In response to a post from an American lady on Linkedkin, I thought I’d write a blog about the topic of “Tikkun Olam”, a central Jewish value which focuses around taking positive action to improve the world.

As well as in the US, we teach children in Jewish schools in the UK how to be a “Mensch”, a person with integrity and honour, and how we can best show kindness to others.

Imagine for a moment what the world would be like if all cultures taught their children to be a “Mensch” and to do “Tikkun Olam” 💡🕊️🌈☮️💕

Not every Jewish person is perfect of course but neither is any other human being. We can only do our best to show the world the best of our human nature. This is all we can do.

Just imagine it. How amazing would the world be if young people from a very young age could learn what it really means to be a good person, how to show love and kindness to people, and how to develop a sense of compassion with others.

Of course there is only so much teachers can do at school if they aren’t also learning it in parallel at home too.

Being a good person or a “Mensch” is a way of life –  we also learn a lot from what we have been taught by our parents.

There are certain people on this planet who are determined to destroy humanity and tear people down with their hatred, lies and false propaganda. However, love, inclusiveness and unity is the only thing that’ll help us win this battle between good and evil, which is essentially what it all boils down to.

There is such barbarism and evil on this planet right now. Nevertheless, all we can do is focus what is within our control.

This is what I love about the Jewish spirit, is that even though we have experienced such immense trauma as a collective, we still do what we can to make the best of life, celebrate the joys, our wins, our achievements, whether it is through the festivals that happen regularly throughout the year, or just by the way we innately are as human beings after all that we have been through in the past.

None of us are perfect by any means, like all other humans on this earth, but we work really hard to be seen in a good light, to do good in our lives, to make great, positive change in the world. We are doing our best to thrive – this is the best choice we can make, otherwise our lives would go in a downward spiral. In order to live our best, most successful and happiest life, we must go upwards and live our life in the most positive way we can and appreciate all that is around us, be kind to others, and be respectful of each others’ differences.

All schools need to provide better education about the Holocaust and the real, authentic truth about Jewish trauma and what we have had to go through in the past using the Holocaust as a prime example, and also, what the evil of antisemitism can do to humanity, and the importance of not allowing the past to repeat itself again as it did on October 7th in Israel.

There have been a lot of lies being spread about Jewish people and what happened during the Holocaust and why October 7th happened. This can ONLY be addressed through improving the education given in schools – there is a staggering amount of ignorance amongst young people now that are essentially now supporting terrorism and helping to spread hatred and lies about Jewish people all over the UK (and the world too).

Let’s help to change the course of reality to help people understand what being Jewish really means, what it means to be a good human being, the innate truth of who we are as people, and maybe other people can learn something from us too in embracing our truth!

Unfortunately, we as Jewish people are still not enough for some people, a very loud and vocal minority, the haters, the terrorists, the terrorist sympathisers, who prefer to see us as the victim, like Jewish people all over the world were in the Holocaust where we were forced to hide as our lives were in so much danger.

But you know what, we survived! And then we thrived! This certainly isn’t a good reason to destroy us now. We have worked hard to get to where we have achieved now. It hasn’t been by any means a plain sailing journey working our way through this trauma of the past, but sadly, we are having to sadly sail this journey all over again and relive our trauma, especially those Holocaust survivors who relate to the suffering of October 7th and for Jewish people all over the world who are reliving the fear Jewish people felt about 80 years ago.

We always had to hide for our safety. Now, however, we are not willing to be the Jew that hides out anymore… Why should we??? We have so much to be proud of.

The democratic society in the UK we live in is full of different types of people of all religions and ethnicities, of all genders, which we have openly embraced and respected for many years, and which included Jewish people too.

However, since October 7th, which was the worst massacre committed against Jews since the Holocaust, the hatred and antisemitism all over the world has been truly awful, and for one reason only, because we are Jewish.

Yes, there are a lot of Jewish people living in Israel but it’s not as black and white as people seem to think. It is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic country and people of all cultures and religions can practice their traditions as freely as they want – they are very well respected there. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East!

It’s also really not just about the Jews anymore. The fear, threats, violence and social disorder are happening all over the world, which is why we must all put an end to this rising intense hatred from terror groups and terrorist sympathisers – to stop it before it gets even worse.

The one Jewish state that we have, Israel, is responsible for creating so much positive change in the world, yet people still choose to choose to see us in the worst possible light based on lies and false propaganda.

I have faith there are plenty of good people in this world, but unfortunately, some really evil people are still lurking about who we can now all see very clearly would have behaved exactly like the Nazis and their followers back in 1930. Useful idiots and those intentionally wanting to see the extermination of me (as a Jewish person), my family, my friends, my communities of beautiful Jewish human beings all over the world, who only want to get on with their lives in peace and tranquillity.

Never again must another Holocaust happen. Never again after October 7th. Never again is now, and we mustn’t ever allow this genocide to happen again.

Never Again does really need to mean NEVER AGAIN this time.

Now, more than ever, I appreciate those people around me who really value human life, good human beings, Jewish, non-Jewish people from all kinds of backgrounds, who have showed kindness and compassion during these turbulent times to me, my extended family and community in Israel.

I love this quote I came across on social media:

“Whilst I don’t live in Israel, Israel lives in me.”

Our connection with Israel is strong right now, and united ❤️🇮🇱

Praying for peace for all and for good to prevail in the name of loving kindness 🙏 Amen.