Imagine all the people Livin' life in peace*
Leon Orbach
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
*Imagine/John Lennon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfNc7xPXYP8
The Jewish New Year תשפ"ז (5787) is upon us. A new year brings hope. Hope for security, hope for peace, hope for health, hope for wealth, hope for happiness, hope for some sense and meaning in the affairs of the world, hope for leaders who lead and unite, hope for a sense of stability in a world moving faster and faster.
In a world where ordinary people seem to have less and less control over the rate and quantity of changes washing over them, hope for stability is more a plea for help. Help! Stop the world, I want to get off. This hope is behind the wave of leaders, mostly men, who are spruiking simple solutions to complex questions.
An article in last Friday’s The Age newspaper caught my eye. The leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor, spoke out in defence of the leaders of the National Party and One Nation, who both expressed the idea that “feminisation of the curriculum was to blame for pushing boys into toxic online spaces.” Men, real men, don’t want women telling them what to do. Apparently, the fact that values like disrespect and contempt for our fellow human beings is a natural consequence of these attitudes escapes our esteemed leaders.
Simple solution. It’s easier to want to stick with a patriarchal view of the relationship between men and women, than to support dealing with a changed reality that acknowledges that men and women have an equal stake in the world. Schools should stick to teaching the 3 Rs and leave the rest to ‘us’ to teach our children about respect, consent, diversity. It seems that what people who spout these views really mean, is that schools should teach the 3 Ks – Kinder, Küche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church). Don’t get me started on the question of the diversity of sexual identity.
Of course, there is another strategy to manage the complexities of a changing world. Deny that any change is happening. This is jut simply putting your head in the sand and ignoring reality. Strategy. I like to think of it as a game I used to play with my children. I covered my eyes and said, “I can’t see you”. Of course, when I removed my hands, we both burst out laughing. Unfortunately, too many leaders don’t remove their hands and continue to say,“ I don’t see …. climate change ….. threatened extinction of flora and fauna ….. threat of war …. poverty …… inequality …… algorithmic entities distorting our reality …….. mutually assured destruction morphing from deterrence to possibility ……or any other of the complex challenges that face the world”. And nobody is laughing.
Until recently, at least, these views were peripheral. But the magic pudding of promises with simple solutions has been in the mouths of too many recent leaders. Leaders like US President D Trump, UK ex-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, too many Israeli politicians to list, Germany’s AfD leader, Ulrich Siegmund and so many more around the world.
But this is Rosh Hashana a time of hope.
There are enough people in the world who understand that the world is a nuanced place. We went through a period in the last century where the people’s thirst for peace and joy were dominant themes. Leaders existed then, and even more recently, who understood the importance of hope, empathy and social cohesion. They may have been flawed like us all, but they were shining lights for a better world.
John Kennedy brought hope to America and the world.
“Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country”
Itzhak Rabin brought hope to Israelis and the Jewish world.
"This is the obligation of leaders to their people:to bring peace and welfare to their peoples."
Angela Merkel opened her doors to the people fleeing oppressive, murderous regimes.
"There is one red line that we should not cross. It is a commitment to human rights."
New Zealand’s Jacinta Ardern, who rose to power at the same time as Donald Trump.
"Kindness, and not being afraid to be kind,or to focus on hope, is what we choose."
Some like to think of a pendulum I like to think of a spiral moving ever upwards, with a
dark side and a light side. As these things do, in these last years the spiral has spun away from the light, away from leaders with the calibre to know that their job is to give people hope, a reason to contribute and the feeling that they are part of something big, bigger than themselves. The spiral will spin back. Maybe not next year, but maybe yes.
Elections are happening (Hungary already) USA, Israel, who knows where else. Green shoots. Glimpses of something new, something better. What better time than Rosh Hashana to contemplate possibilities.
שנה טובה ומתוקה
שנה של שלום, של בריאות ושל אושר
A Happy, Sweet New Year
A year of Peace, Health and Happiness
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