from my consciousness and trying not to let the evil of the Gazan Nazis of Amalek crush my spirit.

Still, one must live on Planet Reality, and have faith in G-d. It made me cry, and really spoke to me on a very deep level, so I'm also including this absolutely crushing and humbling first person essay from a bereaved mother in Israel. I won't editorialize further. Please read the whole thing and perhaps you will cry fewer tears than I did.

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I talked last week about visiting my father. (I didn't mention my visit to my mother but perhaps I'll discuss all that some other time.) I do feel incredibly lucky that I still have both my parents, because it is sort of rare at my age and stage and theirs, too. So even though there is a lot to manage (the phrase "sandwich generation" used to be bandied about quite a bit), my siblings and I are still doing our very best to follow the commandment of honouring our parents.

A number of years ago, I remember first hearing Dennis Prager (who is also in very serious need of prayers for those who are inclined) discuss how the commandment is to "honour" your parents. Not to respect them, or even to love them, but to honour them. Since then, I've read or listened to a lot of other Rabbis talk about this topic. The idea is that your parents are partners with G-d in your creation. You are on this earth because of that sacred collaboration. So though there are those who don't really like their parents, and though there are some people that unfortunately don't actually love their parents, all children are still commanded to honour them and the fact that they gave you life.

This does not include situations of abuse, and there are many discussions about when one might be exempt from honouring their parents. If your parents are still alive, I hope you speak to them and see them regularly and that you are not estranged. The relationship between parents and children is sacred, G-d is in that mix. Therefore I feel completely confident saying the following: woe unto those who tamper with those bonds.

There's lots that I can't currently say about me and my Dad and his situation but I appreciate all the kind comments and support. Some of you have even met my Dad in person over the years because he used to tag along with me to various conservative activities, like seeing Mark Steyn live for example! So for your edification (or horror) I'm sharing a photo from this week's visit.

Please keep me and my family in your prayers, pray for all the remaining hostages and their families and for the Peace of Jerusalem.

See you in the comments as I'm able.

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North America:

This seems fine.

Seems like this is an international trend.

DOGE: Making math great again.

RFK's Mom army has landed on shore.

"Strong people are harder to kill." Yes. Physically and spiritually.

Please, Democrats. Please keep doing exactly what you have been doing. Please stick with the cray-cray.

More on JD Vance in Europe.

The Greatest Appreciation.

I love you, America but you are so over-medicated and under healthy. And fat. I'm glad people are talking about this. It's just not normal to be on so much medication.

Maybe they can live with Justin Trudeau.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

"I voted for this."

Chan/Zuckerberg sabotage slush funds.

Yes.

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Israel and Jews:

Starved, beaten and forced to eat donkey food.

In the shadow of David and Goliath.

Resettling Gaza.

Updates from the Prince of Hamas

"I want Tefillin."

Indeed.

Of course not.

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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:

OH I SEE

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Europe:

Houellebecq's Annihilation: An Unlikely Antidote to Nihilism

JD Vance has signed the death warrant of the status quo.

All on my bucket list!

Plane loads of cash, zero accountability. This all seems fine.

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The Formerly Great Britain

Seems like it would be a pretty simple problem to solve if anyone wanted the problem to be solved.

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South Africa:

Motive? A real mystery. We may never know the answer.

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Evil Kooks 'N' Trans:

The thing that they told us NEVER would ever, ever happen, happened again.

Imagine living a life obsessed with women's bathrooms.

Evil evil stuff.

"Our daughter went to Brandeis and at her request was placed in a dorm room on the 'queer' floor."

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Human, Canine and Avian Grace:

"The best random part about having small kids is how they mispronounce things and it's so adorable that you not only don't correct them, you start adopting it yourself." Do you have your own to add into the mix? One of my kids loved spotting "hopticelers" in the sky. Another one loved her winter feather "duvit".

How do you know when to trust someone?

Meet Shadow.

The best boy!

The bromance we never knew we needed.

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.