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She just wants to be a good person. But she’s overwhelmed by the state of the world
Dear Bintel,
Since my grandma passed away, I’ve been trying to honor her by paying more attention to Jewish ways of looking at the world. I have so much to reflect and repent on.
I just want to be a good person. But honestly, I’m miserable with all the stuff going on out there. I can’t relax. I don’t even feel human sometimes!
At the same time, I try to be all about love and care. I love people in my life so hard … and yet I’m struggling to accept the times we live in. I get upset when people don’t care about worldly issues, but then when I talk to others who are freaking out about things, I get so scared.
What should I do? Is it OK to tune things out?
Signed,
Worldly Worrier
Dear Worldly Worrier,
You are not alone, and your natural empathy, love and concern for others make you particularly vulnerable to the information overload we’re all experiencing these days. Many of us care deeply about the issues facing our communities, our country and our planet, and it can be upsetting when others seem oblivious or disagree with our point of view.
At the same time, we yearn to tune it all out, because, like you say, it’s scary and overwhelming, and it’s easy to feel helpless and anxious in the face of it all.
I love that you want to honor your Jewish grandma (and condolences on your loss). Yom Kippur, which recently passed, is, of course, the day in the Jewish calendar dedicated to repentance and reflection. But many other holidays — including Shabbat, every week, and Hanukkah, just two months away — are celebratory. It seems to me that the way out of your particular funk is to focus less on soul-searching and more on finding joy.
Yes, it’s OK to tune everything out, or at least limit the incoming as much as you can. Give yourself digital blackouts on a regular basis: Silence or turn off your phone every day, whether for an hour or a few hours, depending on your job and your personal life. When you’re ready for bed, leave the phone in a different room so you’re not tempted to doomscroll before sleep or when you wake up.
Go for a walk, leave the phone home, and see how many things you can find that make you smile. My mom was famous for finding small but beautiful details in the most distressed urban environments: She’d notice a flower fighting its way up through a crack on a bleak sidewalk, or a tiny sparrow singing its heart out in a bare city tree. I try to channel her perspective as I navigate the world, taking particular joy this time of year in a pumpkin on a doorstep, mums on a windowsill or a tree turning red and gold.
You might also look for small ways to practice tikkun olam, which means repairing the world through charity or good deeds. Keep a few $1 bills in your pocket to give away when you see folks in need. When you’re grocery shopping, buy extra packaged goods that you can donate to a local food pantry. Even picking up a piece of litter as you walk down the street counts. Be kind to the people you interact with. Give compliments and friendly greetings. Try not to judge others.
You can’t fix this broken world alone. But you can take care of yourself, make a small difference with the choices you make every day, tune out the chaos and look for joy anywhere you can find it.
Signed,
Bintel
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The post She just wants to be a good person. But she’s overwhelmed by the state of the world appeared first on The Forward.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.