Cosmic connections — do they exist? Although I’m more of a rational thinker, a few “coincidences” make me wonder.
One is that over time I realized that nearly all of my friends are under one of four astrological signs. Then, when I moved into a flatshare in London, I learned about astro twins: I shared a birthday (same date, same year) with one of the women in the house. Even more, despite us having different ethnic and racial backgrounds, we slightly resembled one another.
She isn’t my only astro twin. When Volodymyr Zelensky was first elected president, naturally with him being Jewish, it was covered extensively in the IJN. When I visited his Wikipedia page I learned he too is my astro twin, and ever since I’ve felt a (admittedly one-sided!) personal connection.
Like everyone else, I’ve been amazed by his performance, and utter bravery, these past weeks. I’ve also realized just how clever he is. By making himself popular and staying in the public eye, Zelensky, who has a huge target on his back, is doing what he can to ensure his survival. It’s much harder to take out a popular figurehead who has rapidly become admired worldwide, than someone who is hiding in a bunker.
Another Ukrainian who has blown me away since the evening the war broke out is Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN. This man has a spine of steel. On the night that war broke out, as Russia chaired the emergency session — a moment of utter absurdity, if ever there was one — Kyslytsya looked the chair in the eye and called him on his lies and hypocrisy. Not a tremor of fear, not a hint of weakness. Kyslytsya got the last, fiery, word in: “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell.”
Last week, in another UN session, Kyslytsya ripped into Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, whose Orwellian tweet claiming that Russia invaded Ukraine to avoid war was retweeted by the Russian embassy in the UK. Kyslytsya suggested the embassy staff utilize the National Health Service’s mental health services — and provided the emergency number.
It is so impressive, and humbling, to see how Ukrainians have risen to challenge Russia’s blatant act of aggression. Their resilience, their fearlessness and their determination to defend their country and their peoplehood is inspiring.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com.
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