Interview with Nan Fink Gefen

MAY/ JUNE 1997 IVOLUME 12, NUMBElt 3 Elegy by Carolyn Forche The page opens to snow on a field: boot-holed month, black hour the bottle in your coat; halfvodkahalf-winter light Towhat and to whom does one say yes? IfGodwerethe uncertain, wouldyou clingto him? Beneath a tattoo ofstars the gate opens, so silent so like a tomb. This is the cityyou mostloved, an emptystairwell wherethe nextrain lifts invisiblyfrom the Seine. With solitude, your coat open, you walk steadilyas ifthe railings were there andyour hands weren'tpassingthrough them. "When things were ready, they poured on fuel and touched offthefire. They waited for a high wind. Itwasveryfine, that powdered bone. Itwas put into sacks, and whenthere were enoughwe wentto a bridge on the Narew River." And even less explicitphrases survived: "To make charcoal. For laundryirons." And so we revolt againstsilence with a bitofspeaking . The page is a charred field where the dead would have written Wewenton. And itwas likeliving through something again one could notlivethrough again. The soul behind you no longer inhabits yourlife: the unlithouse with its breathless windows and a chimney ofruined wings wherewind becomes and aria, your name, voices from a field, Andyou, smoke, dissonance, a psalm, a stairwell. INTERVIEW WITH Nan Fink Gefen N AN FINK GEFEN, the founding publisherofTiklcun magazine, isthe president ofChochmatHaLev and the editor oftheforthcoming Persimmon Tree. She is the author ofDiscoveringJewish Meditation, andStrangerin the Midst: A Memoir ofSpiritualDiscovery. TIKKUN: Youco-founded Tiklcun with Michael Lerner. I'veneverheardtheactualstoryofthe magazine 's founding. Howdidyou getinvolvedinstarting it? NFG:In1984 I leftbehind mycareer as a Midwest psychotherapistandteacher and moved to Berkeley. Thiswas a much-anticipated midlife opportunityto embark on a new path.ThefirstthingI did was to lookup Michael at theInstitutefor Labor and Mental Health. I had read several articles byhim andvery much agreed with his ideas aboutpolitics and psychology (which laterwouldbe incorporated into the politics ofmeaning.) Webegantohave longdiscussions, sharingourconcernsaboutthestateoftheworldandschemingabout whatneededtobe done. SinceI didn'thaveajobatthat timeandMichael was finishing a researchprojectatthe Institute,wedecidedtopoolourresourcesandworktogether to dosomethingthatwouldmakea difference. Afterwritingdown a longlistofpossibilities-someof themoutrageouslyambitious-wefinallyagreedonthe ideaofcreatinga magazine.This formatwould allowus to introduce progressiveideas ontheimportantissues, andhopefullymovepublicdiscoursetotheleft. TIKKUN: Why a Jewish political magazine? NFG: At firstthe magazine was goingtobe about politics and psychology. Butthe morewe playedwith the idea, thevision grew. We begantothink ofoffering analyses ofcontemporaryculture andsociety, and I wantedto includeshortfiction andpoetry. One day we asked ourselves, why notbringreligion intothe magazine? 30 TIKKUN WWW. TIKKUN .O RG NOVEMBER /D ECEMBER 2006 TWENTI ETH ANNIVERSARY earlyuniversethatwe actually are partofan extraordinary adventure. With its mind-expanding imagery, this emerging cosmology gives us a new cosmic perspective , a powerful source ofawe, and a potential source ofmeaning in our everydayJives. MAY/ J UNE 1997 IVOLUME 12, NUMBER 3 SharingJerusalem by Tsvi Blanchard T HOUGH I HAVE lessofaclaimtothisdiscussion , because I do not live in Israel as most ofthe participants in this roundtable do, I do wantto saythat the process ofarriving at what we wantfrom our national capital should have certain elements or guiding principles, the equivalent for us today ofwhat was the fire and cloud that guided the Israelites as they traveled through the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Amongthose elements: First, b'tselem elohim: Every human being is created in the image ofGod, sacred, ofinfinite value, and this commits us to wanting to enhance certain features ofhuman life. The abilityto be powerful, influential and to create is essential to what it is to be godlike ; a powerless person is notgodlike. Similar is having the dignity to have a voice in a conversation. Given this ideal, the process of determining Jerusalem's future must feel to all participants as though they have a real voice. As I listened to the previous speakers it struck me thatthere is in the current situation, and in the determining ofJerusalem's future, an unequal distribution ofpower, dignity, voice and freedom. Palestinians are notbeinggiven the same power andvoice in shaping a solution to Jerusalem. Secondly, brit. Jerusalem is the capital of a covenantal peoplehood. The culture we build there must reflect the covenantaJ status we have with God. Jerusalem in Jewish tradition is associated with our messianic vision, a manifestation ofwhat it would be like ifwe could express our ultimate values. In much ofJewish tradition, that has meant a covenant not only with Jews but...