Then it was \u201cComeback Joe\u201d Biden\u2019s resounding primary victory in South Carolina that reset the Democratic primary race. <\/ins><\/ins><\/ins><\/p>\n Then it was the AIPAC Policy Conference I attended in Washington, D.C., where the drama and anxiety were at a peak.<\/p>\n And, of course, there was how Prime Minister Benjamin \u201cBibi\u201d Netanyahu pulled off his magic act in the latest Israeli \u201cdo-over\u201d election. All great column ideas!<\/p>\n Oh, and did I mention the coronavirus that has dominated the airwaves and alarmed much of the planet? I was thinking of writing about the paradox of viruses, which can both unite and divide. They unite us because they don\u2019t discriminate\u2014a virus doesn\u2019t care whether you\u2019re a Republican or a Democrat, Jewish, Muslim, white, black, left, right, etc. These shared threats remind us of our shared humanity.<\/p>\n But because they\u2019re so contagious, viruses also keep us apart. We\u2019re more reluctant to get close to one another\u2014literally. I saw a sign of that at the AIPAC conference, where many attendees were replacing handshakes and hearty hugs with delicate elbow bumps.<\/p>\n But no virus can slow a political news cycle, and this past week that cycle was more like a tornado. Especially among traditional Democrats, there is growing anxiety, if not panic, that an unrepentant socialist like front-runner Bernie Sanders will spell disaster for the party.<\/p>\n No wonder, then, that Biden\u2019s victory the day before the AIPAC conference generated so much buzz. Could an establishment old-timer rescue the party? Will the support of former rivals Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar help his chances? Will Mike Bloomberg\u2019s billions make a dent or hurt Biden? (I\u2019m writing this before Super Tuesday, so by the time you read this we may already have some answers.)<\/p>\n And let\u2019s not forget the Israel factor, which further complicates the picture. If you love Israel, hate Trump and always vote Democratic, a candidate like Sanders who associates with anti-Semites can give you serious migraines. You end up asking: Who do I dislike less?<\/p>\n Beyond Israel, the real threat many Democrats see in a Sanders candidacy is that his radical leftist views will lead to a blowout in November, keeping Trump in power and undermining congressional races. But it\u2019s not clear that a moderate candidate would fare any better, given the enraged Bernie followers who would take revenge on the Democratic establishment for sabotaging their candidate, as they believe happened in 2016.<\/p>\n What\u2019s good for the Jews, what\u2019s good for America and what\u2019s good for my political party have become tension-filled questions that are growing more and more difficult for American Jews to answer. That tension hovered among the 18,000 Israel supporters at AIPAC.<\/p>\n In the middle of this political anxiety, on the second day of the conference the buzz shifted temporarily to Israel\u2019s third election in a little over a year. Would the third time be the charm or would Israel be doomed to yet another election? As I write this, Netanyahu is still one or two seats short of a majority. Oh, and he\u2019s about to start a criminal trial on March 17.<\/p>\n It all sounds like a John Grisham novel.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s why I was looking forward to writing a Purim column\u2014to give us a break from all this political craziness.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one Jewish holiday that\u2019s good at giving us a break, it\u2019s certainly Purim, when we\u2019re supposed to be silly and wear costumes. For that one day at least, we can pretend to be someone else.<\/p>\n This notion of being someone else, though, is not so simple. For one thing, it assumes we already know who that \u201csomeone\u201d is. Who am I? Am I the news junkie who couldn\u2019t stop schmoozing with the crowds at AIPAC, or the reflective Torah student who savored a brilliant Purim lecture by Rabbi Soloveichik?<\/p>\n And how should I pick my Purim costume this year? By running far away from who I think I am, or by getting closer to who I\u2019d like to be?<\/p>\n Well, since I only have one choice, I think I\u2019ll pick the latter: I\u2019ll pretend to be who I\u2019d like to be. I\u2019ll dress up as a reflective Torah student.<\/p>\n I know, it\u2019s not as cool as dressing up as Bernie or Bibi\u2014but it\u2019s a lot better for my migraines.<\/p>\n David Suissa is editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media Corp and Jewish Journal. He can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com.<\/i><\/p>\n![\"Share](\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\")