Tumblings

Three weeks ago today I went on a trip to Poland for Holocaust studies. One of the first things we were told was this story.

After the Shoah, the Ponevezher Rav went to Rome to try to collect funds for his yeshiva. He left the airport, found his talmid who he was staying with, and as they got into the taxi, he said “We need to go to the Arch of Titus” (or, well, he said that in Yiddish). The talmid was incredulous: “Rebbe, it’s midnight, it’s pouring with rain, come to your rooms! Why do you need to see this Arch, anyway?” But the rabbi was insistent, so the talmid gave in. They arrived, and the rebbe got out of the taxi, looked at the Arch – this frail old man next to a towering 15 metre (~50ft) stone arch, and one to the triumphs of the Emperor Titus, no less, the man who led the siege against Jerusalem which culminated in the churban, the destruction of the Second Temple which we still mourn on Tisha B'Av.

He got out of the taxi, and roared at the top of his lungs into the night. 

“TITUS, TITUS! AVU BIS DU, VAHL ICH BIN DO?”

Titus, Titus! Where are you? For I am here. 

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When we stood at the crematoria at Auschwitz, that’s what the rabbi screamed. Hitler, Hitler! Where are you? Because we are here.

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yes, it sucks that we’re likely losing the house and it sucks that the senate is still up in the air and it super sucks that the democrats have basically given up on bothering to campaign in florida. but losing the house was always likely and we have not lost it by nearly as much as we were predicted to, and honestly, without a filibuster-proof majority, even having both chambers of congress isn’t a guarantee of being able to get much done there. there are definitely disappointments, but this is nowhere near a disaster. ultimately, from what I can tell, there are a lot more republicans disappointed by this election than democrats, because this was supposed to be a massive blowout for the republicans and it very much has not been. like, at all. 

again I am not saying there are not things to be disappointed by, and it sucks immeasurably that we have to take “this didn’t go as badly as it could have” as a victory, but also, it really, really is a victory. at the very least, it’s not a flat-out defeat, and there are a lot of reasons not to feel despair. the smaller, state-level victories are not as flashy and dramatic as the higher-profile ones like the house or senate, but they’re extremely important, and will make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives — in many cases a greater difference, day-to-day, than the senate or house elections will make. it’s really important not to lose sight of these wins.

One that brought Valyria its doom.

The new ledger stone denoting the final resting place of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Princess Margaret’s headstone is visible in the top left hand corner of the picture. King George VI, The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are all buried beneath this stone. The vault is 18 feet deep and measures 10 feet by 14 feet.

27 April, 2021: Charles The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, Princess Anne the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew the Duke of York, and Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex walk behind their father, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin at Windsor.

Other family members include Sir Timothy Laurence and the Queen and Prince’s grandchildren: Peter Philips, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

19 September, 2022: King Charles III, Princess Anne the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew the Duke of York, and Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex walk behind their mother, Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin at Windsor.

Catherine as The Duchess of Cambridge at Prince Philip’s Funeral 2021