“In a Beginning…” Quantum Cosmology and Kabbalah

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY Jesus Christ and-most important- the same God who had begun to fulfill all His promises by creating a new heaven and a new Earth where justice and compassion would reign. The early pentecostals sawthemselves positioned "between the already and the not-yet;'witnesses tothefirstfruits ofthekingdom but notyet to its fullness, living in the lightthatprecedes the dawn. In other words, the Spirit they testifiedto had a purpose for historyand was calling people to be partofthatpurpose. Thatpurpose,for the unemployed janitors and domestic servants who gathered atAzusa Street, was no less than the coming ofthe kingdom of God as it hadbeen taughtbythe prophets and demonstrated byJesus. And when it came, thepoor would be lifted up, the hungryfed, and thebrokenhearted comforted ; while the mightywouldbebroughtlowandthe rich sentaway empty. It is hard to imagine a more radical vision ofthe future than the one this life-changing experience ofthe Spirit awakened in them. As I got to know pentecostal people in America and elsewhere, I was pleased to find among the younger generation oftheir ministers a serious effort to retrieve this original pentecostal vision. These same young pentecostal leaders also realize thatthe fact that their movement started out among the disowned and dispossessed is not merely a historical artifactbut a decisivekeyto whatthe Spirit wants them between themagazine andthe movement. Wehave to foster andsupport othersocial forces thatare trying to createspiritual community in reality. Otherwise, it's justwords on a page. Words are open to interpretation and aren'ttrustworthy on their own.. They havetohave an embodied meaning in the world. That embodied meaning is what makes people dare to believe they couldbe true. Spiritual words in particular-people's fears are read into spiritual language-they feel thatthey are going to be coercivelybrought into some phony fused group where their individuality is going to be trampled on by some gobbledygook about God, community, and love that is goingto be artificial. So you need an authentic manifestation ofspiritual community that supports the words ofthe magazine and makes them credible and a source of hope. People don'tbelieve thatthethings they actually longfor in terms ofsocialjustice could bespoken about and shared, because the liberal partofthemselveswants to preservetheir autonomyfrom their fear ofgroup coercion. It's veryhardto goforward to be and to do today. A"pentecostal liberation theology " is beginning to emerge. ThePuerto Rican theologian EldinVillafane, a pentecostal himself, believes that the genius ofthe movement is the experience of the power ofthe"liberating Spirit,"and he argues that this Spirit has a "project" that is being worked out within human history. JANUAIW/ FEBRU ARY 1995 IVOLUME IO NUMBER 1 "InaBeginning..." Quantum Cosmologyand Kabbalah by JoelR. Primack andNancy EllenAbrams M OST EDUCATED people todayhave an essentially Newtonian picture of the universe as a place, devoid ofall human meaning, in which we happen to find ourselves. If people come to understand the emergingscientific cosmology , however, they may see from what we know ofthe (ccntinuen on page 49) when you are afraid ofthe thingyou are going forward for. The Lefthas got to getpastthe pointof thinking thatit can't express whatit's for, which is a world oflove and caring. TIKKUN:Weareliving in a world nowthatistotallycontrolledbyfear ofmany differentkinds. It's hardfor peopleto let go ofthosefears. PETER:There is nothing worsethan daring to hope and being disappointed. You haveto make yourselfvulnerableto hope. When you really do that, and you are disappointed, it is verypainful. That leadsto sedimented cynicism, whereyou live behind barriers. TIKKUN: Tikkun'sjob isto reaffirm hope. PETER:Absolutely.Andthat's whyyou also need a counterpoint ofactivismto the magazine as awritten text. Peoplehave to readthe magazine, go to the meeting, then read the magazine again and say, hey, this could really be true. I wantto learn and be part of this. TIKKUN:Thankyou. NOVEMBER / OECEMBER 2006 WWW. TIKKUN . ORG T I KKUN 29 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...