Wow, what a month it’s been! As you may be aware, Rabbi Lerner was invited to speak at Muhammed Ali’s memorial, and boy did he speak! As can be expected from Rabbi Lerner, he spoke prophetic truth to those in power, many of whom were in the audience at the memorial. Many people who saw his talk commented that this was the first time in their lives they have seen someone speak such truth on tv. It was certainly a powerful moment. In case you missed it, you can click on the link below to watch it. And here are some of the profound words of wisdom he offered. “[H]ow do we honor Muhammad Ali? . . . the way to honor Muhammad Ali is to be Muhammad Ali today.” And what that looks like is “. . .for everyone here and everyone listening . . . to continue that ability to speak truth to power. We must speak out, refuse to follow the path of conformity to the rules of the game in life.”
And then Rabbi Lerner proceeded to do just that by calling out the leaders of our country (some of whom were in the audience) for their disastrous drone warfare, their policies that resulted in mass incarceration, their preaching nonviolence yet practice of violence, their refusal to deal with racist police, judges and our unjust criminal justice system, among others. What a moment! To build on the momentum from his talk, we have come up with some ideas for how YOU can BE Ali yourself. I share two of those below and will share more of them in future newsletters as well as on social media. If you have your own ideas, please share those with us atinfo@spiritualprogressives.org. Please keep in mind that Muhammed Ali fought for a profoundly different world–for systemic change, not simply for tweaks in a messed-up system. And that’s what we advocate for as well. So if you send us ideas, please maintain that focus.
A few ideas for how YOU can Be Ali (#BeAli) 1. Get together with a group of 4 or more people to create a consciousness-raising group that goes through a 4-session training provided by the NSP. To learn more about that training,pleasesee below and email cat atcat@spiritualprogressives.org. 2. Petition your elected congressional officials, state legislators and city councils to switch from pushing for a minimum wage to advocating for a living wage as defined by the MIT living wage project (http://livingwage.mit.edu/). For other news and information, see below. As always, thank you for your support. We cannot do this work without your support, enthusiasm and involvement. It keeps us going both financially and spiritually. Cat J. Zavis, Executive Director of the NSP
—
New NSP Training
As some of you are aware, last year Rabbi Lerner and Cat Zavis held a 10-week training called the Passionate Citizen Intensive. Many people were interested in participating in this training but could not participate for one reason or another. Cat has modified this training so that you can do it with a small group of people (4 or more) in your own home (or other location of your choosing), at your own pace. This training is 4 sessions long and each week has required readings, exercises to do both during the sessions and after, videos to watch, recordings to listen to, etc. It is a comprehensive training that will help you deepen your understanding of and engagement with our work. If you are interested in learning more about this training and gathering with a group of people to steep yourself in our principles, ideas, and proposals, please contact cat at cat@spiritualprogressives.org
—
Upcoming Events
July 31, Rabbi Lerner is Presenting in Toronto, Canada: Rabbi Michael Lerner will be presenting a keynote presentation and panel discussion at the 9thBiennial International Meaning Conference, titled:Spirituality, Self-Transcendence and Second Wave Positive Psychology, sponsored by the International Network of Personal Meaning (INPM). He will be providing an analysis of how to defeat terrorism and related forms of fundamentalism and ultra-nationalism by addressing the universal hunger for meaning and love. To learn more and register, go to:http://meaning.ca/conference/.
—
A New Website for the NSP
We’ve “broken ground” on our new website! The NSP is currently designing a new and easier to navigate website! We hope that a sleeker site will allow our vision to reach more people, including a younger audience. This is a huge project for our tiny staff to undertake, which is costing us $8,000. Will you chip to help fund this badly needed project? Just $10 will go a long way towards helping us reach our goal! Click here to help the NSP build a new website!
—
Must Reads from the Web:
—
Join the movement!
If you haven’t yet become a paid member of the NSP, then what are you waiting for? Memberships are sliding scale, but if you join at the $50 level you’ll receive a complimentary subscription toTikkun magazine.Click here to join!
If you have any questions we’d love to hear from you. Write to us or give us a call at 510-644-1200.