Why I’ve Always Written So Much with Such Intensity … And Why I Won’t Stop Now
There are some constructs I’ve come up with that I find comforting. Briefly:
Every living thing that has ever existed has died, at least in terms of being on this earth. If they could do it, I can do it.
I feel like I have been captured by an enemy force (you all can insert specific names) and they want to execute me. I hope to escape or to be rescued by my friends.
Even if I didn’t have this disease, I could leave life on any day due to many causes without warning.
For 2000 years my ancestors dreamed of returning to their homeland and reestablishing their sovereignty. I have had the privilege of living that dream. How amazing is that?
We have to judge ourselves by whether we’ve lived up to our ideals and done our best. Not by the accumulation of power, wealth or fame; not for failing to achieve the impossible.
A famous Jewish story about that is the tale of Rabbi Zosia, who said that he did not expect God to berate him for not having been Moses—who he wasn’t—but for not having been Zosia.
To me, that means we must do the best to be ourselves while trying to make ourselves as good as possible. I’ve really tried to do that. I don’t have big regrets, nor bitterness, nor would I have done things very differently.
And I’ve discovered the brave community of those who are supporting and encouraging each other in the battle against this disease.
Finally, I find myself identifying with a poem by a Turkish writer named Ilhami Bekir that goes like this:
“Neither vineyards, nor gardens
Do I ask.
Nor horses, nor sheep.
Don’t take my soul away,
O God!
I am curious.
I must see how this game ends!”
The game, of course, doesn’t end and I don’t expect to live to see utopia realized. But it would be nice to live long enough to see America and the world pass out from this current dreadful era, to see some restoration of sanity and reality, some kind of victory for goodness, some kind of restoration of intellectual standards, and a higher level of justice.
Some friends tell me they think we’ve turned the corner and that there’s real hope of beating the terrible forces that have messed up our societies and insulted our intelligence and tried to sully our reputations.
That’s something worth living for and fighting for. I hope to do it with you people as long as possible.
Dear Barry,
I just lost my Israeli mother in-law to cancer in March…just 2.5 months from diagnosis to G-d taking her home. We brought her remains home to Israel to be buried next to her parents in Jerusalem.
You are one of the most important writers about not just Israel but for common sense in all human affairs of which you write. I will pray G-d gives you more time for your valuable work. Peace to you and your family.
Tough news. “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
You are SO in my prayers.
I just got over a horrible cold that made me feel like I was going to die. I’m a massive wuss. I can’t even imagine facing cancer.
Godspeed, good man.
God Bless you Barry. And may He give you peace.
Times two Barry. Times two.
I hope to read many more an article from you. God willing,I will.
As you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil, for God is with you. Barry Rubin, I thank God for you, and pray that you will make it alive through the valley of lung cancer, and emerge at its end on the broad plain of a long creative life. We need your great mind and good heart to help us beat back the terrible forces that have messed up our societies and insulted our intelligence and tried to sully our reputations. God speed you to a cure, and if not, may God embrace you (and me) into eternal life.
Barry,
Hopefully what I am about to say is not inappropriate. You wrote about dying, so I will give you my take on the subject.
Souls do not die. They/we are infinite. When a “person” dies their soul/life force (whatever you want to call it) simply moves to another universe. Some call that place heaven. It’s interesting that the poem you shared used the analogy of a “game”. Because that’s what life is about, preparing your soul for the next phase of the “game”.
So, “When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
For you have been a hero to your family and all of us here at PJM.
Good luck to you in your fight I will be praying for you.
Best Regards
TT
Your columns are thoughtful and deep. Thank you very much for this.
Thank you for talking to us about this problem. You treat us as true friends: thank you very much for that.
Please keep fighting for everything that is good. Please be serene in the love of those you love. Please be serene in the Love of God.
Dear Barry-
I am very sad to hear of your condition. I have been reading your blog for several years and I don’t look forward to it ending. You have been the voice of reason and oh, how I have wished that it would become mainstream.
Hearing Mitt Romney’s comments and comments from others is giving me a feeling that the world is beginning to see that the Palestinian and Arab “king” is indeed naked. I hope that your blog has indeed made a difference. It has for me.
I have always said, you need a lot of luck to come into this world and go out of it. I wish you all the luck in the world and peace to go with it.
Fred Strauss
Jerusalem
Barry, i think your right about turning the corner. With people like you who tell the truth we can see. Keep up the fight, stay positive, and take strength from peoples positive energy. And please keep telling us the truth so we can spread the word.
Sure that many people hope you’ll be ok. We too, will think or prayer for you.
Coraggio, Mr. Rubin. And may G-d bless you.
Take heart….
Don’t let the bastards grind ya down….or give them the satisfaction…
I had a recent brush with this sorta thing….(benigh lung nodules)…
My anchor was/is the realization that it really didn’t/doesn’t matter….great stress releaver that…
The main factor in maturing is realizing that we can no longer can jump from perfectly good airplanes anyway….because we don’t bounce well…duh…
Luck with rainbows…..
“A famous Jewish story about that is the tale of Rabbi Zosia, who said that he did not expect God to berate him for not having been Moses—who he wasn’t—but for not having been Zosia.”
That’s good.
Add me to your long list of supporters, appreciators and well wishers.
I’m stunned by this news. You are always so reliable as a source of good information on the middle east, and I have relied on your judgements and opinions. You have done superb work, and long may it continue. I wish you all the best, and pray for you.
Bob
“But it would be nice to live long enough to see America and the world pass out from this current dreadful era, to see some restoration of sanity and reality, some kind of victory for goodness, some kind of restoration of intellectual standards, and a higher level of justice.”
Wonderfully stated. We shall find happiness and comfort in our present condition, whatever it may be, if we can look back on our lives and count ourselves as blessed by the Creator that we have been able to have lived a life in which such noble aspirations are fundamental to our existence and that we have striven to serve that blessing well. We must thank God for not having been condemned to live the existence of the many hollow, opportunistic, conniving, ignorant slugs that feature themselves as our betters and leaders. People too stupid and/or full of themselves to even realize that have taken far more than they have or shall ever give and are condemned to go to their grave having left behind nothing but a massive ego, monuments to their stupidity, and perhaps ill-gotten wealth to their equally fatuous heirs.
Mr. Rubin, your life is a blessing. Thank you for the wisdom that you bless us with.
That moment when the Doctor looks you in the eye and says “You have cancer” changes everything. I hadn’t thought about it but in two weeks tomorrow it’ll be 18 years for me. I hope you are as lucky and whatever you do, don’t give up.
I had a girlfriend who became addicted to gambling. I asked her why so. I said that unless one is a teenage gir with uptight parents the odds of getting pregnant without lots of work were pretty slim; and that when one considered the number of sperm guys who don´t make it, billions of them at a time, then what are the odds of the one guy surviving to be the creative part? The odds of being at all are so incredible that one must be in a state of shock and joy at ones existence.
Life sucks? I travel around the world and I see people so malformed sometimes, so grotesque, that one wonders how such people can survive at all, and why. But ones life is special simply because one is. Life is a miracle. Atheist that I am I believe this to be a sign of G,d in the universe. Even the worst life, and I have seen some that would likely sicken most Modernists, the worst life, I say, is grand beyond description by the poor likes of me. What a miracle is even the worst life.
I´ve been traveling for close to a year now in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru, now in the Amazon jungle. Some months ago while the boat I was on was stranded for a couple of nights in Bene in the thick of it all I listened during both those nights to the loudest cricket on the riverbank. Of the millions of creatures making noise, he stood out and made himself known to me. He was calling for a girlfriend. I suspect he had many. I listened to him because I was listening for his silence, for the instant when he would be eaten. He lived past the time I left. The cricket and all other things in the jungle other than old hippies on derelict cargo boats on the Rio Mamore, for example, are living the miracle. They live with a rage to breed. I spend my time pondering this. Everything but people with too much to think about, and their vanities the object of their thoughts, have this rage to breed; and breed they must before they are eaten so others can live to breed. I sit in the swamp and think about life and babies.
I have a friend, of sorts, who is the current joy of my life. She is three years old and speaks a form of Spanish I cannot comprehend. She speaks as well in a language of innocence and raw animality that I can barely comprehend. She cries and throws things when I´m not around, and when she sees me looking at her, she continues her tantrums because she can´t stop; but she hides to cry. She knows I don´t like the crying. She wants my approval but she has her ways she must live with as well as she can. I can only stand by and watch her and think about what I would do were I her father. I´m not. I can only stand and watch and be thankful for such a beautiful life in this world.
When my time ends I´ll give it up knowing there are others who will continue to have babies who have tantrums and who will grow up to live lives of occasional hardship or even horror. And if I can have a child to live in this life, then cancer is no bad thing so long as I have a baby before I too am eaten. That would be a hard parting, but one to smile over if I know there will be a baby to live in my place.
It´s a jungle life, and brutal. I love it. I hope your life continues long, and that your babies live long after you are gone. Life, life, life. It´s the meaning of life.
Not too many people been to Paraguay. It is kind of like Arkansas. You do not pass through it going anywhere else. You have to have a reason to got there and there are not many reasons to go there unless you are a missionary of soybean consultant.
If any of us can leave this world better for having lived in it, that was a life worth living.
Have not fear.
All my prayers.
Fight it and win! You do important work and you are appreciated for it. Take strength in that.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Keep up the good work.
One of my favorite lines from the theme song from M*A*S*H*…. “The game of life is hard to play, you’re gonna lose it anyway.”
A friend of my family was diagnosed with cancer back in the early 60s. The doctors told her she only had at most a matter of a couple of months and that she should just live life day to day. We moved away about three years later and she was still going strong doing whatever she wanted to do, living life to the fullest she knew how. Stay strong, don’t give up, do whatever makes you happy and enjoy the time you have left no matter how short or long it may be. God speed my friend, with the knowledge you have many friends out here pulling for you.
You are in my thoughts and prayers. May God bless and heal you.
I am one of those out here whom you have influenced more than you know. I have read everything I could that you have published for years. Your scholarship and analysis have been a lighthouse.
Take care of yourself now. The rest of the world can wait.
I thought of two quotes, the first from Groucho Marx: “Before I speak, I have something important to say” –and the other from Noel Coward:
“Let’s drink to the spirit of gallantry and courage that make a strange Heaven out of unbelievable Hell, and let’s drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness and peace again.”
He was speaking of England, of course, but I think it could be applied to the U.S. as well as Israel. And that we will have decent, honest writers like you to thank for it.
Be well.
God Bless you Barry. As a recovering liberal who still suffers from confusion, it is voices like yours that help me to learn new perspectives everyday. Thanks for the work that you do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTq9RGqi5Hk
You are in our prayers Barry.
Just know that what we call “death” is like waking up from this dream that we call life. There is no such thing as “death,” but dying can be hard. Do what you need to do to be the best you that you know how to be in your circumstances, and that will be good enough. I pray that it will not be painful or scary for you, whatever path you need to walk.
Barry Rubin, I praise the virtue of your mind, exercised and breathed, that sallies out and sees the adversary that has messed up our societies and insulted our intelligence and tried to sully our reputations, a mind that never slinks out of the race where that immortal garland has been run for in the face of dust and heat, helping to turn the corner so America and the world pass out from this current dreadful era, to see some restoration of sanity and reality, some kind of victory for goodness, some kind of restoration of intellectual standards, and a higher level of justice.
“I can not praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.” John Milton
A prayer of Moses, the man of God — Psalm 90:
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations…So teach us to number our days that we may
get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning
with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Thank you for sharing your news with all of us. I always enjoy reading your writings.
May the “Glory of Israel” (I Samuel 15:29) surround you with his peace and strength. Blessed be his name.
Very sad news. I lost my parents to cancer 8 months apart when they were 59 and 63 respectively, and I have never taken my lifespan for granted. I will certainly add you to my prayers.
“Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for HaShem thy G-d is with thee whithersoever thou goest” Joshua 1:9
That counter-audience you mention is now well on the way to becoming the only audience that matters. May it continue to sustain you. Sheep don’t count.
As you say, ‘The game, of course, doesn’t end’. It will endure for generations, less and less game-like every passing year. Few of us today will see the final outcome. We fight because we believe that’s what it means to be American and we believe in the future. So do you.
Barry, it’s very generous of you to share. Thank you.
You already seem to trust yourself and life, a very good place to start the hard (and, I hope, long) road ahead. Our family walked that road with our dad many years ago, and, truly, there was a lot of light in “the valley of the shadow of death.” You’ll experience that too.
I find beautiful music and words comforting and grounding: here’s Ralph Vaughan Williams’s version of Psalm 34:8: “O taste and see how gracious the Lord is. Blest is the man that trusteth in him.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPNiyoEpLAU
Barry, I’ll be praying for you—and looking forward to reading many more of your fine columns. Shalom and G_dspeed!
What can I say? Silly me… I thought people like you who write so well and are so loving of Israel and comes to her defense when needed, would live forever. I can’t say I’ll pray for you as I’ll be lying… I don’t usually pray – I just say the Shabbat blessings every Friday night but when I do light my Shabbat candles next Friday, I will give a wish for mended health for you. Somehow, Barry…even though I don’t pray alot personally, I know many people will – of all religious backgrounds and hey YA KNOW THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER!!!
Barry, you’ve certainly made an enormous difference among those who want to see this world become a better place, and I truly wish you’ll still have a lot left in the tank for much more. Much strength to you and your loved ones!
Barry, Never think your words go into the void. More of your soul travels with your words than you are aware of, as much as any writer I have ever read. Your words have moved millions. Your depth of knowledge on the Mideast — such an obvious contrast to the sea of pompous ignorance we all must swim in — gives more weight to your words than the studied indifference of officialdom will ever let on. Your care for men and women of good will everywhere is manifest. Know that many are praying for you. Keep fighting the good fight.
Very sad to hear. With the same strength you’ve fought the Left, you’ll fight this. I pray you come through this.
Much depressed by the sad, bad news. Since I’m not a believer I can’t pray for you; however, as a Biologist I can share with you, a man who lives life large, some of the cancer research I’ve been reading about lately like this recent blog by Dr. Mirkin, it might yield some insights…intro below, details at this link:
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine070112.html
“This week a realistic cure for cancer was presented by Thomas Graeber of UCLA (Molecular Systems Biology, June 26, 2012). His team showed that depriving cancer cells of the sugar, glucose, kills them by causing the cancer cells to accumulate Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). As ROS accumulate in cells, they damage the large molecules in cells, such as DNA and RNA, and cause apoptosis, the programmable death of cells. This specifically kills cancer cells without harming normal cells. To understand the importance of this breakthrough research, please re-read my reports from January 2012″
Hopefully, something like a modern day miracle will happen and you’ll get cured before Obamacare kicks in fully.
Finally, I downloaded your book to my kindle fire last week intending to save it for an upcoming long flight to Nepal. Alas! I will read it now.
Im so sad to hear your news. I very much appreciate reading your thoughts and analysis at PJM.
Keep writing. Keep fighting the good fight, Barry!
Mr. Rubin,
I read and enjoy your writings so you simply must keep on doing what you are doing or I will be very upset. You are also invited to have dinner with my family whenever you stop by Attleboro, Massachusetts.
That being said, I will offer you up in prayer as you are my fellow man.
Rest and behave yourself,
Peter Bono
Barry, I can’t offer you my prayers because I am an Agnostic and therefore don’t pray. I will, however, keep you in my heart and in my hopes. A good and very religious Jewish friend in Israel once told me that that’s pretty close to being the same.
In hopes that it may be of some small use to you, here’s my story: In 1998, after many hours of surgery and weeks of radiation therapy for cancer staged at 4A, my radiation oncologist told me that I had a twenty-three percent chance of five year survival. I didn’t accept that and somehow (I don’t know why or how) knew that I would be around longer than that. Fourteen years later, at seventy-one, I am still here with no signs of a recurrence.
Best wishes, and please do continue your work — not just on behalf of Jews but on behalf of all of civilization.
Sir Barry-
I have great admiration for your opinions which, of course, I agree with. Now that the end *may* be in sight
why don’t you tell us what you really think.
Keep in mind that many of your thousands of admirers will be gone before you.
Sir Walter
Hello Barry,
Condolences for your unhappy news.
Keep fighting.
Never give up
Take hope energy and courage from the support of your family, friends, & colleagues.
“Next year in Jerusalem”
Yours truly
Niall
May God bless you. Best wishes.
May the One who blessed our ancestors, Sarah and Abraham, Rebecca and Isaac, Leah, Rachel and Jacob bless Barry along with all of the ill among us. Grant insight to those who bring healing, courage and faith to those who are sick, love and strength to us and to all who love them. God, let your spirit rest upon all who are ill and comfort them. May they and we soon know a time of complete healing, a healing of the body and a healing of the spirit and let us say: Amen.
All the best barry… you are a champion!
Thanks for your bravery on all fronts, Barry. And I will be hoping for your recovery and health for many years to come.
Dear Barry, thank you for writing this article, this entry of your thoughts at this time and place and these circumstances. We are not trained to deal with death and when advanced notice comes, it feels like your heart stops in your chest and you’re in a waiting room. Your sharing has helped many this day. I asked my mother, under the same circumstances as yourself, what she wanted to be remembered for. She was puzzled. I stammered something to the effect, “Well, some people wants others to know of their great deeds —.” She snorted and said briefly, “A person’s greatest deeds are found in the everyday things.” And, that is what is on my mother’s tombstone. May you find strength and peace in the days ahead.
PLEAS READ THE BOOK “THE JURNY” PLEAS
God bless you, sir. You are of those who make up the fountainhead.
10 months ago my 58 yr old fit husband came home with a cough. The next day we were told he had 3-6 months to live. 5 days later he died from pancreatic cancer. We are still numb but in Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence able to go on. DO NOT BE AFRAID~have faith. Being able to say good~bye is a gift. (He had a peaceful end with Morphine&Thorazine and his family at his bedside.)Yet, what rotten luck:( Godspeed!
I too lost my mother to cancer, and I salute you sir. May you realize some part of your dream before the end. Though please know that even if you die without seeing it, that you have inspired others to take up the fight, and continue on into victory.
Dear Prof. Rubin, I am shocked and saddened by your news but at the same time deeply encouraged by your stoical attitude.
Your work is so valuable and so inspiring to so many people that I cannot believe you thought you were “writing into a void”. You have provided so much inspiration for my own small blog, I cannot find the words to thank you enough. You have also excelled in founding the Gloria Center and the Meria Journal. So many people have been educated about Israel and the Middle East through these institutions.
Please keep up your good work for as long as you have the strength. I will be adding you to my tefilot and sending out a message for tefilot to all my friends. Please let us know your Hebrew name so that we can can daven for your properly.
With best wishes for a speedy refuah shlema and may Hashem hear our prayers.
anneinpt (Petach Tikva)
May G-d bless and spare yet awhile a good warrior. Best wishes to you and your family and the land of Israel.
My sister (age 34) has a pNET (Steve Jobs kind) on her pancreas with 80-90% of her liver engulfed. Everyone started talking about her like she was already gone and posting pictures and remembering the old days. Well, chemo reduced all tumors on her liver to undetectable size and the big one is surgically removed from her pancreas. It is amazing what they can do at the big teaching hospitals. Just because someone says lung, liver or pancreas stage 4 doesn’t mean anything to me anymore!
We just have no way of knowing what will happen, cancer is such a @#$%^$&*, and we never talk about it and have chosen (mostly) to just ignore it and go on and make lots of jokes about cancer.
Don’t let others heap their fear and sadness on you, because sometimes they just can’t help themselves.
I pray for strength for you and your family to fight.
Dear Mr Rubin – words fail, there’s nothing a stranger can usefully say. Thinking of you.
Your posts (like Dr Leeden’s) invariably cut through the BS, the wishful thinking and the clutter that characterize most of what passes for commentary on the middle east. They are not always cheerful but they are true. More power to your pen.
Best wishes and God bless.
Barry… may God be with you, and may He give you strength.
I salute a true warrior for freedom.
Sorry to read that. G-d’s Speed to you, and your family.
Into the void? You’ve got to be kidding: there are millions of us. Many don’t quite know how to articulate what
they know. You are helping them find the words. And I have a definite inkling that we are going to win. Keep it up. Refu’ah Shelemah.
My prayers go with you.
I’m praying for you, Barry. As an evangelical Christian, my perspective of G-d differs from yours, but I share with you the excitement of seeing His chosen people re-established in their ancestral homeland, and having it happen (mostly) within my lifetime. The 23rd Psalm is a favorite in our tradition, is it in yours? May His rod and staff comfort you as you begin to traverse the shadowed valley. (And may you live to fight on for at least King Hezekiah’s extra 15 years!)
I’m praying for you Barry.
I know you’re getting a lot of unsolicited advice but please bear with me.
On this side of eternity there IS something you can do. Please look into what’s called the Budwig protocol to heal cancer. Thousands have been healed using this protocol of bringing healthy fat back into the diet. Personally I use it and it’s healed a bunch of pre-skin cancer lesions (actinic keratosis) that I USED to have. You don’t have to resolve yourself to a premature death.
God bless you sir.
Mr. Rubin, your words have never gone into a void. I know, and I am sure that I am but one of many, that they have informed and explained so much of the needless tragedy that is the middle East. I lost my husband five years ago to cancer and so I would like to share with you my own experience: Enjoy those closest to you as fully as you can and leave nothing unsaid to them. As for the rest of us, the friends out there that you have but do not know, we are hoping and wishing mightily for your recovery
“Death Pays a Social Call” by Damon Runyon [in his final illness]
Death came in and sat down beside me, a large and most distinguished-looking figure in beautifully-tailored soft, white flannels. His expansive face wore a big smile.
“Oh, hello,” I said. “Hello, hello, hello. I was not expecting you. I have not looked at the red board lately and did not know my number was up. If you will just hand me my kady and my coat I will be with you in a jiffy.”
“Tut-tut-tut,” Death said. “Not so fast. I have not come for you. By no means.”
“You haven’t?” I said.
“No,” Death said.
“Then what the hell are you doing here?” I demanded indignantly. “”What do you mean by barging in here without even knocking and depositing your fat Francis in my easiest chair without so much as by-your-leave?”
“Excuse me,” Death said, taken aback at my vehemence. “I was in your neighbourhood and all tired out after my day’s work and I thought I would just drop in and sit around with you awhile and cut up old scores. It is merely a social call, but I guess I owe you an apology at that for my entrance.”
“I should say you do,” I said.
“Well, you see I am so accustomed to entering doors without knocking that I never thought,” Death said. “If you like, I will go outside and knock and not come in until you answer.”
“Look,” I said. “You can get out of here and stay out of here. Screw, bum!”
Death burst out crying.
Huge tears rolled down both pudgy cheeks and splashed on his white silk lapels.
“There it is again,” he sobbed. “That same inhospitable note wherever I go. No one wants to chat with me. I am so terribly lonesome. I thought surely you would like to punch the bag with me awhile.”
I declined to soften up.
“Another thing,” I said sternly, “what are you doing in that get-up? You are supposed to be in black. You are supposed to look sombre, not like a Miami Beach Winter tourist.”
“Why,” Death said, “I got tired of wearing my old working clothes all the time. Besides, I thought these garments would be more cheerful and informal for a social call.”
“Well, beat it” I said. “Just Duffy out of here.”
“You need not fear me,” Death said.
“I do not fear you Deathie, old boy,” I said, “but you are a knock to me among my neighbours. Your visit is sure to get noised about and cause gossip. You know you are not considered a desirable character by many persons, although, mind you, I am not saying anything against you.”
“Oh, go ahead,” Death said. “Everybody else puts the zing on me so you might as well, too. But I did not think your neighbours would recognize me in white, although, come to think of it, I noticed everybody running to their front door and grabbing in their ‘Welcome’ mats as I went past. Why are you shivering if you do not fear me?”
“I am shivering because of that clammy chill you brought in with you,” I said. “You lug the atmosphere of a Frigidaire around with you.”
“You don’t tell me?” Death said. “I must correct that. I must pack an electric pad with me. Do you think that is why I seem so unpopular wherever I go? Do you think I will ever be a social success?”
“I am inclined to doubt it,” I said. “Your personality repels many persons. I do not find it so bad as that of some others I know, but you have undoubtedly developed considerable sales resistance to yourself in various quarters.”
“Do you think it would do any good if I hired a publicity man? Death asked. “I mean, to conduct a campaign to make me popular?”
“It might,” I said. “The publicity men have worked wonders with even worse cases than your. But see here, D., I am not going to waste my time giving you advice and permitting you to linger on in my quarters to get me talked about. Kindly do a scrammola, will you?”
Death had halted his tears for a moment, but now he turned on all faucets, crying boo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
“I am so lonesome,” he said between lachrymose heaves.
“Git!” I said.
“Everybody is against me,” Death said.
He slowly exited and, as I heard his tears falling plop-plop-plop to the floor as he passed down the hallway, I thought of the remark of Agag, the king of the Amalekites, to Samuel just before Samuel mowed him down: “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”*
* 1 Samuel, XV. 32.
Never give up. Get better every minute.
Shocked is not the apt term to describe how I felt when reading your horrible news. At first wished it was an April Fool’s Day prank of some sort…but as I read more it was clear from your brave and touching piece that you have a prognosis that sounds fatal. I wish, and hope, that it is NOT…that the doctor mixed up the xrays or whatever it was he/she consulted. It is such times that one wonder is there a G-D…times when one sees immense horror and cruelty: Is there a G-D?? There must be, dear Barry Rubin. Who else would bring your people, however few, home after almost two millenniums of unrelenting persecution in foreign lands? And, you have been very privileged, as you point out, to have be part of a generation that has lived during such blessed, and perilous, times for the Hebrews. The pen has indeed been mightier than the sword in your very capable, and so very prolific, hands. We have all learned so much from you as you have never been shy of the truth. For selfish reasons, we can’t let you go. You must FIGHT. We need your words of wisdom. But if you should physically depart us…your spirit will live on. In comparison to the rest of us, you literally are a giant…one who will not be forgotten. A life well spent. I bet you can look in the mirror with pride and a big smile. You earned that right a long time ago. FIGHT…and if you leave sooner than we want, you will be in a better place and in peace.
Barry so many thanks for the insight you have provided to this Old Jew. Your are a man’s man which is becomming so rare today and I admire you so very much.
NO such thing as a normal life, Wyatt; there’s just “life”.
Mr. Rubin, you have helped usher us around that corner. I will look for more, and you will be in my prayers.
Truly, a refuah shlemah (if there can be such a thing with inoperable cancer).
No, do not stop writing Barry, because your work is important. Your writings have made a difference to me.
I read the massive, 3 volume compilation of the known letters of C. S. Lewis, nearly 4000 pages in all. The letters were compiled by Walter Hooper, who also saw to the publication of many of C. S. Lewis’s writings and speeches. Hooper was later accused by Kathryn Lindskoog of making up some work that he published as by Lewis. Her accusations appear to be discredited, but I could never have believed it because of the incredible research Hooper did on Lewis’s friends and colleagues for the Letters volumes. Hooper’s work was an act of love. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of miniature biographies included in the volumes giving the major dates, publications, as well as the personal and career highlights of these people. Reading them, one after another, as I read through the volumes, I began to become increasingly touched by the growing sense of knowing a little about the lives of so many people who have played their roles in our affairs and made a difference. Even though it is often impossible to tease out the impacts of these individuals (many of whom are still alive) from the seamless web of our interconnected world, they all had their roles to play, without which the world would be forever different than it is and will be.
Barry, I am hoping that you have a long life ahead of you, but no matter how it turns out, you have made, and are making a difference, and you will continue to do so as long as you continue to write. May God bless you.
Peace be unto you, Barry. I will be praying for your healing and I will be praying for God’s strength to carry you through the trying times ahead. See you in Jerusalem.
Please tell us your Hebrew name and your mother’s Hebrew name. May you have r’fu’ah sh’leimah.
Another voice from the void, expressing my appreciation of your writing and wishing you all the best in the struggles ahead.
I never miss your articles. You tell things so straight. You and your family will be in my prayers.
Almost eight years ago I suffered my third heart attack. My doctors gave me less than a year to live. Eight years and I’m still around because I did what I thought best for myself, even against much offered advice. My point is it seems you are doing much like I did: Doing what needs to be done for yourself and and enjoying what can be enjoyed. I will add you to my prayers, Mr. Rubin, and trust G-d that you will be at peace. Hang in there, Sir!
Lord please, grant divine intervention for this courageous man.
Barry, I need you to know how much I look forward to every new piece of yours. You are one of the sane voices out there……Bless you my friend (if I may call you that), and be strong, for there are many out here rooting for you.
חזק חזק ונתחזק
I’m one of your faceless readers. The past months I came to your columns for insight, intelligence, honesty. I am a better person because of your words, your sense of humanity, your clarity, your courage. Thank you.
You are in our prayers. Make sure your tumor gets tested for a mutation in the ALK gene. There is a drug, crizotinib, that is really helpful. There are also mutations in EGFR that can be targeted by new drugs
barry, i may be wrong but what i see in the list of names are [many] people who are not familiar to me as respondants to your columns — me included. you have not be shouting into the ‘void’ but have a large faithful reading audience. some prefer to sit on the sidelines and absorb what you have to write. i am always amazed, simply amazed at the profundity of your writing. believe me, many people appreciate it but they never got around to letting you know they did. thank you for the wonderful effort and i hope you will come to terms with this malady. be strong, fight the good fight, and “Do not go gentle into that good night…” Positive thinking and prayer, i have been told may effect a change. all the very best to you.
Dear Mr Rubin
Thank you for not hiding this dreadfull news and being as frank as i have come to know you.Your insights,opennes and compassion helped a lot in shaping my understanding and reasoning.
It grieves me to know you have to pass these bitter waters and i wish you well.
You may draw courage out of realising that you touched and influensed people toward defending Israel honestly and fair.
Beterschap
Erwin holland
The great principles and institutions of the west – which are, not coincidentally, always open to learning from others – will not die unless we lay down and let the barbarians (Socialists/Islamists/etc) walk over them. There was a danger of that happening, but although the danger has not completely passed by, I think we have turned the corner. The wide dissemination of quality information and thought is the enemy of primitive tyrannies, at the same time as it is motivating to true lovers of liberty.
Kudos to you Mr Rubin and thank you also for expressing your thoughts about your cancer; I have a father in law in a similar situation and it is very helpful to know how people cope with the problem.
“Even if I didn’t have this disease, I could leave life on any day due to many causes without warning.”
This made me recall something I heard a radio preacher say a while back, speaking of the untimely death of a friend of his due to cancer.
“We will not be on this earth one minute more or one minute less than God intends for us to be.”
Thank you for your wisdom and insight.
I hope and pray that God intends for you to be here for a good while longer.
A bit of wisdom from a now-deceased old friend. He used to say, “Live life as you love it; love life as you live it.”
Dear Dr. Rubin,
Along with your many admirers I was saddened to read this and join them in praying for you (perhaps you’ll publish your Hebrew name?).
Your own work and your reading recommendations (esp. Walter Laquer, Jon Spyer and Orwell’s diaries) have had an impact on me. I also remember with pleasure the one occasion on which we met about 10 years ago. It was at a lunch meeting at MEF in Philadelphia. We were sitting next to each other and I was obviously under the weather. You were kind enough to crack a few jokes to boost my spirits. I hope, in a small way, I can do the same for you.
Please accept my sincere best wishes,
MarcH
P.S. You’ve made me add canoeing on the Jordan to my bucket list.
Dear Mr. Rubin,
I have been reading your work for some time. You are one of those rare voices that one is so grateful for amidst the madness of the mainstream media and even much of the hype on social media, as well.
I am so very sorry to hear this sad and shocking news. I hope and pray you find all the strength you need and are surrounded with all the love you need to see this through.
You will be in my prayers every day,
From a loyal reader
Some years ago I began to consult on occasion “The Jerusalem Post”. Now and then I found articles written by a certain Barry Rubin. Soon I looked up the “Post” everyday and was disappointed if an anylsis by a certain Barry Rubin was not there to read. This certain Barry Rubin was somehow associated with America. I thought he might have a website or something (I know next to nothing about computers). Well, I found a reference which led me to PJ Media–the first website I turn on each morning, so many excellent writers. Still I wait for Mr. Rubin’s article with a special anticipation and a small disappointment if a new one is not there. And then the communication of today! I taught literature. Why does not some genial poem of graditude arises out of my soul. I would like so much to console. (Instead your words console me, what a gift from you.) Well, teaching about literature, does not make a poet. So I can only pay you tribute using my professional background. I discovered in academic departments in four countries, that there always arise a select number of professors who are, so-to-speak, the professors’ professor. And you are one of those special scholars. Though I am perhaps some 30 years older than you, you are a professor for me and I would gladly today be one of your students. I can pay you, for the lack of imagination, no higher personal homage. Go with God, and may you join in joy with your ancestors whose dream you have had the privilege to live. Thank you for being!
Beautifull hommage
Dear Barry Rubin,
I am not a native english speaker and I wish I could express my thoughts much better here. I am in total shock hearing this bad news about your health. I have been reading your articles for many years and I had the privilege of listening to you in person a few months ago in Vancouver. Your understanding of the middle east has no match and your writing is honest, profound and based on facts and evidence. Unlike the so called “experts” that manipulate and distort history to follow an agenda, you seek the truth. I always think ‘governments should call Barry to understand what is happening and what to do next’. I need to read you almost as much as I need air to breath. So please take good care of yourself.
Barry, you have become a friend as you RSS into my life at least everyday. (There are not many friends who I hear from that often). The amazing thing is that I also can’t resist reading what you have to say. You have a perspective that sees situations for what they are and your explanations are intelligent and intelligible. If only more people had your perspective the world would be a better place. I’m writing to you now, because I want you to know how much you have touched my life in a very good way. I pray that you will continue to do so for many years to come. Your work is not over so I know you will do the best that is possible to overcome cancer. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
I discovered Professor Rubin’s blog after the start of the Arab Uprising in 2011. I immediately put it at the top of my favorites list – it is essential reading for understanding the current situation. I am continually impressed by the depth and breadth of Prof Rubin’s knowledge, his erudition and his wit.
I wrote a comment to the blog and was surprised and delighted to get an answer
from the Professor. He is generous and unpretentious. Even when I dont agree with him he makes me think.
Prof Rubin – Your writings have so enlightened and informed me (and will continue to do for a long time, I hope). You have opend my mind and tickled my funny bone. And you are such a mensch. Please know that I, along with your many readers, am supporting you, rooting for you, praying for you and
eagerly awaiting every column. Keep fighting and enjoy every precious moment
Not many people that I admire & respect but you are certainly one of them.
My sincere prayers for your recovery.
Best wishes, Mr. Rubin: my prayers go with you and yours. May you fight on and prevail–in every imaginable sense.
Not much can be added to what has been already said here.
It is our “butterfly effect” which makes life meaningful and the world different, and you have a lot of it.
G-d bless you. And a bit luck.
Dear Barry,
I am a huge fan of yours. A friend recommended me your blog, and I have been reading it with great pleasure for a couple of years. I assume that there are other highly educated people whose knowledge of the Middle East might be comparable to yours. However, you have this rare talent of dissecting very complex problems and expressing your thoughts in a simple and entertaining manner. I love your writing style and admire your courage, honesty, and the sense of humor. What I also like about your blog is the “Do not run with a crowd” message – you show how easily wrong stereotypes are formed.
Please be strong – we all know you are a fighter. I hope to have a privilege of reading your writings for a long time.
I also suspect I may not be long for this world and have always felt that I would probably die fairly young. I don’t even want a diagnosis or treatments, I just want to die alone and with dignity. Like you,my greatest hope is that we can overcome the malicious forces who sully our discourse and see a return to higher intellectual standards and moral goodness while I’m still alive.
My take on living and dying is that those who spent their lives striving for truth,standing up for justice,protecting the weak, and seeking peace will never truly die. They will live on this Earth forever as an example of the good each one of us is capable of. You strike me as a man of this caliber.
There is no reason for us to fear death. There is no pain in it,it is peace. Regardless,I wish you the best of luck in your struggle. I pray the Creator will have mercy on you and grant you time enough to see us win this cultural fight for goodness over evil,so that when you go, you too may die with dignity in peace.
May you,and all of us, find joy in the time we have left,contentment in the work that we do,and love for ourselves and others. And may you always walk in the light,here and in the hereafter.
Dear Barry,
My heartfelt sympathy to you and your family. I always admired you as one of the few serious analysts of the middle east and as a writer. Now I admire the stance you are taking with regard to your situation. I am praying that the results will come in reversing the grim diagnosis.
I respectfully disagree with much of what you write..I pray that will continue for many more years.
Barry, I am adding you to my prayers. In one of my favorite books of all time, (In This House of Brede) one of the characters says, “Prayer is a force, and it’s strong”
Like you, I hope we have turned the corner and that the vast mass of the American populace sees the progs for what they are. We have a long fight ahead of us, and I pray that you will be among us, leading the charge.
Barry,
I am greatly saddened to hear about your bad diagnosis. I wish you all the best.
I know this heartache from personal experience. Both my parents got advanced cancer themselves. My dad survived–like Herman Cain, he was one of the lucky ones. But my mom didn’t make it.
I know you want to live long enough to see some kind of restoration of victory and justice. Try not to worry. From my reading of history, things have a way of working themselves out–often in ways we didn’t expect. Utopia never comes, but we just keep on keeping on.
Someone who was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in 1939, with the Axis Powers on the march probably felt the same way as you–they wished to live long enough to see it end well. It did end–but it didn’t bring Utopia. America then faced a whole new set of problems.
I really believe we will come through our current troubles, just as we have before. But that won’t be the “end of history.” We’ll just get ourselves into other kinds of trouble.
The news broadcasts from the year 2030 will be all about inflation, unemployment, the mess in Washington, Democrats vs. Republicans, wars and the threat of wars. War against China, maybe?
And the news broadcasts from the year 2060 will be all about inflation, unemployment, the mess in Washington, Democrats vs. Republicans, wars and the threat of wars. War against the African Federation, maybe?
And life just wobbles on.
Take care.
Barry,
As an untreatable blood cancer patient I know first hand what living with a terrible disease is. “Normal” people simply cannot understand. I have only one option for which I thank G-d every day: Stem Cell Transplant. The procedure is not a picnic with 50% survival after three years; provided the patient survives the first year. I totally understand that 50% is much better than 0%, but each person is unique and not a statistic. Perhaps you will merit a miracle. I bless G-d for every breath; and so shall I bless you as a co-sufferer and a teacher.
Barry,
You have made, and hopefully will continue to make for a long time to come, a huge difference.
Remember, in the game of life, whoever has the most love wins. I think you are a big winner.
Barry,
Your readers need you. May G-d give you strength and help you recover.
I really don’t have adequate words. Sorry to hear of your illness, will pray for your recovery and endurance through the disease. Glad for your frankness and appreciate your thoughts and ideas expressed from your world.
Barry wrote: “…Up until now, I’ve really thought that my articles have gone into a void.”
Barry, your writings, as the comments here attest, have gone into no void. If there is hope for democracies like Israel and the U.S., it is because of people like you. I wish you all the best in your two brave struggles.
Dear friend Barry:
Bravely and well said! Good luck to you!
David Aylward Wilson ’67
I hope your cancer is cured,
it has happened and it has happened to people in my life, who then go on to live healthy lives.
I hope that for you!
Dear Mr. Rubin,
First, I hope that you make a full recovery and enjoy many more years of vitality.
Second, I must point out that while you claim to “write with such intensity,” you do not always write with great clarity. Indeed, some of your sentences are downright hamfisted.
Take the sentence, “As you know, we live in an era where many ideas, much truth, and certainly the kind of things that I think are largely barred from the most prestigious (although daily less so) media and institutions.”
This lack of parallelism creates some momentary confusion. The sentence would work much better if it read, “As you know, we live in an era where many ideas, much truth, and most of the things that I believe in… etc.” You should also omit or rephrase the parenthetical “(although daily less so)” since it modifies “media” rather than your intended anchor, “prestigious”.
I might also point out that when you say ” Now, though, the counter-audience has grown so long and people are so hungry for accuracy and cutting through the nonsense that our ranks have grown into the millions” you make several clumsy errors.
Audiences, “counter” or otherwise, do not grow “so long”; they grow “so large”.
In the last part of that convoluted and risibly ungrammatical sentence you inadvertently suggest that your ranks have grown the nonsense into the millions. I would suggest something like, “Recently, though, millions of people, hungry for accurate, no-nonsense reporting, have swollen our ranks.”
Once again, I wish you all the best, and hope that in future you will at least make an effort to balance your literary “intensity” with some grammatical lucidity.
Dr. Rubin, my wife and I will hold you in our daily thoughts and prayers. G-d bless all you’ve done for Judaism, Israel and society a large.
Barry, G-d loves you and just as you were born with soul so shall that soul live forever and ever because G-d who gave that unique soul will always look after you
Barry,
> “…Up until now, I’ve really thought that my articles have gone into a void.”
I have always looked forward to reading your writings, as you are one of the very few writers who can be consistently relied on to clarify and put things in perspective.
But I guess I can identify with you far more than I would wish now… as I was very recently diagnosed with advanced esophagus cancer.
There are many treatments available today that were not some years ago. But ultimately, we are all in G_d’s hands. I pray that we beat our respective diseases, and I will still have many more years reading your insightful comments.
Bless you!
Stephen David
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines;
Though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food…
YET I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the G_d of my salvation.
The LORD G_d is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.”
Habbakkuk 3:17-19
I find your diagnosis distressing. I am 75 and have had the fear that I will not live long enough to see our country and the world turned around and on the path we believe in, and then I see you, so much younger than I, have the same fear and hunger to see it turned around before you too, must go the way of all flesh. I have a blog and it truly goes into a void with at most 17 readers a day. You Mr. Barry Rubin have touched so many, and you will continue to do so.
We all pray for a miracle for you, for miracles in the cure for cancer, and most of all the miracle of our country to continue to be a beacon of light to the world and in that a friend to Israel. I remember WWII and the antisemitism that was so prevalent and see that same evil showing it’s ugly head again here and around the world. I pray you see that vanquished in your time.
Been there, doing that. It sure changes priorities. Major issues don’t mean squat, things that you used to just shrug off become battles worth fighting.
Don’t give up.
Dear Mr. Rubin, I am so sorry with this sad news. I have greatly enjoyed every column from your pen. And I highly admire your courage in this difficult moment. Thank you for this life lesson and please take care and be wel.
May your voice continue to be heard; may you triumph over this adversity. I am a cancer survivor.
No matter what happens tomorrow, you’ve done a great thing with your life. Nothing can change that, it’s already written.
That said, you gotta pull thru, man.
Get better, just get better.
G-d bless you, Barry, I recently discovered your articles and, strangely enough, despite all the gloom you describe, by simply telling the truth among all Orwellian doublespeak which dominates the media, you give me and, I believe, other people, a reason to hope. I pray for you to keep up the great work for years to come.
Keep your head up, Barry!
If I could pray, I’d offer one for you.
As it is, I can only encourage you to fight, like any good Scots-Irishman would fight. And send you my own gratitude, admiration, and warmest regard, in recognition as one old warrior to another.
Dear Barry,
Be assured of one thing. That day, the one of the last walk, turn back before we fade into the distance. What you will see are all of us, your readers holding high the swords of liberty sharpened by your sharpening stone.
I was shocked and saddened by your article. I’ve read and appreciated your work for many years. I–like many others–rely on you for informed and common-sense commentary on events. We can’t do without you!
Hachlamah shlaymah oom’hirah!
My prayers are with you.
Dear Mr Rubin,
the easiest way to contact me is by the e-mail address on my publications. They are open access, everyone can download and read them.
Writing is a peculiar calling. I think most writers wonder if their words made any difference. Often comments are about the commenter’s own interests and miss the point of what the writer was trying to communicate. I have a folder labeled Barry Rubin, separate from the Middle East folder or the Israel folder, because what you have had to say matters,you have said it well, and I want to save your words.
My thoughts and hopes are with you,
http://www.livestrong.org/Get-Help/Learn-About-Cancer/LIVESTRONG-Guidebook is a great resource for you right now. Get it for free from LiveStrong.org. Also, don’t believe that your doctors know how your disease will progress. It is simply unknowable. Best wishes for each day as it comes. Keep the faith.
You are in my heart. Thank you for your words.
Dear Barry,
Please accept a very big hug and my very best wishes for love and joy for all of the time you have.
Barry, I have a friend who HAD stage four Prostrate cancer and was given 6-8 months to live. Someone told him that as he had nothing to lose to try this Neuropathic remedy. Take a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda,(baking soda) and mix it with either maple syrup or molasses to make it palatable at least once a day and twice if your stomach will allow. He has done this for the last 6 months he was given to live and as of this date he is in remission and the doctors are pretty sure now all traces of the cancer have disappeared! Like he said, “it can’t hurt since I am supposedly dead already! You don’t know me but have been a long time reader( since PJ . media started and you joined). There is no earthly reason why you should believe me about this, but I know it has worked and not just for him. It is an old and long standing remedy. Google it and you will see. There are a couple of sites out there who are decidedly anti-semetic and blame Jewish doctors for all the ills of the world. Just discount them. Soooo- I expect to be hearing from you in four or five weeks, months, years to tell me that you don’t have to write with such intensity and drive to finish anymore as there appears to be a long life ahead of you. I’d say I will pray for you but am an atheist, but one who does believe in reincarnation!! Screwed up huh? Good luck and will be waiting for that email in the future! Best Wishes and Regards, Everett R Littlefield
Barry, was going to add to comment#38, that taking the baking soda raises the blood Ph to aciditic levels and deprives the cells of the sugar, glucose, etc. they need to survive and multiply, thereby killing them off. Also Higher levels of O2 in the blood also helps destroy them. Sure hope you try this and hope to hear from you soon. Everett
Pick out your grave and stone, you’re dead in the next 12 months. Lung cancer is about the worst. At least you’ll get to enjoy morphine.
Did you smoke? If you did how heavily and for how long?
As an Israeli, I want you to know how much I appreciate your writing and your insight… I’ve linked to you so many times I might as well be you press agent. But more to the point, I wish you a refua shleyma, and lots of strength. Chazak v’amatz!
Prof. Rubin,
Thank you. Your clarity of vision is a beacon to countless readers trying to understand what is happening in the Middle East. Your ability to approach and describe your personal struggle with that same clarity is a further source of inspiration. Your are not writing into a void; your are filling it. Best wishes for a refuah shlema.
Dear Prof. Rubin,
Your writings and insight have been an enormous contribution to my understanding of the region.
You deserve more years and I will pray you get the miracle that gives it to you.
The thought of Ahmadinejad outliving you makes me sad.
You have been for a blessing and my prayer is that you merit a full and complete healing. My thoughts are with your family too.
G
יברכך ה’ – חזק ואמץ
All I can say is thank you, for everything.
Oh and try the baking soda, you can’t live without hope.
What could it hurt?
(My father died of lung cancer 31 years ago today. But, he lived to see Reagan elected. Happiest day of his life!!)
Barry,
Your incredible journey has set a magnificent model for teaching and guiding us in our quest to master one of the most complex historical, cultural, and political challenges of our time. As you try to work through the even more daunting existential dilemmas and mysteries that lie ahead, I join with others who have known you a long time and with this solid, growing corps of admirers and well-wishers in saluting you for your courage, deeply felt honesty, and your willingness to share with us the account of the tough personal struggle that could lie ahead. Know that you will constantly be in our prayers and wishes of comfort to you and your family as you brave the future. From Washington to Israel, I send you warm words of encouragement, friendship, strength, and hope for improved health and a valiant recovery.
Howard
Dear Barry
About four-and-a-half years ago, I got MY cancer diagnosis. It was operable, and I look forward to being declared a survivor next year.
The thing that stands out most clearly in my mind, aside from that weird sensation of “Something’s grwoing inside me, that wants to kill me,” is that I had regrets. There was so much I had always wanted to do with my life, and just never had the chance. I vowed that if I *DID* survive, that I would do them all. And, I have. So, don’t speend time agonizing over “should I read this book?” Think about what YOU want, and GO FOR IT! Maybe buckett list is too trite, but every man has to have goals, achievable or not. In addition, having read your inspiring (yes, INSPIRING!), article; I agree with you. No matter WHAT happens, you’ll always know that you left behind a legacy of articles, a body of work, that touched the lives of so many. I hope there is comfort in that for you.
Living in Israel, I have been blessed with being close to so much tradition. (I’m rather religious, keep the Sabbath, and so forth.)
Recently, doing some work at a “Last care” hostel, I was told about a man who has recently passed away. He was someone who learned the Daf Yomi (the daily two-sided page of Talmud). When it became clear that he wouldn’t make it to the “Siyum” (the end of the 7+ year cycle), the hospice arranged for him to have learning partners, to accelaerate his finishing the Talmud date.
Before he passed awa, he had finished.
So, although you don’t know what will be tomorrow, live today, and *Dream* tomorrow. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Feel good, Take care, Be *WELL*, All the Best, — Reuven Frank
Dear Prof. Rubin,
My father and I would both like to wish you the best in overcoming the challenges you face ahead. We would also like to thank you for your magnificent contribution to scholarship and analysis on the Middle East to date.
Chazak Ve Ematz.
Zev and Giora Vinokurov
Dear Professor Rubin,
Another party heard from whom you have given strength and encouragement through your lucid and sharp essays here at PJ Media. Let me try in a small way to return the favor: My mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer at 74, after smoking for over 50 years. (My main reason for opposing Obamacare is that she would have been written off as a bad bet for aggressive treatment.) She was just declared completely cancer-free, and is about to celebrate 5 years – and yes, she finally took that trip to Israel. So it can be done, and might be done. Please share your Hebrew name in your next essay so that I can add what little help I can. A refuah shlemah and the chance to see our national rebirth to you and yours!
Mr. Rubin,
As mentioned by the MANY posters but here at PJM, we consider you a friend. Love it or leave it..!
My wife and I will be vacationing in Israel en route to the states following our 2 year overseas hiatus next Spring. Were VERY excited.
I feel I’m a fly on the wall per advice. Though being a music junkie more so than a news junkie, I can only recommend some soothing yet grooving music accompanied with Crown Royal, splash of Coke and soft lighting.
7 years ago I’d met my wife and at the time she being 24, intelligent albeit having Illiberal views.
She thinking the same political affiliation of me with my having long hair, beard and being in band she thought the same of me.
Though following a 4-week camping trip exploring the Midwest-W U.S. and Canada she soon realized she had a Conservative in her midst!
After many discussions with me, her Illiberal friends, life experiences and 1st hand observations in life itself she, ‘Saw the light’ ( Cue Handel’s, ‘Hallelujah’).
Today, YOU are one of my mine and my wife’s favorite writers.
In closing, I TRULY hope you enjoy the following song. God Speed, Barry and NEVER give up, my friend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe-e_hTqFUQ
Although I don’t usually comment, I want you to know how much you have educated me.
The Rabbi Zushia story is one I always share and it is one that appears you have taken to heart. G-d willing you can continue writing and teaching for a long time.
Dear Professor Rubin –
I have read and learned from you for years. Thank you for all you have done to educate me and so many others with your fierce determination that truth emerge through the blizzard of lies and misinformation peddled by so many with devious intent.
We know better what must be done because of you. I know that no one else can do what I can do and it is imperative that I do my part — as it is for everyone you’ve reached — for the turning point is to be achieved.
You have extraordinary demands on your body and soul right now. Pray that we all will make the most of the next 100 days we will see “America and the world pass out from this current dreadful era, to see some restoration of sanity and reality, some kind of victory for goodness, some kind of restoration of intellectual standards, and a higher level of justice.” Pray that we do that.
A tough path for you, keep fighting, I hope we all live to see the world put back on a prosperous path.
I had seen your book “Israel: An Introduction” being advertised and put it on my list of things to consider. The consideration is done, I just ordered it, and I hope it is of some pleasure to you that you will continue in this earthly realm through your ideas and writings.
–reading this comment column i am reminded of why i’ve always appreciated –and loved –the ways –the practical spirituality –of the Jewish people.
I am saddened by your news. One line in your column really hit home, it’s the exact same thing I said to myself upon finding out I had cancer. “Every living thing that has ever existed has died, at least in terms of being on this earth. If they could do it, I can do it.” I am fortunate in that I am a cancer survivor. It was the same type of cancer that took my mother 28 years ago. She never gave up, even when it was clear the fight was over. Never give up, you are in all our thoughts. God be with you.
A little Dylan Thomas to address my thoughts on your possible future prospects:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Semper Fideles,
Webfoot Warrior
Thank you for all your elucidating articles throughout the years. I pray for a refuah sheleima for you.
Please give us your name for davening.
B”D you should have a refua shleima.
Besides chemiotherapy a strong diet with papaya extract ( bio-cultivated) taken in massive dose was very helpful for a friend diagnosed with liver cancer.He survived and the tumor recessed .That was 12 years ago and he is still living.Papay grows in Israel in the emek ha yarden.Give it a try Barry , hazak ve ematz
Barry , go to http://www.sciencedaily.com , on march 10 2010 an article illustrating the papaya effect on cancerous cells.All the best.Philippe
I only discovered you recently, the only other reports about Israel and near by countries are by Caroline Glick and the Stratfor report. The outrageous bias of most American media exceeds the its ignorance and there is a lot of that.
lancaster best