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We at Tikkun mourn the many tragic deaths of Palestinians and Israelis that have characterized the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians in the past many years, and the escalation of those killings in recent weeks both before Israel’s invasion of Gaza and now while that invasion continues. We will be adding articles below as the struggle continues, so if you’ve already read the fundamental analysis we give to these struggles, please scroll down to the most recent articles you’ll find here, some written by Tikkun authors, others published by reliable sources such as Ha’aretz newspaper in Tel Aviv.
Interview with Rabbi Michael Lerner on CNN
by Tikkun Magazine
Reflections on the War in Gaza
by Shmuel Chesed
Meeting in a Tunnel: The Gaza War, August 1st
by Uri Avnery
From The New York Times: An Israel Without Illusions
by David Grossman
From The Guardian: US condemns shelling of UN school in Gaza but restocks Israeli ammunition
by Paul Lewis and Harriet Sherwood
Conf Call with Sami Awad, plus Rabbi Seidernbeg on Jewish Ethics in GAZA, Noa Israeli singer, and Peter Beinart on the Myths about Gaza
by Tikkun Administration
Poem: Kindness
by Naomi Shihab Nye
“Israel Provoked This War: It’s Up to Obama to Stop It” and Recommended Articles
by Tikkun Administration
Live Interview with Uri Avnery and More
by Tikkun Administration
Israel: Stop the Invasion of Gaza, Stop the Bombing of Gaza, Free the Palestinian Prisoners
by Michael Lerner
Not in My Name, Netanyahu
by David Harris-Gershon
Tragedy in Gaza: Reckoning with Root Causes
by Brant Rosen
Empathizing with Gaza does NOT make me anti-Semitic, nor pro-Hamas or anti-Israel. It makes me human.
by David Harris-Gershon
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Rabbi Lerner, have a heart. Why are Palestinians before Israelis in your condolence note? You’re a Jew, rabbi, please mourn our people first. Have you heard of the mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael? That’s why your religious philosophy fails to attract mainstream Jews, when it is based on love of our adversaries. I only mourn my fellow Jews, not people who are trying to massacre Jews. Show me where in the Torah one mourns enemies.
Rabbi Lerner, have a heart. Why are Palestinians before Israelis in your condolence note? You’re a Jew, rabbi, please mourn our people first. Have you heard of the mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael? That’s why your religious philosophy fails to attract mainstream Jews, when it is based on love of our adversaries. I only mourn my fellow Jews, not people who are trying to massacre Jews. Show me where in the Torah one mourns enemies.
Reply
Oh, my god, in the names of my great, great-grandparents, Rachel and Abram Golden, Jacob Mendlovic, how do you not see that closing your heart and mind to a whole people only serves to distort and atrophy your own spirit? You CANNOT go around with a withered heart, withered rhetoric and not lose years off your life. I would hope you do not spew this sorry poison onto others, especially childen and youth. There is no world religion which would agree with you. Only with compassion and empathy. Please reconsider and find compassion with the victims of the current Israeli government’s heartless, genocidal slaughter. If only to save yourself.
Like Jesus, Rabbi Lerner is a caring man who is progressive and thinks outside of the box. I’m a christian who supports ISRAEL and its people.
Your comments certainly remind me why I have had so much trouble trying to relate to my Jewish heritage as a spiritual tradition. If there is a spiritual tradition, it would seem to be represented by Rabbi Lerner. From what you say, Judaism seems based on some kind of very primitive tribalism, the quintessence of “us vs. them.” Maybe that’s why Israel needs to protect itself against a few ineffectual rockets by turning Gaza into a wasteland. Arrogance and (should I say) racial pride are not positive attributes.