In 1938, a small bay Thoroughbred named Seabiscuit garnered more newspaper real estate than Roosevelt, Hitler, and Mussolini. Still reeling from the Depression and on the cusp of a second world war, Americans needed a hero – and they found it in a horse whose heart drove him to succeed. Once again, we are a world at war. We thought life would return to normal after the global trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic; instead, it changed forever. Political unrest, economic uncertainty, Ukraine’s four-year resistance against Russian invasion, the October 7th massacre in Israel followed by a grueling and divisive campaign to eradicate Hamas, and the shocking violations of law and liberty perpetrated by the current administration of the United States of America disturb and threaten humanity. Not a single world power is untouched by the atrocities outlined in the Epstein Files. Amidst this chaos, viewership for the 2026 Winter Olympics is 93% higher than 2022, and we are all looking for heroes.

This year, it doesn’t seem to matter where they’re from. Since athletes may compete for a country of familial origin, Americans are just as likely to wear the Chinese or Canadian flag as Chinese are to compete for France – or Russians compete as individuals with no nation. With nearly round the clock access, we turn from doom scrolling to the uplift and heartbreak of the world’s finest athletes. From teenagers taking it all in for the first time to veterans saluting their last hurrah, the Olympics deliver a spectacle of humanity. There is no AI in the global travel of a single ner tamid, passed from hand to hand, carried in community. For two weeks every two years, the belief that we can each achieve more and be stronger than we ever thought possible unites us as one human family.

Li Yu-Hsang opened the men’s free skate with the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby. “All the lonely people/where do they all come from? All the lonely people/where do they all belong?” Over twenty years, social media and parasocial relationships slowly constricted our sense of community and human interactions – and then the pandemic taught us how to isolate completely. The World Health Organization states that one in six people globally experience isolation and loneliness. A Harvard study corroborated that 81% of lonely adults suffer from depression and anxiety. Among young adults (aged 18-24) 80% report feelings of loneliness and isolation. Loneliness may be killing our parents and grandparents, as it is associated with a 45% increase in cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cognitive decline. “Eleanor Rigby/Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been/Lives in a dream.”

American communities are shattering due to polarization and fear. “וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם” You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:20) America has always been a melting pot, yet a minority of political extremists now vilify, abuse, and terrorize immigrants, including children, and those who come to their defense. Ironically, as we’ve seen in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Minneapolis, upholding this ancient value is also serving to rebuild community as people create networks of physical and spiritual nourishment and strength. We are wired to connect and care for one another; such was the norm before the digital age.

“I am so much bigger/than you ever could have feared/I am far more dangerous/and terrible/I am the nightmare you created in your/Head.” Spectators gasped as American Andrew Torgashev, son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, stumbled. “You see this power/power you gave me/undefeated/I am in control.” A metaphor on ice for ICE in our cities, the song, Oratores, might as well be a DHS press conference. “You think love is healing/love won’t free me/love won’t free you/love will curse you/Is this the savior’s complex/you have come to create/Is that why you’ve tied me to this state?”

Oratores (“those who pray”) was the first of three orders of medieval society, the others being Bellatores (“those who fight”) and Laboratores (“those who work”). Everyone has a role to play, from the chef in the Olympic kitchen to the drone operator and the man who pebbles the ice. It takes all of us. Bad Bunny’s recent halftime show ended with the message, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Love WILL free us…if we take up our part, if we love the right thing. At least three Olympians have accepted marriage proposals so far, and the 2026 games have beautifully showcased LGBTQ+ athletes and their relationships. Monosledder Elana Meyers Taylor taught us the importance of going out of our way to include everyone as she first told her story and then signed to her sons immediately after winning the gold medal. Not only did she learn ASL so she could talk to her deaf children and open the world to them, she taught them by example that anything is possible.

It’s so easy during the Olympics to love our differences. Skaters from Georgia and Khazakstan expressed how important it was that they skate to the music of artists from their countries; others skated to Italian music to honor the host nation. We love Poland’s Pierog stuffie, we wholeheartedly celebrate Pinheiro Braathen winning the first winter medal for South America. Nazgul the Czech wolfdog became an unlikely champion when he ran away from home to join a race in progress! The Prevc siblings of Slovenia made Olympic history as all four of them won medals in ski events. We live for the stories of origin and overcoming, because it makes these champions human – like us.

Max Naumov lost his parents in the DC plane crash that killed 67 people last January. He skated to fulfill their family dream, holding a photo of the three of them up to the camera as he waited for his scores. Truly, he won by showing up. Federica Brignone has been a powerhouse Italian skier since her first Olympics in 2010. Last April she broke her leg and tore her ACL, and with them, any hope of competing on Olympic snow in her own country. Her first race back was only on January 20th 2026. To date, Federica has won two gold medals. Im Tirzu, Ein Zo Agadah – If you will it, it is no dream. (Theodor Herzl)

Bruna Moura, a Brazilian cross-country skier, qualified for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but fate had other plans. First, she tested positive for COVID. Then, the car she hired to take her to Munich was in a head on collision. The driver died and Bruna spent a year recovering from her injuries. Again, she qualified for the 2026 Olympics, and this time she competed, finishing 99th. She smiled the entire way and when she finished her own race, she stayed at the finish line to hug the other nine athletes who crossed after her. “מודֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ” I give thanks to You for the small miracles of daily life. Her achievement of being fully in the moment is more valuable than any medal.

The Olympic games provide a synchronous example of dignity, respect, excellence and kindness…but the games end, and we return to a reality that seeks to divide us. The agenda seems to run contrary to our national motto: E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one. When we value the man held illegally in a detention center as much as we love the underdog athlete, when justice in our society matters as much as the fairness of a game, we will once again be Team USA. And, just as it’s not incumbent upon any one athlete to win all the events, so you and I cannot reasonably expect to right the ship alone; neither can we desist from doing what we can.

Jin Boyang skated so beautifully to the prescient words of Sam Ryder: “This devastation is of our own making/But we’ve never tasted this much bitterness before…. So, here on the same ground/When the tables have turned around…You remember that feeling/Oh, ‘cause we’ve both seen the world from both sides now. And everybody falls/And life will tear you down to show you what’s worth fighting for/Oh, we will see you here/Same time, same place, next year/And you may win this battle but you’ll never win the war/Better to have fought and lost than never fought at all.”

Friends, we are the Olympians of democracy and torchbearers of hope. We are the heroes we need in this moment. Heroes are ordinary people who risk, and fall, and rise again when others give up. Be the headline you want to see when you scroll. May you be inspired to use your talents, your body, and your voice in ways that promote our highest values, bring people together, and demonstrate radical joy. Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter – Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.