the paper shamrocks are being swept away...the spilled beer hosed down...revelry receding in the rear-view mirror...for Jews, this next weekend gives us Purim...late this year...overlapping with Palm Sunday and hopes for spring to assert herself with budding trees and warmth...I have to admit...these last few months...since the October 7th Israeli massacre...which occurred on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah...literally "joy of the Torah"...let that sink in...all Jewish holidays are wrapped in sorrow...knowing that there are fellow Jews held in captivity in Gaza...if they are...there is a deep part of me that thinks they are all dead...and so in a few days, we celebrate Queen Esther...and the resilience of our people...or as we would joke before October 7th...they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat...but as I look away from the news...the tragedy of the hostages...the total lack of recognition from women's groups and leaders around the globe of the rape and mutilation of Israeli women (Michelle Obama, anyone?)... and to the tragedy of civilian loss and starvation in Gaza (Egypt silent as a mummy about the closed border)...I wonder...the news always shows male leaders and their mouthpieces digging in their heels...across this globe...and mothers crying silent tears...the amount of women in Palestinian government is pitiful...it's not much to brag about in Israel either...Golde Meir is but a powerful twentieth century memory...maybe women should step forward...if they could...in Gaza, give up their murdering and raping husbands and sons...form a women's coalition to negotiate in good faith...and in Israel...form a more moderate coalition...not caving to religious fanaticism or corrupt leadership...I know...just a pipedream...a crazy thought...but something to think about before you bite into that hamentashen...
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