Jewish Musings, Tuesday 11/15

[lee058]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well today. It's cool here in VA today, but not as chilly as yesterday. I'm wearing my sweatshirt in the house though, as the house is also a bit chilly. I think it's going to be a good day anyway.

Yesterday's posts made me think of what is really bothering me about Trump and his potential administration, and unless it upsets you, I'd like us to discuss it today. If you don't feel comfortable, please feel free to write about whatever you want.

What are we going to do if Trump and/or his advisors say or do something that is anti-Jewish? He has already said he is going to appoint someone (Bannon) who has made anti-Jewish comments, such as not wanting his children to go to a school where there are "too many Jews." Trump has many supporters from the alt-right movement. I do not feel comfortable with that.

There have already been several incidents of graffiti (including swastikas) on buildings, one of which said, "Heil Trump." This was written up in the Washington Post and online, so I am sure that it really happened. This is something I find alarming.

What do you think we should do?

I'll be back later. Have a peaceful morning, Lee

[louise]

Truth be told the anti-Semitic bent makes it personal but ALL of the slurs are seriously distasteful as in make my stomach turn. Same for his bullying remarks, snide comments, and disregard for the context issues take place in. My first hope is that as he assumes the role of president his eyes (and his mind) open. Right now he is as blind to issues facing the planet as to issues disrespecting people. I take the anti-Semitic tendencies very seriously, but in the current context it is one assault among many, all serious.

[hollygail]

Louise speaks for me as well.

[gazelle18]

I agree with Louise, and for me the answer is to get even more seriously involved in promoting understanding, civil rights, voting rights, etc. I am already heavily involved in one organization that is pushing back, and being involved gives me a sense that I am doing something.

I'm a fighter. I refuse to take this laying down.

[happysavta]

I think we should take into account that one of his closest family advisors is Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, and he is expected to remain an advisor. Indeed, Ivanka has converted to Judaism and is raising her 3 children (Donald Trump's grandchildren) Jewish. They are more observant than I am. I've read magazine articles where Ivanka describes herself and Jared as modern Orthodox.

Trump and his family are not going to tolerate Anti-Semitism. Kushner is permanent. Bannon is temporary.

[happysavta]

Did anyone else watch the interview on 60 minutes Sunday with Leslie Stahl and the entire Trump family? It was mind-boggling to see the difference between Candidate Trump and President-Elect Trump. www.youtube.com/watch?v=App81UDisnM

[savtele]

Boker Tov All!

Again, as I mentioned yesterday, of registered voters, about 46% did not bother to vote. THIS is more troubling to me than anything that Trump himself might say. Just under 1/2 of the citizens of this country did not consider this election important enough to show up!

I'm sure that some of these people didn't want Trump as president, but didn't like Hillary either - so they bowed out. (My mom, for all her talk about not voting for either, ended up biting the bullet & sending in her ballot.) Others may very well have been intimidated at the polls, or, without real intimidation, were afraid they would be intimidated, so they stayed home. Some, no doubt, were genuinely confused.

Just as with Brexit, where many of the constituents were making a "protest vote," (which then worked into a real-life exit), those who stayed home out of protest now have a real-life president to contend with. (I'm sure many of them are out in the streets, shouting with fists in the air. Sorry folks, your day to speak up was November 8!)

Now more than ever, community is important! Any and all protests against anti-Jewish ideas, ideals & protests will need our full support, our physical attendance & our financial support. And our communities must band together with the African-American, Native-American, Immigrants-Seeking-Paths-to-Citizenship, and Refugee communities - who will also find themselves on the wrong side of this administration.

It is telling to me that Trump has stated that he doesn't want to live in the White House full-time. He's playing a roll - his "real life" will continue separately from that! Again - we have to wait & see how this actually works out.

It is very stormy out today. My lights have flickered a few times - I'm going to finish up before they go completely (and get another cup of coffee) It's a good thing I have a big stack of wood in the house already (and a bigger one right outside the back door)

Have a good day ladies!

[happysavta]

Come on, somebody else must have seen that 60 Minutes interview Sunday with Leslie Stahl, no? Nobody? It's on youtube.

Did you see how somber and subdued Trump was? Did you hear him back-peddling on his major campaign promises, one by one? Reality has hit him on the head.

Same thing when Obama transitioned from Candidate to President Elect to President. Obama's high-flying, idealistic, poetic imagery of how the Dems would heal the earth and sing kum-ba-ya with the Iranians if he got elected, that was just campaign rhetoric.

Listen, when Obama took office, I also said, "Not my President" and couldn't understand how the public could vote for such an inexperienced candidate who was so obviously unready for the office. All I saw was arrogance and a desire for power. It took me some time to see how genuine he was. Today, I give him credit for a lot of things and find him an inspirational figure.

Let's take a wait and see approach with Trump. I see so what "what if?" followed by some dread- filled imagining in our posts. We don't have to accept that the sky is falling before anything has happened. Yes, the character of the man is flawed, but we haven't had any saints in the Presidency. Some of Trump's ideas may possibly lead to prosperity, less violence in the streets, safety from Islamic terrorism. These are good goals. Let's see how he implements them. Give him a chance to lead. Isn't that what both Obama and Hillary Clinton have stated?

[happysavta]

I really don't understand why we're scaring ourselves and projecting all these thoughts of dread and fear. Today it was "What are we going to do if Trump and/or his advisors say or do something that is anti-Jewish?" Yesterday, it was,'We must be activists on behalf of groups that are an important part of the American mosaic that have been threatened by the President-Elect when he was a candidate."

Is the sky really falling or are we just filling ourselves with fear and dread of the future with our own imaginings? In the present, everything is OK at this moment.

For example, what groups were actually threatened by Mr. Trump?

I didn't hear Candidate Trump threaten African-Americans for example. I did hear him say that he wanted to improve the future of African-American children in the inner cities with better education, more employment opportunities and less violence in the inner city streets. That sounded fine to me. I wish him success.

The Jews were threatened by Candidate Trump? When? He hasn't made any anti-Semitic statements. Never happened.

I didn't hear Candidate Trump threaten Muslim citizens of the U.S. I did hear him ask that community to help our Homeland Security by speaking up when they see signs of radicalization in their youth or signs of planned attacks. That's OK by me. I did hear him say he wanted to have "extreme vetting" for people wishing to immigrate to the U.S. from countries where there are Islamic terror groups. I find that pretty reasonable. I don't want Al Quada, Isis and Al Nusra, among others in our country. I'm OK with being very cautious about selecting new Muslim immigrants from Libya, Syria, Iraq etc. The Middle East is a mess. Anyway, this careful vetting is nothing new. We've had extreme vetting for immigrants after WWII, asking people about any possible Nazis and/or Communist affiliations. My husband came to the U.S. in 1977 and was asked about any Communist affiliation. So? If we can't vet them, why would we bring them into the U.S.?

I didn't hear Candidate Trump threaten all citizens of Mexican descent with deportation. I heard him say that those who are here illegally need to go home and apply like anyone else does and wait their turn. I'm fine with that. That's pretty much the law of every sovereign nation. He did threaten illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, especially, violent crimes, with immediate deportation. I don't have a problem with that. I don't want any criminals off the street.

I didn't hear any threats made against LGBT people made by Candidate Trump. I heard Trump speak up for them at the Republican convention.
I do think that his overall attitude toward women is objectionable, crude and rude, and he needs to grow up.

Look, I don't like Trump and didn't vote for him. But I think we need to stop thinking with our emotions. Let's just stay calm and stop anticipating the worst. Let's watch what's actually going on. Let's leave the "What ifs" aside for awhile and trust that that when we see danger, we will react appropriately .


Trump is already backtracking on repealing Obamacare completely. He is already backtracking on building a Wall at the Mexican border. He is already backtracking on punitive trade policies with China.

Trump is a practical, pragmatic person (a builder) with a big mouth. The big mouth defined Candidate Trump. The practical, pragmatic Trump is the one who will be President. Watch and see.

[lee058]

Good points, everyone, and thanks for your thoughtful responses!

Have a peaceful night, Lee

[peachymom1]

Hi everyone, I haven't been able to log on during the day from work, so I'm just getting here now. Thank you all for your comments. I'm going to check out the youtube that Frieda provided and then come back.

[peachymom1]

Well, ladies, I just finished watching the "60 Minutes" interview. For me, it's important to hear Trump speak for himself, with his own voice and his own words. I think he's got a lot to learn, and that he's going to have some serious wake-up calls, but I'm starting to think that he does have the desire to do a good job, and he does have the drive. So I feel much less fearful now, and I feel better about waiting to see how things unfold. This is a very interesting time to be an American, for sure. But I will be much more aware of what's happening here, how things are developing, and I will stay much more on top of the news and current events than I ever have.

I did have to giggle, though, that the show was sponsored by Viagra...