Jewish and PROUD | I'm still here to try to understand how to get everyone to feel like they belong on this planet. It's a work in progress. #Bringthemhome ๐๏ธ
My mom narrowly survived 9/11. Several of her friends and coworkers were tragically killed. I donโt normally share this level of detail on Twitter, but given whatโs Iโm seeing, I feel compelled to share her story (with her permission).
My mom, a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Union who came to New York in 1976, came to this country to escape persecution and for a better life. As it turns out, Socialists and Communists hate Jews. Shocker.
My mom started working at the World Trade Center as a Mainframe Programmer at Morgan Stanley in 1987 (Morgan Stanley Dean Witter on 9/11).
My mom was working on the 67th floor of the 2nd Building during the 1993 WTC bombing. Thankfully, she survived, though it left a lasting mark on her.
My mom was working on the 56th floor of the 2nd Building during 9/11. They had just moved her team to that floor a few weeks prior. She had finished a meeting and was working when she looked out the 56th floor window and saw that the 1st Building had been hit. She thought it was an electrical explosion or something since they were always doing some work in the buildings. She saw paper and debris flying everywhere, and thick smoke pouring out. No one really knew what was going on, but remembering the 1993 bombing, her gut instinct was to get out of there.
My mom grabbed her small pouch that had some spare cash in it, grabbed a few of her coworkers, and they started going down the building. When they had reached the 22nd floor, the 2nd plane hit the 2nd Building. She knew she was on the 22nd floor because of a massive column in the center of the building, and they felt the whole building shake. Her and the people with her began sprinting down the stairs to get out.
My mom didnโt know what was going on, but seeing the smoke and knowing that it was toxic to breathe in, wanted to get as far away as possible. She just started walking, trying to get to Queens. She made her way through Chinatown, and out of a gut instinct, went into a store and bought a disposable camera with the emergency money in her pouch. She took many photos of the buildings, and was able to get them developed. I donโt know think any documentaries have ever gotten ahold of them, but Iโll share a few here.
My mom kept walking. Walking to Queens. By the time she had made it to the 59th St Bridge, someone she was passing by told her that The Twin Towers had collapsed. โWhat do you mean? I was just at work a second ago โ that doesnโt make any sense.โ
My mom was ironically, in 2006, one of many laid off as Morgan Stanley offshored many of their programming jobs to India.
My mom, every year on 9/11, remembers. Every year on 9/11, my dad would tell me: โwish your mother a Happy 2nd Birthdayโ. As a kid, I never really understood, but my dad would say, โitโs a day to celebrate that she survived, to be here with us.โ
My mom survived. Not one, but two terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. I am forever blessed and count myself as one truly lucky New Yorker. Many were not. Everyone knows someone.
9/11, for New York City, was a New Founding. A transformative moment. This tragedy, and our subsequent grit and tenacity, is woven into the DNA of every real New Yorker.
For someone running for MAYOR of New York City to have such little understanding of this core truth, to go as far as to try to leverage it in a POLITICAL COUNTER-MESSAGE OF SHAMING AND RALLYING, is to admit that they are fundamentally disconnected from the reality of what it means to be a New Yorker and thus, be Mayor of New York City.
If youโre a New Yorker, you know this to be true. You know we cannot have Mamdani in office. If we want our city to continue to survive and thrive, we simply cannot.
This post is from Dec 2023โsince then, weโve delivered over 100,000 pizza pies in this war, and well over 800,000 pies since we started in 2002.
A generous donor just pledged: for every repost this gets, theyโll donate a slice. That means every 8 reposts = one more pizza pie for our soldiers.
I told them: easy! Weโre aiming for at least 100 pies. And I know each one will inspire even more support at https://t.co/5jNVtkEbCW.
@noatishby, want to help spread the word?
The most ironic part is that every Jewish village near Gaza, where most hostages are from, was a hippie leftist peace commune. They wanted to live in peace next to the Palestinians, genuinely believing their Gaza neighbors were just misunderstood. They showed the Palestinians so much charity and kindness.
This is how they were repaid. I think about this often.
๐จ US VP JD Vance visited the Dachau concentration camp in Germany today and read: Never again. Vance was accompanied on the visit by Holocaust survivor Abba Naor, 97, who was sent to Dachau when he was 13. Naor immigrated to Israel in 1946 to Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot.
Mike Breen on if there will ever be a โTriple Bang:โ
โIโll say this, anybody on the Knicks, if you hit a game-winning shot in the Finals, then there will be a Triple Bang.โ
(via @Roommates__Show)
This is the poignant story of 4-year-old Negev, his baby brother Eshel, and their incredibly brave mother, Adi. On a harrowing Saturday morning, their lives were shattered when Hamas militants infiltrated their homes.
In a moment of profound courage, Adi acted swiftly to safeguard her boys, carrying them to a shelter. As danger loomed, she shielded little Eshel from harm, emphasizing to her children, "I love you both more than anything in the world,โ before selflessly leaving to confront the threat.
They were left uncertain for hours, with no news about their well-being. The terrorists filmed a chilling propaganda video with the children, and in a moment of desperation, they took Negev and Eshel, along with a neighbor, to Gaza. Despite the terrifying circumstances, Negev's spirit shone through; he cried out and pleaded, โGet me off!โ as they made the journey, showing remarkable strength in the face of fear.
In the days that followed, the family desperately clung to hope, initially fearing that Adi had been taken to Gaza alongside them. Unfortunately, the heartbreaking truth emerged: their beloved mother, who fought valiantly for their safety, had been murdered. Adiโs brave spirit was found hidden beneath the blankets in their shelter, with her body tragically wrapped in explosive charges.
This story serves as a reminder of the profound love and sacrifice that exists in the world, even amid unimaginable violence.
Credit to Zeb Hall
#HamasIsIsis
Iโm officially submitting this idea to @DOGE
The Super Bowl should be played on a Saturday.
The Monday after the Super Bowl consistently sees significant productivity losses (from private and public sector), often into the billions of dollars, due to absenteeism, tardiness, and reduced performance among workers. AKA the โSuper Bowl Fluโ.
The fix is simple. Move the game to Saturday.
The hosting cities will still benefit on revenue coming in. The players will still have nearly 2 weeks of rest. And the remainder of us can get obliterated without catching the worst Sunday Scaries of our lives. Plus weโd get a full day of recovery before going back to the grind on Monday.
Even just a fractional increase on lost productivity could save hundreds of millions of $$.
Iโd like to see @DOGE and @elonmusk work with the @NFL to make this happen.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.