Don’t Lose Your Nerve

History is full of events that changed everything ever after: from Caesar crossing the Rubicon to the murder of the Romanovs; the Reichstag fire, to the lockdowns of Covid.

But here’s the thing: Pivotal moments in history don’t come with do-overs. As much as we may regret something that happened in the past, we never, ever get to go back, do it again, and get it right as if we hadn't messed it up the first time. For all that we believe in redemption and forgiveness, there is a quality about the past that makes it . . . sticky. We don’t really get to make big mistakes, and then fix them. That is not how the world works.

I am writing this on the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, commemorating many horrible events that happened on this day in history. But the very first of them was when the Jewish people lost their nerve when confronted with the challenge of going forward and conquering a land.

The very next day, the people realized they made a terrible mistake, and they tried to fix it: they decided to march off to war. But Moses (and G-d) were not with them. Forgiveness and redemption are all well and good, but once you lose your nerve, there are no do-overs.

We are at an incredibly pivotal point in history. A hot war with Iran is imminent, possibly spreading globally. Free people are under attack by illegal immigrants, by those who hate everything we stand for, and by our own institutions and so-called “experts.” The forces of evil want us to fold and are trying to make us feel isolated and powerless, as if we are unable to make a difference. We might be powerless — but only if we cave to those evil forces.

None of us can know which person, or act, or word spoken or written can or will tilt the scales in the right direction. But we can know that every single person is held responsible for the choices we make, the words we speak, the actions we take. And we know that recriminations after the fact, like those weak mea culpas for imprisoning people for daring to walk outside during Covid lockdowns, do not and can not undo history. We suffered because we lacked the courage of our own convictions.

But while we may not get do-overs for the past, we absolutely do have the opportunity to change the future. And we had better, because the crisis is only getting worse.

Free speech is not merely under assault — it is being routed from the field across Europe and the UK, and it is in grave danger in the United States as well. The media is doing everything it possibly can to pervert the course of history, supported by every tool the Deep State can bring to bear. And the average, ordinary citizen is being compelled, whether or not most people are even aware of it, to toe the line.

I charge you: don’t lose your nerve! Stand up for what is right! Because this is the moment and these are the days that you will look back on for the rest of your life either in pride or in shame. Get it right, and stand tall and proud – for the sake of all who came before you, and for all who will come after you.

May the children who are not yet born, the generations who are yet to come, look back on you this day, and the choices you are making now. And may they be proud of you, and consider you to be the exemplar for how each person should behave in times of crisis.

We, mankind, are endowed with G-d’s own power, charged as partners in creation, and given the free will to choose.

Choose well.