Kfar Saba, Israel
Steve Ornstein: Finding Clarity in the Chaos: A Pause Amid Global Fear.
In today’s world, opinion pieces flood in from every direction—left, right, domestic, and foreign. If you tried to absorb them all, you’d drive yourself to exhaustion or outright madness. Fear is the common thread running through nearly every one of them.
What if we tried something radical? Just stop. Take a deep breath. Sit in silence for a minute and really look at the beauty right in front of us—the sky, the trees, a child’s laugh, the ordinary wonder of daily life. Would the reality of the world shift, even while wars rage on?
I wonder. The Iranian regime poses a genuine threat to global security. Its targets are clear: Israel, the United States, and their allies in the Middle East. At the same time, we must be honest: every national leader operates with their own agenda, shaped by ego, domestic politics, and national interest.
Recognizing real evil that must be confronted does not require pretending those leaders are selfless saints. Why must we discard everything in one sweeping rejection? Nations are run by imperfect people who sometimes prioritize personal power over their own citizens’ peace and prosperity. That has always been true.
Yet something darker now cuts across almost every arena: open, normalized hatred of Israel and Jews. It has become so commonplace that it feels unofficially sanctioned. Once again, Jews are cast as the sacrificial lamb. History shows this pattern is ancient; what has changed is the speed and reach of today’s world. Social media, academia, and politics amplify it instantly.
The West—Europe, the EU, North America—has allowed itself to be compromised. Radical factions and large sums of money have fueled “woke” rhetoric in schools and institutions, often placing Israel and Jews at the top of the grievance list.
Freedom of speech, once a cornerstone of liberal democracy, is now exploited to sow chaos and division.
So where does this lead? At what point does the extreme become intolerable for the majority of nations built on freedom of speech, democracy, and capitalism? When does the majority finally say “enough”?
Perhaps the first step is the simplest one I mentioned at the start: pause, breathe, and remember what is still beautiful and worth protecting. Clarity often returns not through more noise, but through deliberate quiet.
