September 12, 2025

This past week I was at an outdoor wedding in the midwestern USA. In addition to the absolutely lovely experience, there were two things I took away from that visit. One was bothersome.  One was incredibly uplifting.

The setting was magnificent, although there was a slight haze covering the surrounding mountains.  The local guests kept commenting that the haze was from the fires in Canada. That same night, the moon was red, a blood moon, caused when the moon enters the earth’s shadow, and it was simply breathtaking.

Walking around town the next day, we heard from over a dozen individuals who told us authoritatively, “The moon is red from the fires in Canada.” One of the people in my party kept correcting the misperception, and all I could think about was how quickly a rumour becomes fact.  With Israel and Gaza on my mind, I was much more disturbed by this misrepresentation than anyone else who was with me. How are people so ready to not only believe what they hear, but to pass it on as fact?!

The other thing I took away from the wedding experience was decidedly more pleasant. As usual, I was wearing my “Bring Them Home” dog-tag necklace.  The governor of the state, who served as the officiant at the wedding ceremony, asked me what my necklace said. When I told him, he said, “You know, I have an Israeli flag at the door to my office in the capitol building.  It’s been there since October 7 and it will be there until the last hostage is brought home.”

I couldn’t believe it.  Here in Toronto, the Jewish community is, unfortunately, consistently reminded that we are on our own. The rumours swirl, the news is slanted, the Useful Idiot group grows, our government leaders are blatantly not with us, and we feel more and more alone. And here I was, on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, and I met a non-Jewish American governor who supported us and was not afraid to show it. He went on to tell me that he had been to Israel five times, twice on his own and three times with groups of politicians who met with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. What did I take away from this?  I took away Much Needed, Enormous, Soul-Nurturing Hope.

We are all shocked at this week’s horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk, who had been a true, strong friend to Israel. We are further outraged at the atrocious response from some. University of Toronto professor Ruth Marshall should be fired for what she wrote. I was about to write that MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd should be fired but learned that just 15 minutes ago, he actually was.

Hope. Much Needed, Enormous, Soul-Nurturing Hope. I’ve got it in spades, enough to share with all of you. Chin up, my friends. It’s bleak, but we are not alone.

Am Yisrael Chai!