I’m proud to say that the Founder’s Gathering of Shomer Shalom – a new organization promoting a Jewish path of nonviolence – will take place this weekend at JRC from May 15-18. This important new effort was created by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb (above), who has been “walking the peace walk” Jewishly for decades now. Shomer Shalom is an attempt to find a new Jewish grounding for the work of nonviolence on a personal as well as communal level.
Individually, members of Shomer Shalom will be committed to living a nonviolent Jewish life and are encouraged to participate in nonviolence organizations as Jews and to participate in Jewish organizations as practitioners of nonviolence. Collectively, Shomer Shalom will offer retreats and programs dedicated to nurturing the nonviolent faith of its members. It will also produce and distribute educational and liturgical materials rooted in Jewish nonviolent traditions.
I have recently joined Shomer Shalom’s “Council of Elders” (first time I’ve taken on such a venerable title!) and am excited about the prospects for a new Jewish organization whose time I believe has truly come. The Shomer Shalom website can give you more information about the schedule of the Founder’s Gathering as well as Shomer Shalom’s Organizational Principles.
Rabbi Lynn is currently leading a Fellowship of Reconciliation tour in Iran (a remarkable trip that was recently profiled in the Jerusalem Post) and will undoubtedly have much to share at the gathering this weekend. Before she left, she and I corresponded with one another about Shomer Shalom and it’s spiritual/ideological assumptions. Here is an excerpt from one of her e-mails to me – it should give you some idea about the depth of her passion and conviction:
In the case of war, I believe a Shomer Shalom makes a calculation that somebody has to stand for peace, has to be that person in the midst of conflict that both sides can turn to as a party who refuses to engage in harmful conflict. And it is true that a person who embraces nonviolence as a way of life rejects solutions that intentionally cause harm because how do we actually know what those certain terrible circumstances actually are in which violence might be redemptive? Who is to judge?
The rabbis taught, once the arrow leaves the bow, not even the mightiest warrior can bring it back. We in fact have no control over the violence we unleash. What we do know, however, is that violence once unleashed sets off a cycle of revenge that ravages future generations. There are so many examples of this that I do not think anyone can truthfully make an argument that violence ever redeemed us.
I hope to see many of you at the Founder’s Gathering.
Mark the 60th – Plant Justice
During this past week, Israel and Jews around the world celebrated its 60th birthday while Palestinians commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakhba (the “catastrophe).” A complicated anniversary to say the least: for Israelis Yom Ha’atzmaut marks the moment of their liberation; for Palestinians, it represents the commencement of their exile from their land. How on earth can we reconcile such a profoundly contradictory milestone?
A verse from this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Emor, might be instructive:
As we generally tend to regard the olive as a symbol of peace and tranquility, it is rather jarring to read that only “beaten olives” were considered fit for lighting the lamps in the Tent of Meeting. Rashi points out that this Hebrew term, “shemen zayit zach katit” refers to olive oil that was obtained from the first pressing, which yields the purest form of the oil and is free of external ingredients. (Even today, the term “first cold press” designates the purest form of extra-virgin olive oil).
Perhaps we can take our cue from Rashi’s insight that from oppression can come purity. Perhaps the best way to rise above the cognitive dissonance of Yom Ha’atzmaut/Al Nakhba is to support and celebrate the instances in which both peoples are rising above the intractability of the conflict to promote coexistence in their land.
In this regard, I commend to you “Planting Justice: Two Trees Initiative,” a new campaign sponsored by Rabbis for Human Rights – North America that will support the re-planting of olive trees in the West Bank as well as in impoverished Jewish neighborhoods in Israel. I’d like to suggest that efforts such as these offer us all a more fitting way to commemorate this painfully complex anniversary – by helping to pursue the dream of justice for Jew and Arab alike and to the nurture the possibility of peace and reconciliation.
(I’m thrilled to say I am currently joining the national board of Rabbis for Human Rights – North America – an organization whose work I have long admired. I hope you will consider adding RHR-NA to your list of organizations eminently worthy of your support).
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Posted in Coexistence, Human Rights, Israel, Judaism, Palestine, Peace, Religion, Torah Commentary, Yom Ha'atzmaut