The Attack on The Synagogue in England, Pope Leo, and A Better World Imagined

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Because I don’t watch tv or use my phone on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, I am disconnected from the world. And as I sat in synagogue yesterday, I had the same thought I have every year- “Anything could be happening and I wouldn’t know.”

I continued with that train of thought for a bit and let my imagination run a little wild. Maybe the government shutdown was over, maybe my voodoo *CF/P Trump had worked its magic and he had disappeared (since I was supposed to be atoning I didn’t wish him physical harm, just some revelation where he finally decided to be a decent human being and step down for the good of humanity). Perhaps the spell had been broken and MAGAs realized they had been supporting the team that was actually hurting their own self interests. I realize that I was being a little delusional but in my defense I was hungry and thirsty.

Alas, when evening came and I finally turned my phone back on, I discovered that none of these things had come to pass. In fact, on my FB page Thoughts From Aisle 4, MAGAs had had a field day saying how the government shutdown was the Democrats fault because they wanted money to pay for sex change operations for minors and health care for undocumented immigrants. Sigh.

I also saw the horrific news about the attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, England. In case you haven’t heard about it, two Jewish worshippers were killed and three others were seriously injured when a man rammed his car into them and then exited the vehicle and began attacking people with a blade before being shot and killed by police.

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If you’ve been reading my Substack, you know that I’ve written a lot about the security at my synagogue and how sad I feel that we need to be so vigilant. When I’m at my temple, I find myself looking around, noting anything that seems to be suspicious, and then feeling annoyed that I have to even think about it when I should be able to just be present. On Rosh Hashanah I saw a man on his phone outside our tent service and I briefly wondered if he was one of us or was plotting something sinister. And I hate that I thought that, even for a moment. I did have a chuckle yesterday when I saw a family- two parents, two young kids, and a grandparent ask a security guard in the parking if he could take a picture of the five of them. The security guard was polite about it and acceded to the request, while pointedly stating he had never been asked to do that before. (The message was lost on the woman who had made the request.) As we just saw in England, security is not to be taken lightly.

Although the world is no better off post Yom Kippur 5786, I found that disconnecting wasn’t a bad thing. And that at the very least, my time away gave me a little peace and clarity. And a chance to imagine a better world- by the way, in my fantasy we all work together to make this world a better place. (And the Mets are in the playoffs.)

I liked what Pope Leo had to say on Wednesday about climate change and how damaging the natural world is incompatible with the Christian faith. I think it’s incompatible with all faiths. According to CNN, Leo’s remarks came just over a week after US President Donald Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” during his now infamous speech at the UN General Assembly.

The pope also has questioned whether anyone can be pro-life and support the inhuman immigration policies of the Trump administration. I really like this guy.

So yeah, while the world may not be better off, I actually do feel a bit renewed as I set about to tackle all the important issues on which we need to focus.

And perhaps next year when Yom Kippur rolls around, we will be a little closer to the world we imagine.

*Convicted Felon/Pedophile