I find that when I meet up with Jewish friends we just hug. We don’t say anything. We know there are no words so we don’t even try. We just hold onto each other for a beat longer than usual.
When I see non-Jewish friends they say a lot. They ask a lot. But I find I have no answers and don’t know what to say. I know they mean well. I do too.
When the atrocities began I got a text message from a distant non-Jewish friend saying she was thinking about me. I thought that was incredibly thoughtful and slightly misplaced because why in the world would you think about me at a time like this?