Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/category/religion-spirituality/judaism-religion-spirituality/page/23/)
Jews love and loved Nelson Mandela. He inspired us with his insistence that the old regime of apartheid would crumble more quickly and fully when faced with revolutionary love and compassion than when faced with anger and violence. Mandela also challenged us to think deeply about whether the current situation in Israel/Palestine reflects the ethic of compassion that is so central to Judaism.
If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area on the third night of Chanukah, Friday November 29th, come celebrate with Rabbi Michael Lerner and Beyt Tikkun Synagogue-without-walls, the Tikkun community and the Network of Spiritual Progressives.
It’s been clear to me for about ten years that the primary problem the United States faces in crafting Middle East policy is not so much the Arabs or the Israelis. It is the Israel lobby (led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC but consisting also of all the major Jewish organizations that include Israel in their portfolio. Writing about the lobby’s influence (from the perspective of someone who had spent 20 years dealing with AIPAC as an aide to a senator and several House members), I initially felt like a voice in the wilderness. Yes, there were always people pointing to the power of the lobby but many of those had no use for Israel to start out with. For them, attacking the lobby is a subset of attacking Israel in general.
The Anti-Defamation League, has branded various groups as “anti-Israel,” condemning activist groups such as the Jewish Voice For Peace to social ostracism and marginalization, and potentially creating an invitation to violence against them.
Amy B. Dean explores the issue of Jewish support for immigration reform with a new angle: Rather than simply following the teaching to welcome the stranger, or out of a sense of obligation to the legacy of American immigration policy that welcomed Jews in past centuries, some Jewish activists are organizing for immigration reform with the idea that their fate is bound up with the fate of new immigrants–in other words, out of a sense of solidarity.
An interview brought to you by Micah’s Paradigm Shift of Mark Braverman. Braverman, who has deep family roots in Israel, has developed what he describes as a ‘calling’ to speak to the Church in a spirit of Christian teaching that sees Jesus as a radical Jew rebelling against the Jewish establishment and the Roman occupation of first century Palestine.
Sigried Gold offers a response to Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s recent vision of “Judaism Next”, embracing skepticism and pluralism of our secular age.
Are Jews in existential free-fall? According to the latest Pew Research Center report, 22 percent of Jews have abandoned Judaism and only 15 percent identify Judaism as essential to being Jewish. Rabbi Arthur Waskow offers an insightful response.
Are Jews in existential free-fall? According to the latest Pew Research Center report, 22 percent of Jews have abandoned Judaism and only 15 percent identify Judaism as essential to being Jewish. Rabbi Michael Lerner shares a stirring response from Rabbi Rami Shapiro and invites others to join the discussion as well.
Intern Kelsey Waxman gives a final synopsis of her weekend spent representing Tikkun at the Fourth Annual J Street Conference. She found reassurance in the strength of those fighting for peace, yet was left conflicted about J street’s claims of supporting a progressive, two-state initiative in the Israel/Palestine conflict.