Star

Tuesday, December 05, 2023

The header photo is of a vintage Star of David that’s on its way to me. I don’t know about this Star’s history, but I had searched for one that’s been worn. This one is beautiful, has a flavor of years past, appears somewhat worn and it suits me.

Two brutal wars are occurring now in different parts of the world. One involves Ukraine and the other Israel. Those battles worry the entire world for demonstrating the use of modern artillery and teaching its nearly unlimited possibilities.

I feel distantly connected to both wars. My maternal Jewish grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Odessa back when the city was Russian. My paternal Jewish grand-family immigrated to the U.S. from Poland to escape Nazism. Individuals on both sides of my family immigrated to Israel in the late 1940s when the independent Jewish State was formed.

I consider myself a Jew, but I am not religious. I enjoy the pomp and circumstance of all kinds of religious holidays as long as brutalities aren’t involved. The Ukraine-Russian war, on its surface, isn’t about religious freedom, but about territorial conquest. However, the Israel-Palestine conflict deeply involves religious and territorial divides.

I take a side in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, hoping Ukraine wins, period. I can’t as easily choose a side in the complex Middle-East war. I’m sympathetic to both sides and hope for a path toward a resolution, peaceful, and even perhaps lasting.

I will start wearing my vintage Star of David. It’s to represent my cultural and, by definition, religious heritage. A Star suggests favor for a particular side and also my intellectual involvement and sympathy toward eternally recurring human chaos.

Dear Friends: Hopefully, the Star will suggest wishes for peace. Diana