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Shelah Horvitz's avatar

Thank you for that essay. It taught me a lot about Nussbaum. The kinds of things from which we would like to be able to look away.

As a Jewish painter in the Diaspora, I think about Nussbaum every day. That hunted look in the self portrait with the yellow star. As Jew hatred becomes mainstreamed, as it becomes a credential for social acceptance, as it rises so fast that it was evident it was always there, just hidden behind a thin mask that is now removed with the joyful release of truth, I think about the traditional Jewish response to trauma — to dance, to find joy *somewhere* — and I think, how can I *not* paint like Nussbaum, how can I *not* paint our trauma, how can I paint while dancing?

It's not easy, but I think it's imperative to do so.

Paintings that dance, sincerely. You can't paint it until you can feel it.

It is quite a piece of work to feel it. I've been relying on David, and the psalms he wrote when he was being hunted. He was running on fumes. He was running on faith.

But since David's time there have been innumerable Jewish massacres. Inquisitions. Pogroms. The Holocaust. There have always been justifications, prevarications, there have always been explanations why our murders are our fault.

Zionism and Israel were supposed to put a sharp halt to all that.

All of us are being hunted now. Not just every Jew in the Galut, but Israel too is being hunted. Muslim hoards are weaponizing the West's Jew hatred and colonialist guilt, as they colonize the West to conquer its land and destroy its culture. They close about us.

Western leaders are paid off and once again are slyly trying to engineer a way for our neighbors to effect the Final Solution for them, while they keep their hands clean. The indecision of our own leaders is killing us.

No matter how bad things have gotten, some Jews have always survived. Despite the constant culling. We all hope not to be among the ones culled. We know The Jews will survive. We just don't know if we ourselves will.

At this time it is more important than ever for Jews to find our own light, to find our own joy and brilliance, and dance and paint in honor of life.

And not let death win.

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DonnaAnita9339's avatar

Well written, thoughtful review. Very moving.

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