Dear Swami: “Where the Swami answers your questions, and you will question his answers”

den behind defense. While I’m not one of those harsh critics who dismiss AIPAC as just a pack of apes, it does seem as if they’ve gotten stuck in big stick thinking—thinking that a bigger stick will make them more secure . Well, as the United States is finding in Iraq it doesn’t matter how big your stick is, if you stick your stick where it doesn’t belong, you can get stuck. And speaking of mislearning lessons, take the Holocaust—please. Sadly, AIPAC and company seem to have lowjacked the higher meaning of the death of 6 million Jews—“never again”—to mean “never again for the Jews.” What a different world we would have if the mission expanded to defending human rights to protect everyone, instead of having to defend inhuman wrongs to protect Israel. I once asked my guru Harry Cohen Baba what he thought about the Jewish state, and he asked, “Which one? The Jewish state of loving connection, or the Jewish state of fearful separation?” The Jewish state of love, he explained, was tikkun olam, the healing of the world. The state of fear he called tycoon alone— mistaking being well-heeled for being well-healed. Maybe this is the time for the Chosen People to individually and collectively choose something else—to become the Choosin’ People who choose the tikkun path that promotes justice over the tycoon path that promotes “just us.” Not that there is anything wrong with prosperity . The Lord did say, “Be fruitful and multiply.” But it is very difficult to do that in a world of fruitless divisions. And in this expansive view (which may end up being far less expensive), maybe anyone who chooses can be chosen . Maybe this whole “Chosen People” thing is due to a misunderstanding. I’m sure you’ve heard about the monk who was translating the ancient scrolls and came upon a typo: “It says celebrate, not celibate!” Well, maybe the message got garbled. Maybe it’s not just the Israelites who are chosen. According to sixteenth-century Kabbalist Isaac Luria, when God created the world the light shattered into shards of Divine light—and each of us contains a spark. Tikkun olam means to bring the shards together to spark enlightenment. The chosen, then, are those who see that each and every one of us is real light, and become the real lights to guide our way. So it may be that we humans are the answer to our own prayers...and there is real light at the end of the tunnel. I Swami Beyondananda is the comic alter ego of Steve Bhaerman and can be found online at www.wakeuplaughing.com. 96 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 Dear Swami: As an American of Jewish heritage who supports Israel’s right to exist but not to dominate, I find I’m caught in the middle. On one hand anti-Semites who claim to be merely anti-Zionist assail me. On the other, those who believe that Israel must preemptively defend itself are calling me a self-hating Jew. Meanwhile , the more I read about AIPAC, the more I am concerned that American Jews are being enrolled in a very narrow military approach to a very complex problem . Swami, do you know much about AIPAC? And as a disciple of Harry Cohen Baba, the Garment Center Saint, what wisdom can you offer to a conflict where lack of wisdom seems to have prevailed? Ben Schwarmer, Scarsdale, New York Dear Ben: That’s quite a question. Most of my answers aren’t that long. So, let me begin in the middle and work my way to either end. I have to admit that it’s only recently that I’ve even heard of AIPAC. The first time anyone ever asked me about it I said, “AIPAC? You must have the wrong Swami. I’m strictly Deepak, Tupac, and an occasional six-pack.” I’ve since learned that AIPAC stands...