Watching endless news feeds of frenzied waves flattening homes into matchsticks and spinning cars into twisted metal, its almost impossible to take our eyes off Japan. After a while, routine interrupts: dinnertime, the phone, deadlines, diapers. But we return in the evening, unable to suspend our disbelief.
Weve witnessed the chaos before to greater or lesser degrees: the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes all over the planet, including Japan and most notably Haiti in 2010. Statistics matter to some. The more lives lost, the greater the disaster. But we are just fooling ourselves when we play this game. Whether one death or 10,000 deaths, friends or strangers, we are diminished in ways often invisible to the heart.
Much has been reported of the Japanese spirit in the face of last Fridays 9.0 earthquake and raging tsunami. Young and old wait for food and water for seven hours, only to hear that all supplies are gone. There is no cursing, no anger, only acceptance. We will never, never, ever give up, Japanese men and women repeat. They are not immune from tears or sorrow. Far from it. But they have the rare gift of perseverance.
Now a potential nuclear catastrophe of unknown dimensions grips the country. We have seen this too. But we dont mean Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. We are referring to Aug. 6, 1945. The place was Hiroshima, Japan. Like the split screens on TV showing before and after shots of Sendai and coastal villages in northeastern Japan, there are similar photos of Hiroshima. Life and its utter nuclear negation. The same applies to Nagasaki, bombed on Aug. 9, 1945.
War is not a natural disaster. A nuclear bomb is not equivalent to a nuclear meltdown. Yet, we suspect grim irony crouches in the collective consciousness of the Japanese, especially those old enough to have witnessed the toll. Right now, things might improve, or not be as bad as envisioned. But we dont want to go there. Not unless or until circumstance demands.
The Japanese are a strong and resilient people who have already absorbed one of the worst shocks of the 20th and 21st centuries. We send out our prayers through the miles separating us, the loss sustained, and the hope beating in our shared, human hearts.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
