Mourning in America: Light a Candle

Crappy Anniversary

November 7, 2017

The lighting of candles is a common way of celebrating holidays, acknowledging events, etc. and Jews are no exception in this practice. Everyone knows Hannukah (though no one is quite sure how to spell it in English) - the Festival of Lights. Candle lighting goes on over the course of eight days. Forty-four to be exact. A pair of candles is to be lighted every week to welcome the Sabbath. A day-long-burning Yahrzeit candle is lighted every year to commemorate the loss of a loved one. A Yahrzeit candle is lighted every year to remember the six million lost to the Nazi Holocaust.

An American Yahrzeit

America, as a nation, has its own holidays. We celebrate our nation’s founding on July 4^th. We remember those who have perished in service to our country on the last Monday in May, and the end of World War I on November 11^th. I have seen thousands of people dancing in the streets on Resignation Days - August 8-9 - celebrating the end of the Nixon presidency in 1974. America must add one more day of recognition for what will go down as one of the worst moments in our nation’s history. SAD.

More recently we have added September 11 to our calendar of days to be acknowledged. It seems terribly appropriate (if not just plain terrible) to add one more to the roster. November 8^th is now a day of remembrance and mourning in America. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the Electoral College victory of Donald Chrump, as he defeated the American people and became the 45^th president, and consequently the anniversary of the (hopefully temporary) defeat of all that was good in America. One year ago tomorrow, the soul of our nation was rent asunder when a well-placed minority (aided by Russian hackers, James Comey and some very fine people who happened to be Nazis and white supremacists) elected to the highest office in the land a man driven by toxic ignorance, contempt and revenge, and an almost fanatical devotion to himself.

They said he would pivot. They said he would grow into the job. He did neither. He festered and tweeted and lied and lied and lied – over 1300 times at last count. Instead of becoming presidential, Chrump is remaking the once prestigious office in his own nauseating, possibly fatal image. Chrump has already degraded the office beyond recognition – and that is no mean feat.

It is time for an ever-growing majority of Americans to pray to someone, or to no one in particular. Even atheists are praying for deliverance from the Days of Chrump.  

There is an almost infinite number of Jewish holidays. Some are joyous, some somber, some are deadly serious. November 8^th will be one of the latter in America. It has never really been safe for people of color in America. The land’s original inhabitants continue to be treated like so many mosquitoes, subjected to genocide, their rights disregarded, and their sacred lands destroyed as they continue to be disrespected at every turn. We as a nation barely acknowledge these things, let alone take time every year to reflect, and perhaps repent a little. A disturbing portion of our fellow citizens seem to miss the good old days when slavery thrived, women knew their place and any hint of respect for those truly born of this land was at best a waste of time.

Thanks to the Orange Gas Cloud, many Americans are celebrating certain things that most of us would prefer to see eradicated; behavior that had, if nothing else, been relegated to remote redoubts, isolated militia strongholds, survivalist communities and pariah websites. For quite some time – with the possible exception of the Obama years – it was considered at least impolite to be a bigot, so most of those folks kept a fairly low profile. One would have to go back quite a way to find a time when it was more acceptable than it is today for Nazis, the KKK and other hate groups in America. Chrump has done wonders for the hate-based economy in this country.

Jewish holidays begin at sunset of the previous evening, but you can start lamenting the onset of Chrumpdom (emphasis on ‘dom’) at any time you see fit…or any day for that matter. Personally, I'm getting an early start.

I. Mangrey reporting. Oy. Sometimes it almost hurts too much to laugh.