I had two difficult weeks. After the publishing of last week's installment, I realized that I made a mistake in becoming emotionally involved in current events and writing about it. It's not fair for my steady readers to expect an article on the themes that I write regularly and instead be treated with politics that they might disagree with.

I knew that at one point it will happen that I'll write something that I'll regret writing. It happens to many writers and now I experienced it. It's very uncomfortable to go around for two weeks and not being able to express my realization that it was a mistake! I apologize to my readers if I made you feel uneasy with last week's piece.

Personally, my politics in general is mixed. I always try to understand the core issues, values, and opinions of both sides. I don't pick parties nor politicians. Only values and policies is what I'm interested to analyze. So I'm certainly on the side of my readers :)

The Talmud says, "the hearts of kings are in the hand of God". From the outside it looks like kings (in those times) and politicians have a lot of power and it seems like their choices and free will can affect multiple people. The Talmud teaches us that that's not the case.

Individuals have free will and can make choices that affect themselves. Leaders can make choices but what eventually happens in the long run is totally not in their hands, because their free will cannot affect other people's destinies.

We need to do what we have to do in voting and what's in our power to affect public life, but once something is done we shouldn't put too much blame and emotional feelings on the individual. We can have strong opinions on ideas and policies, but ultimately we are just riders on the first class train of the Grand Master and what eventually happens is designed by the Creator.

That's another reason why I shouldn't have responded so emotionally to Cuomo's decision regarding the camps. Ultimately, in the long run, this is for the good in the grand plan of the Creator of the universe.

In the Jewish Calendar we are now in the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem. I learned something interesting this year that I hope to share in the next installment. For now, I want to share this profound quote from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:

"There is a profound difference between history and memory. History is his story - an event that happened sometime else to someone else. Memory is my story - something that happened to me and is part of who I am. History is information. Memory, by contrast, is part of identity. I can study the history of other peoples, cultures and civilizations. They deepen my knowledge and broaden my horizons. But they do not make a claim on me. Memory is the past as present, as it lives on in me. Without memory there can be no identity.”

Although the destruction of the second temple was about 2000 years ago and the destruction of the first was 2500 years ago, the memory of them shape Jews' identity till today. It is a testament that we should look at history with an eagle's eye and not like an ostrich. In many ways the world has been moving to greater perfection and to more abundance for everybody. May we see it continuing and may merit to see the new and renewed world order we are waiting for.

Comments? Email me: Moshe@jaketv.tv