ast week she slept 18 out of 24 hours every day. This week, it’s just about the reverse. Her moods swing to the extremes. At first, she’s weak and panting, eyes almost closed, unsteady on her feet. She won’t sit, won’t lie down. She walks — small baby-steps. Hands, nose, and feet like ice. Then suddenly she’s smiling, wants to dance, strolls around her room, pokes through closets and drawers. And then she sits, head in hands, mumbling softly, but I can’t understand a word she’s saying.
After six hours of this, I have a meltdown. An extreme meltdown. Six hours is all I can take; then I need a break to do something. DO SOMETHING other than baby-sit someone I can’t even have a conversation with but can’t ignore to keep my mind and hands busy. My sib has to take over. I sit myself down in front of my sewing machine and do some mending/adjusting/hemming. Sewing calms me down because I have to focus on what I’m doing, block everything else out.
This has been an extremely frustrating day for me. It’s 11:30 p.m. and she’s still not asleep. But I sure want to be.

‘ve been wanting to write something about this issue, but, being neither one or the other or both, I felt I shouldn’t.
However, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, written by a practicing Jew, put it out there in a way I respect and understand and support.
I wasn’t looking for this kind of piece. I went over to check out my blogfriend Tamarika and linked to this post of hers, which led me to this blogpost.
Andrew Benjamin, a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, ended his article in the Sydney Morning Herald with this:

“Until Jews are prepared to articulate the need to sever the identification of Judaism and Israel, anti-Semitism will flourish. Until Jews are prepared to argue that the Holocaust and its legacy is not the province of a nation state, let alone a justification for Zionism, our responsibility in relation to the dead will continue to be betrayed. We should demand better of ourselves..

Thank you, Professor Benjamin, for answering my question so clearly and honestly.