community engagements

people can become shining lights

Two stories in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week brightened my day. They are neither cosmic in bringing unfettered world peace, but they illustrate how individuals can affect their communities. We do, after all, experience our communities more commonly than anything else in our lives.

First, the front page highlighted a Philadelphia man who, six years ago, started down the path to “turn[ing] his solitude into a movement.” It sounds downright naïve to start a conversation with people one encounters without knowing anything about them, just because they cross one’s path.

Depression, often induced by isolation, is real and can be deadly. The number of people who fell prey to it over the past decade was great but Fin Colleton chose to fight it in an uncommon manner.

Mathylda Dulian’s report details how Fin Colleton’s efforts grew gradually as he sought to counter the profound isolation he felt during the Pandemic. Colleton learned a great deal, beginning with people stopping in response to his queries about the status of their days. She described Colleton’s move from sitting on a park bench to establishing a table where people could sit for longer conversations, occasionally drunken or heated but providing human interaction amid a large urban environment where deep anonymity all too often rules. Colleton gradually moved his efforts to the Big Apple when he relocated there.

This is now called the “listening table movement”, embraced by others beyond its originator.

I found this story, along with the next item, glimmers of brightness about how we live in 2026. I am familiar with how big, how remote, how busy, how lonely Philly—or any environment— can be, as we visit there a couple of times annually to visit someone who lives alone there. People do respond without universal dismissal to someone asking a basic question. Some Philadelphians and New Yorkers (and probably individuals in remote southern Colorado or Maine) are willing to engage with people digging into their psyches without responding with venomous reactions.

Statistics about Americans living alone continue to grow at precisely the same time that dementia experts warn about the importance of social engagement to keep the horrible disease at bay amid aging. The percentage of Americans living alone rose by 7% between 1980 and 2024, with much evidence that the younger generations are eschewing traditional steps leading to long-term partnering. Colleton’s efforts are far too small to solve the consequences of social change, but they represent a start.

In the same Wall Street Journal edition, Daniel Michaels and Laurence Norman highlight a most unexpected story on Iran. Yehuda Gerami is the rabbi for the Abrishami Synagogue complex in Tehran. While tens of thousands of Jews fled this land after the Islamic Revolution nearly fifty years ago, an estimated 20,000 men and women still rely on the religious services and succor Gerami provides. He is not doing so as Christian pastors operate sub rosa in China where the CCP violates its own Constitution to intimidate organized religions; Iran’s mullas know the Jews continue to live in this land where they have lived for two and a half millennia. Gerami acknowledged his community operates with constraints, such as communicating with family in the United States. Still, the Iranian-born Gerami said, “in Iran we’ve always lived in peace with the Muslims”. He also notes, as someone holding dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, that the roughly five dozen synagogues operating in the Islamic Republic do not require security to ensure the participants’ safety. I wonder how many U.S. congregations feel such confidence that they can operate without dedicated security?

Of course, danger exists 24/7 that the regime and its most fervent adherents can turn their back on these Jews, accusing them of espionage or some other crime. Of course, Jews may emigrate to Israel or elsewhere to enhance their confidence that they can follow their religion without interference.

But, in today’s world, I was delighted to see this article. In an era of such profound distrust and negativity, I am happy to embrace hope in whatever form it appears. Of course I demand truth rather than fantasies, but both of these stories show the human instincts to engage with those different from ourselves, a trend we too often dismiss as unfathomable.

What are you seeing as glimmers of hope in your communities? I welcome any of your thoughts on either of these topics or anything else. Actions, my friends, create consequences worthy of our appreciation.

Thank you for reading the column and for financial resources subscribers offer to allow me to pay for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Guardian, and various other resources to bring you the widest appraisal of actions and consequences. $55 for annual subscriptions or $6 monthly make more of a difference than you likely appreciate. In any case, I thank you.

Be well and be safe. FIN

Mathylda Dulian, “How One Man’s Cure for Loneliness Started a Movement”, WSJ.com, 4 Agusut 2026, retrieved at https://www.wsj.com/us-news/how-one-mans-cure-for-loneliness-started-a-movement-b4d386dd?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_2

Harry Enten, “Americans less likely to partner up and marry than ever”, CNN.com, 14 February 2022, retrieved on 7 August at https://www.wbaltv.com/article/americans-partnership-marriage-survey/39078706

Daniel Michael and Laurence Norman, “Meet the Rabbi Leading Iran’s Thousands of Jews”, WSJ.com, 3 August 2026, retrieved at https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/meet-the-rabbi-leading-irans-thousands-of-jews-2704a79e?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_2