Never underestimate the power of a woman |
Never underestimate the power of a woman
“A woman, even a brilliant woman, must have two qualities in order to fulfill her promise: more energy than mere mortals, and the ability to outwit her culture.”
Margaret Mead
Sadly, I live in a country where gun violence, in all its forms, is as common as birthday candles, running water, and cell phones. This is also a country where the white male president openly calls anyone who disagrees with him or is ethnically different from him, especially if the person happens to be a woman, garbage, among other vile names. I’ve stopped wondering why some people need to hate other people in order to feel good about themselves because in this environment, the evolution of a hate culture is to be expected. It’s no wonder antisemitism has dramatically increased, both here and worldwide as a result. America is, after all, supposedly the leader of the free world and if America’s president hates someone or some group, there must be a good reason to follow his lead and hate them too.
When I learned of the massacre of Australian Jews who, living in a country where mass gun violence is rare, had gathered to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah, my first reaction was shock. Then came deep sadness, followed by echoes of “welcome to my world.” We’d had a few shootings and high-profile murders ourselves in recent days. These mass murder events are neither unusual nor unfamiliar to Americans and they don’t just happen to Jews. Then I noticed something unusual about the Australian Hanukkah attack: one of the two people who saw what was about to happen and courageously........