How are you doing? Early reports say all of the drones and missiles were intercepted. Stay safe. Thank you…! All is well. A couple of sleepless nights in the middle of the night but fine otherwise. Thank you for checking in, it means the world.
Last night, Iran fired “170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles…into Israel.” My friend lives in harm’s way. Too many live in the way of harm these days. I imagined my friend hunkered down in some bunker waiting out the barrage of explosive knives of death from an Islamic regime that wants my friend dead.
Nightfall crept into the San Diego evening.
Like many Americans, I turned on the silver screen and watched the fireworks display over Israel, the home of my writer friend. I leaned back on the couch and saw images in the Middle East sky unconnected to imminent harm for me. I thought about the preparations my friend was taking at that moment, how I’m sure she had memorized civil defense warnings by heart, that she needed her sleep but what is sleep under the siren wails of the Iron Dome in the Holy Land?
Earlier in the day and over lunch, my friend Dan urged adoption of a 2 state or 2.5 state plan to solve the regional conflict. There could be no lasting peace until Gaza and the West Bank were constituted in an independent federal government. I suggested a flight of beer as we reviewed Dan’s Gaza 2050 plan. Dan chose black coffee and I followed his lead. I had so many questions — what would be the demographics under his Gaza 2050? Wouldn’t there be displacement of Jews living in Gaza and the West Bank? Wouldn’t natural divisions drive apart those who lived in Gaza from those who lived in the West Bank? What were the three greatest weaknesses of his plan? I ordered mac and cheese, Dan ordered chocolate cake and children continued to die in Gaza.
I asked Dan for his perception of Soviet Jews who have migrated to Israel. For many years, I have felt a natural affinity towards Soviet Jews but I lacked the language to explain the attraction. Dan took a bite of his cake and surmised that Soviet Jews were treated like Blacks in America. Russian Jews were treated as apart from the Russian people. As a result, there developed a hard edge to one’s sense of self and identity. I saw what Dan was getting at. I see the hard edge in Konstantin Kisin of the podcast Triggernometry. Kisin is a Russian-British satirist. Konstantin Kisin I catch a glimpse of the imperceptive Soviet Jewish soul and character in Lex Fridman, a Russian-American computer scientist and podcaster. Lex is one of my favorite podcasters. Lex Fridman When I read Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, I am drawn to the soul of Russian Jews. It is true. Boris Pasternak There is a woman in the Bay area who holds my fondness and attraction. She was born in the Soviet Union and her character was shaped by the allure of greater opportunity in the Bay Area. She knows the offense of collectivism which makes the two of us of the same tribe.
And then there is my friend living through an unprecedented attack on Israel.
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I once wrote an essay about The Souls of Black Folk. Out of curiosity, I googled “The Souls of Black Folk” and retrieved 53, 800 results. A google search for “The Souls of Soviet Jews” revealed one result.
Someone should write about The Souls of Soviet Jews. If one removes skin color from the equation, how does being perceived as the Other in a Soviet society mold a sense of self? Does identity in a Soviet regime leave discernible scars? How does the human soul and character survive in the face of antisemitism? If there are 160,000 Russian Jews who have moved from the former Soviet Union to Israel, are there 160,000 life stories, experiences and perspectives alive and well in Israel today? Or, does an imperceptible universal soul echo through the lives of Kisin, Fridman, Pasternak, my Bay Area acquaintance and my friend living in Israel tonight?
These are spiritual questions. The answers do not lend themselves to dogma and slogan words. At best, I have only feeling to guide me. I can sense when I find other souls interesting. I want to learn more about them. I am intrigued. Affinity is a clumsy word which I should not use. A better description would be sensing part of oneself in another soul. It is like two parts of a zig saw puzzle brought together. As Dan intimated, circumstances have rendered my black American soul and souls of some Soviet Jews interlocking.
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Conclusion: The best friend of my mother-in-law passed away this morning. The best friend wanted to be remembered as someone in the prime of health, so she kept her cancer a secret from friends until the end. People do this. They conceal to protect themselves, and others. My mom-in-law found out about the terminal condition last week. She made plans to visit her friend in a coma one last time tomorrow.
Tomorrow never came. Life is a precious resource. We all have a short shelf life. Reach out to family and friends while one can. Be there for others. And extend the warmth of affection and attention to good friends in troubled lands.
One day, we will meet again and contemplate the mysteries of the universe. I will stretch my intuition to feel the outer limits of the Soviet Jewish soul. You will play your part, disclaim what possible overlap could there be between a son of Chester, Virginia and a daughter of Moscow in the Soviet Union. And the rounds of repartee will take us away to a better place.
Be well my friend.
I thought you might be interested in “Bad Leaders, Wrong Turns.” from The Remnant podcast, hosted by Jonah Goldberg. It’s a different point of view.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-remnant-with-jonah-goldberg/id1291144720?i=1000652113713
Show Notes: Jonah is joined by Dr. Einat Wilf—a former member of Israel's Labor Party and author of The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace. They discuss Israel's failure to reckon with antisemitism in the pro-Palestinian movement, how the two-state solutions got derailed, and what bad leadership means for the future of the conflict.
You are a beautiful person.