By the help of the Eternal One

It’s crucial to address what many are downplaying: the current situation in the East. When we look at the past, our dark past, we know what schemerkampen ¹ meant, how dire those warnings were. ² Today, we see camps in occupied Ukraine, and in places like North Korea, reminding us of what happens when we ignore the signs. This should be a wake-up call. People need to start preparing now, not when it’s too late.

This is a watchful time, in which truth, human dignity, and the protection of children must not be forgotten

And there is another painful reality we cannot ignore: every time antisemitic acts occur, we see the impact immediately. In some cases, Jewish people are beginning to live as though they are trapped behind invisible walls, in places like Amsterdam. ³ That atmosphere is destructive, not only for Jews themselves, but for society as a whole. A society that allows fear and hatred to grow eventually weakens its own moral foundation.

In such an age, ancient moral obligations do not become less relevant, but more necessary.

Perhaps this is where an old Noahide wink quietly enters the conversation: civilizations do not survive by technology or power alone, but by justice, decency, and restraint. History has already shown what happens when humanity abandons those principles. The ancient Noahide commandments, to establish courts of justice, to reject idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual violence, theft, and cruelty toward living creatures, were given to humanity not as relics of the past, but as foundations for civilization itself. In difficult times, these commandments may be exactly what keeps society afloat when fear, hatred, and chaos begin to rise.

1. Schemerkampen refers to realities that exist in plain sight, lingering in the twilight between public knowledge and moral urgency. ↩︎
2. Investigations by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab and international bodies have raised serious concerns about the forced transfer and ideological re-education of Ukrainian children in Russian-controlled facilities. ↩︎
3. Jewish communities in Amsterdam have lived under visible security protection for decades, a reminder that moral twilight/schemer is not confined to distant lands. ↩︎