Jewish Musings, Sunday July 20, 2024

[louise]

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:
Frieda (hopefully)
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[louise]

About that acceptance speech and the preceding event:

“I stand before you in this arena,” he said, “only by the grace of Almighty God….I shouldn’t be here right now…something very special happened…. We rise together or we fall apart…I am running for president for all of America, not half of America.”

What a promising start to a speech, even though it would devolve relatively quickly into something else. I have interests in 2 directions both concerning this amazing outcome. One is about the divine intervention aspect and his several allusions to God and gratitude. I would think such an event could really inspire gratitude in someone. I know I thank God every time I trip and don’t fall (or fall and don’t break something, or break something but can get up, and so on). It is not to my credit though that I can’t help hearing these words coming from him as hollow and/or contrived. I know that is unfair on my part albeit based on a lot of previously exhibited behavior. Gratitude felt? Making himself the chosen one? Playing to those who would respond to this? Dunno.

The other thing is that even if otherwise unhurt how can one not be impacted by having such a close call? Whether it did other as yet unseen damage or more on the PTSD side of things. I can’t imagine how frightened I would be of every sound, and so on. How else would it impact my behavior?

After such a thing we would certainly bench “Gomeil” which I think of as our version of “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Actual translation: Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the world, who rewards the undeserving with goodness, and who has rewarded me with goodness.

I’m not talking about the politics per se but the effects of the experience (and, sorry to say, possibly capitalizing on it).

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[hollygail]

I agree with your overall impressions. I may have gagged on hearing his opening. He has no interest in representing "all of America" based on everything he's done, both in his own life as well as in the presidency. I can't imagine listening to anything he says. Not one thing.

I have decided to renew my passport.

[brgmsn]

He wants a white, christian US. We will certainly not be part of it.
As a nurse, I can tell you if his ear was really impacted by a bullet, he'd have had stitches or at least skin glue. He had neither. IF one even hit it, it skimmed it. It was a big fat nothing. I don't buy any of his bullshit. He's a traitor to his country.
He has bought and paid for his circle.
If the Dems spent as much time pushing their candidate, who has shown his abilities over the past 3 1/2 years, including hosting NATO 2 weeks ago and continuing to run our country and pass laws, as they do tearing him down, we'd be sitting pretty.
I am enraged at what we are doing to ourselves, and fear for our future, if we will even have one.

[lee058]

Good afternoon everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Re today's topic: I also am extremely worried about where Jewish Americans will fit in if the Democrats don't win the Presidential election. The whole situation scares me a lot.

Nonetheless, DH, DS and I are all doing well, and I am grateful for that.

Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee

[peachymom1]

I've never felt so afraid for the future before, and I don't know how to feel any better about it, if that's even possible. I'm in a one-day-at-a-time mode because I can't think of anything else to do.

It's 83 degrees already, just after 9 a.m. DH and DD35 are at Disneyland, doing the CHOC Walk to raise money for Children's Hospital Orange County. They're well hydrated and sunscreened. They've texted pictures, and it looks like they're having a wonderful time. Good stuff!

[gazelle18]

I just learned about Biden stepping aside and endorsing Harris. Let’s hope she will be a good candidate!

[lee058]

gazelle18, I feel hope again!