Announcement: FernMusing on Hold

L’hitraot

Today, with the news of more murdered hostages, there are no more words.

The IDF said the six were brutally murdered by Hamas literally just before Israeli troops arrived. (This is what Hamas was planning when they negotiated for hostages, dead or alive: Killing them right before returning them.) Three of the six would have been returned under the July 2 deal that didn’t happen.

It is being said that the bodies were difficult to identify — because of what was done to them. Political figures worldwide are expressing their sad feelings - but it is hard not to wonder whether they couldn’t have doubled down a little harder when it might have made a difference.

Unseasonably, it rained in Tel Aviv this morning; even the heavens wept with us. These six could have been everyone’s sister, friend, son. How much grieving can one small country stand?

We sit, heartbroken, infuriated, devastated, gutted, mourning. And none of these words come close to capturing how we feel.

*

After close to 11 full months of putting (real, paid) work on hold to write this (almost-daily) update, it has started to feel like rinse-and-repeat. The news isn’t new anymore; the antisemites are still antisemitic and growing in number, regardless of the code words they choose to obfuscate their antisemitism; left-wing friends in the US hurtfully continue to distance themselves, attempting to straddle a fence that they will soon topple from; missiles continue to rain down on the north (and sometimes the south); and I’m feeling like preaching to the choir now, which may have been helpful at the beginning of the war, is no longer compelling. Top Hamas official ‘moderate’ Khaled Mashal just called for massive suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. (This should obviously be considered reneging on any ceasefire, but of course it won’t be.) Intifada has become normative, and is being called for worldwide. Writing these updates has started to feel pointless.

And while my heart aches for those still held hostage in Gaza, and so deeply for the families of those found murdered today (one of whom I know personally), I feel there’s nothing particularly useful in what I’m sharing about them anymore. All of our combined efforts, all our prayers, all our work, for naught… this is just heartbreaking.

And I am burnt out, and eager to move on to other (funnier!) projects. The world has October 7 fatigue, as do I. I am finding it increasingly difficult to justify the time expenditure and (except for my scant handful of loyal paying subscribers, thank you all so very much!) the loss of revenue per hour committed and audience reached. Plunging into full time, mindless, generic paid work will at this point be something of a relief.

For all these reasons, I am declaring a self-imposed sabbatical. Except for the odd missive which I reserve the right to pop out from time to time, I expect to be on hiatus through the chagim, until early November.

I will reassess then, but there are a thousand of you, and subscriber numbers are no longer growing, so unless there is an unanticipated surge in both unpaid and paid memberships while I am gone, I will probably take the opportunity to let these updates sunset.

Feel free to continue to share them with friends, with attribution to FernMusing.substack.com (and *without* my actual name included, please; too many Hamas crazies already lurking here). Sheesh.

*

It has been a real pleasure ‘meeting’ you all (as well as connecting to my real life friends more regularly) and thank you for the continued moral support.

Please continue the fight. I fear it isn’t going to get easier anytime real soon.

And in the meantime, if the Iran/Lebanon war starts in earnest and you hear strains of Lehrer’s “We will all go together when we go,” it is definitely our basement from which the song is emanating. :)

-30-

PS If you’re a friend in ‘real life,’ please email me at my normal email, not here via Substack.

Stay safe, everyone. Hugs.

We will get through this.

‎עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ

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