A moving, truth-telling review by Rabbi Mayer Schiller. 

In the following passage the Rabbi is writing partly about us, we who gather at VFR, and like-minded folk: 

“In truth, the Lost City was never entirely lost. It still exists among those who keep it alive as individuals, families or communities. Ehrenhalt is clearly wrong when he writes, ‘What is past, is past.’ … There are still individuals and families and neighbourhoods who refuse to accept the ugliness and evil of ‘modern’ culture, speech, dress, and entertainment. Their souls are nurtured by the standards and creations of previous generations. They have maintained their links to the pietas and gravitas of their ancestors.”

In that passage, not only is Rabbi Schiller talking in part about us, but he is talking partly about the following blog entry of Mr. Auster’s (and the individuals and groups who find inspiration in it): 

http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/000424.html . 

The Rabbi speaks truth and wisdom when he writes,

“Will such institutions and individuals ever … rescue their nation? … [O]nly God knows the answer. … [W]hat we can do is join their ranks. If we are to be led off the main stage of history, let us do so with flags unfurled and trumpets blaring, forever loyal citizens of the Lost City.”

The worst outcome would not be the failure of those who are concerned about the turn things have taken to “rescue their nation,” bad though that would be.  The worst outcome would be for us as individuals to be vanquished inside ourselves.