Summertime and the Living is Easy… But I am depressed….

Yesterday, our wonderful daughter and son-in-law put their two also-wonderful eight-year-old daughters on the bus for overnight camp (YAY Camp Nesher!) for four weeks. Everyone is excited, the girls are well-fed, nicely clothed, loved, taken care of, safe and secure, have pretty new hair cuts, and so much else -- in short truly blessed. And we are grateful.

Then we watch the news and the horrible, unbelievable and terrifying conditions that children and families are in AT THE PRESENT TIME in THIS COUNTRY, the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA at our various borders and elsewhere. Children living without basic sanitation needs met, young people whose potential and dreams are so damaged at this point they may never be regained and people – of faith, fellow human beings, who are being treated as less than human by those claiming to be very much so, at least in their eyes.

Our eight-year old campers are the great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren of the immigrant population in the various branches of our family, whose members came to this country to escape persecution, imminent danger, and almost certain death in many cases. Sound familiar? If, G-d forbid, the same criteria used today were to be in operation then, with all of the shortcomings and challenges of that time duly noted, NONE of our family would most likely be alive, certainly not living the lives we live.

Let’s understand what exactly that means. Doctors in our family who are serving medical needs including one of our daughters who is trying to make significant changes in palliative care would not be contributing to our country. A lawyer who is bringing reason, conscience and ethics to law would not be who she is. We have amazing family members trying to work to better the environment (because we happen to believe that this is indeed a need), trying to make horrible situations better by working with people who have lived in this country for many years and are now at risk because of new policies out of Washington not at all addressing the inhumanity and horrors that are created as a direct result, educators teaching lessons of caring and compassion along with texts and religious teachings, and so many others. Our generation and our children’s generation IN OUR FAMILY and their hopes and dreams have not been destroyed, but we are acutely aware that in other families NOT UNLIKE OURS this is NOT the case.

There is now work afoot to get synagogues and other faith communities to collect and distribute packages to children whose lives have been destroyed, in one community in which one of our daughters live, she is actively involved in PIKUACH NEFESH, the Jewish teaching of saving souls and trying to restore the dignity of life to those from whom it has been ripped away by policies in this country. In my own Interfaith efforts, we are extremely aware of what is threatening all of us, and I am truly honored and awed to work alongside wonderful people of all faiths and join our hands, sit together, in our various religious garb and with our shared values and try to restore humanity and caring in any way we can.

It is so important that those of us who are comfortable, well-fed, nicely-clothed, loved, safe and secure, able to pursue our dreams and aspirations CARE ABOUT and WORK TO ALLEVIATE the pain of those who cannot. It is only through these efforts where “citizens will prevail where governments have failed” that we can find any comfort and feel that we are not oblivious to the pain and the sorrow that surrounds us on all sides.

I hope that all those in camp, swimming in pools, enjoying the lazy relaxing days of summer and working at careers and goals we are able to take pride in, vacationing, eating great barbequed food, and generally enjoying the comforts of a life we should never take for granted remember that there are those who are not so blessed. It is therefore our task to work on their behalf in whatever way we can. It is my prayer that those who are living presently in horrid conditions will soon be relieved of their pain and restored to the type of life our own previous generations took the same chance to assure that their future family members would have.