Tapestries-69 | What I learned this year
Reflecting on what I learned in 2024.
My favorite piece of writing from this year was a lighter one about Ava, and the strong sense of self I want to give her. Unfortunately it was the only really cheerful piece I wrote in a year that saw most of my writing focused on heavy, complex topics. It was also a year where I found it hard to write, mainly because it’s been harder to find time as Ava becomes a toddler, and also because writing about complex topics is hard-going. But while it’s been a challenging year, change is afoot.
The coming year is presenting all of us with an opportunity to decide how we want to react to events around us, and how we want to channel our energy. Change is by definition unpredictable and uncomfortable. But we can choose how we react. In my case, I’ve chosen the white-pill and Jew-pill reactions (discussed below). So as the piece winds through some darker reflections, I hope that by the end you finish with a sense of positivity and energy for the year ahead. And with that, here are some of the things I learned this year.
#1 This year I learned that Australia is failing its Jewish population.
I wrote a piece in March discussing the future of Australia’s Jewish community. The piece asked whether the community can “expect to enjoy the safety, security, opportunities and prosperity it has enjoyed in the past”, in light of the surge of anti-semitism directed at the community in the months following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent wars. Fast forward nine months, and unfortunately Australia has become even more inhospitable to Jews, culminating in the torching of cars and vandalism of homes in Jewish areas, and the firebombing of a synagogue (not to mention the rest of the long list). The situation today therefore seems worse than when I wrote the piece in March, and responsibility for the degradation in Australian Jews’ experience lies squarely at the feet of Australia’s flaccid leaders.
In the immediate aftermath of the firebombing of the synagogue in Melbourne in early December, Australia’s Prime Minister said the following: “‘There has been a worrying rise in anti-Semitism but we call it out and we call it out consistently, and we work with the community to work through these issues,’ he said. ‘The Victorian Police and the Australian Federal Police will be having a meeting. There is a technical process that is agreed in the protocols or designating an event as a terrorist act.’” What an absolute cuck. After a year of escalating threats and intimidation, culminating in an attack on a Jewish house of worship, this embarrassing excuse for a leader offers a “meeting”, a “technical process”, and “protocols”. There is a cultural vacuum in Australia, and the weakness and utter mediocrity of Australia’s government is allowing it to be filled by illiberal, anti-social and dangerous agitators.
Australian Jews will remember this government as one who effectively stood by while irreparable damage was done to its community. Today, I’m not confident that Australia is a place I’d choose to raise a Jewish family. So to my fellow Australians and the country’s leaders: you reap what you sow.
#2 This year I learned that the progressive movement is dangerous.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, massacred and raped civilians, and dragged 251 of them into Gaza where many of them continue to languish as hostages of a genocidal terrorist movement. On December 4, 2024, Luigi Mangione walked up behind the CEO of United Healthcare, on the streets of midtown New York, and murdered him. Last year I wrote that the progressive movement was infantile and nihilistic. The reaction to these two events has shown me that it’s downright dangerous. It has revealed—to anyone that remained unsure—that the movement is totalitarian in its worldview, and shockingly comfortable with violence.
The people celebrating the massacre of Jews on October 7 and who have spent over a year calling to “globalize the intifada”, or those celebrating the execution of a healthcare executive, are explicitly animated by the same worldview, namely a fight against perceived injustice. But in their responses to these two disparate events, they are also implying something incredibly disturbing, namely that the more violent or shocking a reaction (like the massacre, abduction and rape of civilians in Israel, or the execution of a father on the way to a conference in New York) to a perceived injustice is, the worse said injustice must actually be. It is a terrifyingly perverse logic whereby any form of violence can be justified if the perpetrators are responding to a form of injustice that fits within the progressive mind’s totalitarian, puritanical and religious ideology. And it fits with the trends of history, where some of the worst and and most massive evils ever perpetrated were committed by people intoxicated with the sense that they were actually doing good.
Reasonable minds can hold opposing views on people and policies. But we cannot share a functioning society with people who celebrate violence and murder, as long as it’s directed at the “right” people. This year I learned that many people can’t tell when we’re standing on a slippery slope, or perceive the threats growing around them. But thankfully, this year I also learned that a change is coming, which leads me to #3.
#3 This year I learned that the vibe shift is absolutely real.
As the year rolled on, there has been a palpable shift in the energy in our culture. The shift in the US is undeniable (but harder to perceive from Australia where I am visiting today), and given that culture is the US’ largest and most important export, the shift will reverberate around the globe. When I say the vibes have shifted, what does that mean? Santiago Pliego’s piece from earlier this year sums it up well: “Fundamentally, the Vibe Shift is a return to—a championing of—Reality, a rejection of the bureaucratic, the cowardly, the guilt-driven; a return to greatness, courage, and joyous ambition.”
One of my consistent critiques in Tapestry over the years has been that a culture that celebrates weakness, maligns strength, is suspicious of success, and preaches moral relativism, is a culture with no future. The vibe shift is a process of discarding these unpopular, regressive and unproductive restraints. We created a culture built around guilt, fear, apologizing and bleakness. The vibe shift is lots of people saying no mas, no more. The US, as usual, is at the vanguard of this change, as the vibe shift in many ways is a celebration of values that sit at the core of American identity and exceptionalism (for better or for worse).
While the vibe shift accelerated through this year with Donald Trump and Elon Musk at its head (again, for better or for worse), it has been underway for a few years now. I recall reading the following in 2021, and hoping that the author was right that we’d return to these values: “that capitalism and invention fuel growth and happiness; that there’s no substitute to raising and being part of a family; that nation-states, flawed as they may be, are the best expression of some unique, mysterious, and indelible collective character…; that the West, however flawed, remains committed to expanding freedoms, however slowly it may proceed; that there’s some sort of divine force guiding the storm, whatever you choose to call it and whatever you think it demands of your life.” As I reflect on the end of 2024, I think he was right. It’s just taken a little longer.
#4 This year I learned that you can choose.
This is the most profound lesson I learned this year, and it’s related to the lesson in #4. We all have a finite amount of energy and attention to spend in our days and our lives. The world is changing in both scary and astounding ways. And as we stand on the precipice of accelerating change—technological, economic and geopolitical—I have concluded that the only viable response is to direct our finite energy and attention towards building the future we want, instead of constantly reacting to what we don’t like about the present we currently occupy.
Some would call this taking the White Pill, which “doesn’t mean being happy all the time. Au contraire. It means staring down the barrel of the bad news…and deciding to do something about it. It means being tolerant, confident, and willing to let go of the old institutions or ideas that just don’t work anymore.” This year I learned that indulging the negative emotions associated with the many issues around us did not change them, and was therefore a poor use of energy and attention. The world belongs to the bold and the brave, and those who see within its challenges and changes the opportunity to build and create. One can choose between building, and brooding, and this year I made my choice.
#5 This year I learned the importance of living my values.
Like many other Jews, I spent a huge chunk of my year thinking about and engaging with antisemitism and Israel. It’s clearly been the most challenging year for Jews and Israelis in living memory. As we end the year, Israeli hostages continue to languish in Gaza, soldiers are dying, missiles continue to fly at Tel Aviv, Israeli society is under immense pressure, and Jews continue to be targeted around the world. But despite the ongoing severity of the situation, we can take a new energy into the new year. In the previous section I talked about being white-pilled, and focusing energy on productive pursuits. And in this section, I want to talk about something else I learned this year: I’ve been Jewpilled.
To me, becoming Jewpilled has meant clarifying what is important to me, and making a commitments to living my values. This year I learned that two of these things are building a Jewish life, and supporting Israel and its people. After a long and very trying year, the following quote from another young Jew captured how I feel: “I don’t need fact sheets or Instagram posts ‘answering’ challenges by clout-chasing celebrities and journalists from Park Slope… and I don’t need to apologize for being a Jew or a Zionist or for loving America. Our enemies are stupid and gross, and I can’t tell you how uninterested I am in spending my time in their dead-end worlds.” This year I realized that I’m not interested in apologizing for, or explaining why, I support Israel, or engaging in some abstract debate about the merits of Zionism or anti-Zionism. I realized that I’m going to put my head down, focus on what’s important to me, and channel my energy towards things that are consistent with my values. And it’s been energizing.
When it comes to Jewish life, I’ve implemented a range of rituals this year. My favorite is the weekly Friday routine at home with Tali and Ava. Just before Ava’s bedtime, early in the evening, we hit play on a Shabbat playlist, pour a glass of scotch, do the blessings over wine and challah, give Ava a blessing, and end the week that was. To paraphrase Heschel, the Shabbat is about creating a “palace in time”, and most Friday evenings, we take advantage of Judaism’s millenia-old opportunity to simply put things down, and turn our small apartment into a sacred space for just a fleeting moment. On Saturday mornings, I carve out time to read the week’s Torah portion, and on Thursday mornings I make a blessing with my tefillin. I wrote a piece this year about how our support for Israel must evolve from the diaspora, as we must learn to address modern Israel’s challenges with updated types of support. There were a range of suggestions in the piece, including traveling there, strengthening relationships with Israeli friends and family, educating ourselves on the domestic issues Israelis are currently grappling with, and finding ways to effectively deploy capital there.
This year I learned that we cannot take Jewish continuity or a strong Israel for granted. Between creating Jewish rituals for our little family, engaging more directly with Jewish organizations globally, and finding small but consistent ways to interact with and support Israel, I’m committed to contributing where I can. While it has been a very challenging time to be a Jew and supporter of Israel, we can choose how to react, and constructing my life in a way that allows me to more directly live my values has been energizing. Thankfully, I know I’m not the only one that’s been Jewpilled.
It’s been a challenging year, but hopefully the tide is turning. The coming year will likely include its fair share of challenges and volatility as well. All we can control is how we react to it, the energy we bring, and who we choose to surround ourselves with. This year Ava went from a baby, to a little person, and I’m grateful to be able to move through the world together as a little unit. As always, thank you for being a part of the Tapestry journey that’s going on 6 years and 500 subscribers at this point, which I find very cool! Until next year.
Proud of you Booky.
Your thoughts, strength and clarity are appreciated.
Hi Daniel
A great article as usual
Clear , considered, hopeful and real
Am Israel Chai
Margo