03/24/2022
For the past several weeks, Bob and I have been making it a priority to reconnect with long lost dear friends. Covid shut down past favorite pastimes: dinner with friends, live theater, fun days spent walking around the city, etc. With Covid, those excursions have been replaced with binge watching television programs and alot of hanging out prone on the couch.
We are just beginning to make plans that force us out of our lazy zone; it’s not so simple to break bad habits.
March Madness for our sports focused family, is a very big deal. This year a Cinderella school, the St. Peter's Peacocks from Jersey City, has captured the attention of the many fans in the sports universe. How does a team, from a tiny town, playing for a school that doesn't even have a sports center, catapult to the center of everyone’s attention?
Why are we so excited to cheer for the underdog?
There is something very special about witnessing greatness when it happens. When that moment comes as a surprise, it’s even more significant. We relate to the notion of overcoming adversity and coming out a winner. No matter the realm, when the underdog becomes the champion, we celebrate.
Maybe it’s the David and Goliath syndrome?
This week, we discussed the concept of “does the time make the man or the man make the time?״ When discussing the war in the Ukraine and Zelensky, I’m finding Zelensky to be a complicated hero.
Russia is a mighty power; growing up during the Cold War years with the United Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR, versus the free world, it was scary. After the dissolution of the unIon and the emergence of Putin, we somehow were lulled into thinking that the giant had been tamed.
This past month, Ukraine and the rest of the world have learned that that is not the case. Despite its small size and limited military prowess, Ukraine, the underdog, is fighting strong.
What kind of leader is Zelensky? Does the time make him? My thinking is yes!
A comedian actor, an entertainer, has stepped up and brought hope, purpose and passion to his people. His country may not win, but with his leadership, it will go down fighting and strong.
He is an inspired leader.
Yet, I worry about Zelensky’s rhetoric and comparisons. When Zelensky addressed the Knesset in Israel, what he said seemed to be a message of guilt. He compared Ukraine’s and Israel’s back stories and seemed to push for Israel to support Ukraine as a real partner in the war because of their shared history.
I don’t buy what Ukrainians are enduring, though awful, can in any way be compared to the Jewish survival of the Holocaust. No!
Ukrainian pain, destruction and suffering is real but not the same.
Aside from humanitarian and political reasons, we want to see an underdog win.
When dealing with children, watching that little child find his voice, in the playground and in the classroom, brings so much joy and satisfaction. I look around the classrooms and wonder which one of these children will push forward and make his time?
When I imagine myself having long stretches of unplanned time, enjoying lazy mornings and three hour lunches with dear lifelong friends, I blink.
I’m not ready.
Shabbat Shalom
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