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Have you ever wondered if an alien species posted a beacon outside of our solar system with the warning to avoid Earth? While there have been incredible accomplishments by humanity, it is the tragic and evil ones that weigh us down and garner the most attention. Despite my continually upbeat declarations that the vast majority of humanity are good and decent people, our propensity for war seems to overwhelm everything else. When I typed into a search engine the question “How many wars occurred in the 20^th Century?”, one source listed 37, while another stated that every year during the 20^th Century humans were involved in some sort of war. Is that what history will record as the outstanding accomplishment of humanity? Apparently all those who wonder why we just cannot get along with each other probably are shaking their heads at the disappointment of how low we can sink.

I’ve frequently referenced the story of Noah when he had disembarked after the Flood. Noah built an altar to God and offered a sacrifice in gratitude. God savored the “pleasing odor, and the Lord said to Himself: Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth…” [Genesis 8:21, Etz Hayim]. My response to that continues to be that we can devise evil in our minds, but we do not have to act upon it. We have freedom of choice, and every choice has consequences. If you choose to go to war, there will be consequences for you and your nation, the people and country that you have attacked, and how the world responds. If war occurred infrequently within the history of humanity, we might approach it differently than the brutal reality that there was a war occurring every single year in the past century.

Existentialists might even include war within their dark view of life, which is something in the order of one is born, and from the day you are born, you are slowly dying. I reject the notion that our lives are not filled with beauty and goodness. To those who decide that war is the identifying characteristic of their existence, what a sad existence that is. People whose life is consumed by anger, the H word and other negative emotions are tragic examples of what humanity is capable of, but they are not the only examples of what we are capable of. The brilliant creations of artists, writers, musicians, orators and scientists, just to get the list going, give us pause to recognize the heights of which humanity is capable. Sometimes ignored, but not forgotten, are the simple kindnesses ordinary people perform every single day to help a fellow human being. That is what it means to be human.

The war mongers are not who we are. They do not reflect the majority of humanity. Rather, they reflect what happens when you travel down a path to the Dark Side, to offer a Star Wars comparison. It is a choice. So are the ennobling characteristics a choice. Deuteronomy 30:19 offers us a motto that I embrace: Therefore choose life. I choose life.

May the spirit of the Holy One infuse the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to cease all military actions, and may they come to recognize that each human life is sacred. May we see peace speedily in our day. Amen.