Sharing Jerusalem

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 with all people, a universal covenant, and evei:i at times thetradition seems to indicate thatthis is a covenant with all beings, including the animals. TheJerusalem we should be dreaming of is one that gives full status to the Jewish people at its ideals, but on the other hand also gives full status to the universal covenant ofwhich Palestinians and others will experience themselves as a part. To the e: Kteot Religious and secularpoints ofviewwerehardlyevermixed. But atthattime I was deeplyimmersedin convertingto Judaism, andfor me, religion andpolitics are always interwoven. Thiswas scary because religious and secular points ofviewwere hardly ever mixed. Butat thattime I was deeply immersed in converting to Judaism, and for me, religion andpolitics are always interwoven. Many people advised us againstmakingthe magazine Jewish , saying nobody would subscribe.When we chose the name Tikkun, they were even more aghast. But it seemed rightto both ofus, and wewentwith that. TIKKUN: Whatwerethe early days ofTikkun like for you? NFG: Crazy an<;l exciting. I'd never done anything likethisbefore. I immersed myselfin theproject, investigatingpapersamples andfont styles, dreaming aboutmagazine design. Michael and I divvied up the workload, with him takingonthe editorial responsibility and mehandling the publishing end. Butin actualityour roles overlapped. I wasveryinvolved in selecting and copyediting articles- as a feminist, my prioritywasto include morewomen writers. I think ofthe early days ofthe magazine as a highlight ofmy professional life. Itseemedto methat everything I hadto offerwas goinginto a creation thattruly expressed mybeliefs.· I was not prepared for the response to the.first issue ofthe magazine. Within three months wewere soundly criticized for beingtoo confrontational, and therewas a lotofpositive press coverage, includingan article about us inNewsweek magazine. But the greatestsatisfactionturnedoutto be all the letterswegot from readers, sayinghowpleasedtheywere to find a Jewish magazinethatspoke to them. Manyofthese people hadbeen alienatedfrom Judaism for years, despairing ofever beingableto connect. One other aspectofthose earlyyears sticks in my mind: I was newto the organized Jewish world and quiteoverwhelmed byits politics.There wereso manyorganizat~ons, associations, denominations, NOVEMBER /D ECEMBER 2006 WWW. TIKKUN . ORG TIKKUN 31 that I understand what has been happening so far, it seems as ifthere has been an overemphasis on guaranteeing the Jewish side of that covenant, and not enough attention paid to helping other cultural and religious groups to develop their covenant around Jerusalem. NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 1998 I VOLUME 18, NUMBER 6 OnGlobalization by U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone I HAVE BEEN IN profound disagreement with the president [President Clinton and Vice PresidentAl Gore] on these issues. Firstofall, I disagree with the way they frame the question . I don't think this is a debate about whether we as a country are willing to participate in an international economy. Ofcoursewe are! No one is talking about building walls on our borders. But the question is whether, in this new international economy , there will be any rules. I think there is a very strong link betv1een human rights in other countries and a fair international economy for Americans. There ought to be strong restrictions on child labor andleaders, and itwasn'tclearwho was who. OrdinarilyI wouldn'thave paid much attention to this, but as Tiklcun's publisher I needed to start building relationships. This was a stretchfor a shy woman who hadjust converted.When I wentto conferences and meetings to promotethe magazine, I felt self-conscious aboutmylackofexperience,but in the end I made my peacewith it-and met a lotof interesting, helpfuJ people alongtheway. TIKKUN: Peter Gabel, Tikkun's associate editor, told me he thought Tikkun had changed significantly overtheyears asthe political and spiritual missions grewclosertogether. Wouldyou agree withthat? Haveyouseen a change in Tikkun's direction since its founding? NGF: I thinkthe political and spiritual missions of the magazine have always been intertwined.The difference , however, is that nowthere are more articles that are directly relatedto spirituality and politics. This is notsurprising. Inthe 1980s, hardly anyone in theJewishworldtalked aboutspirituality. Wehadto becarefuJ about usingthe word for fear ofbeing branded as "NewAge" andrejected as irrelevant. laws in other countries, fair labor practices, environmental regulations, and human rights guarantees so thatcorporations can't take advantage ofthe denial of these basic human needs in other countries to find a cheaper way to make their products, thereby disadvantaging American workers. We need these human rights built into our trade agreements with other countries. So we need to re-negotiate the terms ofexisting agreements. Secondly, people have every right to be skeptical about what the new global economy is b1foging for them and their families (including their realization that it's hard to compete against twelve-year-olds making twelve cents an hour in some foreign sweat shop). When I look at some ofthe economic presc1;ptions given by our international monetary organizations , which are closely aligned with some ofour big corporate interests (no conspiracy suggested), the advice seems to be "devalue your currency and cut your benefits to your citizens, reduce wages, and general austerity." Supposedlythis is goingto help them. Well, they exportproducts at a price atwhich we can't compete , but meanwhile they are tmableto develop a middleclass atthewagesbeingpaid so they can'tconsume what we in the United States produce. That means there's little market for our goods. This kind ofinternational economy does notlead to a general upward Anotherreasonwhythere's more aboutspirituality andpolitics isthatMichael hasled the magazine in that direction.As a committedpolitical organizer,he's used Tikkuntofurther hisvision ofpolitical change andto organizetheNetworkofSpiritual Progressives. He did this lessin theearlyyearswhenI was thereand we had a broader rangeofarticles on culture and society. TIKKUN: Inthe1990s, you left Tilclcun and went on to found Cbochmat HaLev, an organization devotedto Jewish meditation and spirituality.Can you tell me aboutyour moveto an organization that more explicitlyfocuses on Jewish spirituality? NGF: After Tilckun I took a few years offto vvrite a memoir. Surrounding myselfwith Jewish spu;tual texts, I investigatedthe mystical side ofJudaism and learned aboutJewish meditation. Myown spiritual practice deepened a greatdeal duringthis time. In 1994 I was askedto teach classes onthis subject. I found itenormously rewarding since manyofthe students werelike the earlyreaders ofTikkun, eager to find meaningwithinthe Jewish tradition and appreciativeofbeing shown a way. When Chochmat HaLevwas formed, Icameon 32 TIKKUN WWW.TIKKUN.ORG NOVEMBER/OECEMBER 2006 ...