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Sit-ins & sail-ins: Part 2, Embodying the Future in the Present

Submitted by Editor on

In my first letter, I looked at two movements of the last half-century -- the US Sit-in / Freedom Ride movement and the Israeli settler movement. Despite their profound differences,  both brought about major social change by embodying the future they envisioned in the present actuality.

Now I want to look at the recent "sail-in" movement of flotillas to Gaza and related “future-in-the-present” efforts.

These efforts have grown very much bigger in the last year, but they began earlier. Some writers have argued that the Palestinian “failure” to use nonviolent resistance has radically weakened their case against Israeli domination. But in fact Palestinians have used nonviolence, specially in the “sit-in” form of enacting the imagined future in the present --– to little avail. 

Best known among these little-known campaigns is that of the West Bank village of Bilin, which was cut apart from its own farmland by where the Israeli government chose to build its “Separation Wall.”

Sit-ins, settlers, and "sail-ins" (to Gaza); Embodying the future in the present, Part 1

Submitted by Editor on

During the past weeks, I have been stirred  --

• by memories of  my own acting in/ writing about nonviolent civil disobedience, almost half a century ago. [*See the end of this letter for more details.] 

• by news stories about nonviolent resistance of various kinds in the Middle East; 

• and by a call from the environmentalist leader Bill McKibben for a major nonviolent civil-disobedience campaign in Washington DC later this summer.   

So I decided to write what has turned into three separate but connected letters about the whole question of civil disobedience. 

• the sit-in movement for racial equality, during the 1960s in the US;  

• the movement of Israelis since 1971 to create Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem; 

• and the  Freedom Flotilla "sail-ins" campaign of the last year to break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza. 

My first letter compares the sit-ins and settlers. In the second, I take up the recent "sail-ins."  Then in one more letter I take up the McKibben call, 

Fifty years ago, the Sit-in/ Freedom Ride movement carried to a high level one of the most powerful forms of social action: lift up a vision of the future, and actually embody that future in the present.

The movement’s vision was of racially integrated restaurants, buses, and all other public accommodations. The sit-in movement did not begin by using what we night call “the politics of order” -- asking Congress or state legislatures to change the law from requiring or permitting racial segregation to forbidding it. They also did not use “the politics of violence” against segregated facilities. 

What they did was simply carry out their vision: they themselves integrated the restaurants and buses, thus nonviolently forcing American society to respond. In a book about this movement, I called it “creative disorder.”

This form of action dealt with a very old spiritual and ethical question – the relationship between “means” and “ends”  -- in a very interesting way:  It dissolved the gap between means and ends. The ends and the means to achieve the ends were the very same. The old question  -- Do the ends we envision “justify” using means that violate those ends? --  simply disappeared.

Speaking Beyond Words: Wilderness, Sinai, Shavuot, Pentecost

Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

We are approaching Shavuot, the Jewish Festival of Weeks, which begins at sundown on Tuesday, June 7.  Pentecost, the Christian holy day that is rooted in Shavuot, comes on Sunday, June 12.

In the biblical understanding, Shavuot was the festival for celebrating the completion of the spring wheat harvest, seven weeks (a week of weeks) plus one day – 50 days -- after Passover. 

In rabbinic Judaism, Shavuot was understood as the anniversary of the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai. 

In honor of that tradition, we have posted a remarkable brief video by Lawrence Bush, editor of Jewish Currents,  on our Home Page.

In the same tradition, we will make available copies of Freedom Journeys, the new book about the Exodus and Wilderness by Rabbi Phyllis Berman and me.  Click  to purchase it here, with a 20% discount, only until June 12.   

In Christian tradition, Shavuot was the time when a gathering of Jewish followers of Jesus were infused by the Ruach HaKodesh – the Holy Spirit or Breath --  and were enabled to speak and understand all the 70 languages of human civilization. 

If we understand the YHWH  Name of God as the Interbreathing of all life, then we understand how this Holy Breathing Spirit could make all languages understandable. 

For Christians this became the festival of "Pentecost,"  a word that comes from the Greek for  “50.”  This year it falls on Sunday, June 12,  fifty days after Easter.

Besides the Shavuos video, The Shalom Center suggests a number of resources for the celebration of  Shavuot and/or of Pentecost:

In Jewish tradition, the first night of Shavuot has become a time for learning together

Who Are the Pharaohs, Caesars, & Abu-Jahls of Today? -- An Introduction

 Introduction by Rabbi Arthur Waskow

This brief essay introduces five reports on what we consider  major "pharaohs" of the 21st century: Global corporations in the four arenas of Big Coal, Big Oil, Big Banking, and the Big Military-Industrial Complex, plus a report on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has drawn on massive amounts of money from all thse corporate pharaohs to become a domineering force on its own. These five reports are by Basia Yoffe, a volunteer researcher who responded to a request from The Shalom Center, and they were edited by Marc Gave, program coordinator on The Shalom Center's staff. You can access all these reports by clicking to our "Globalization & Economic Justice " section here.

Universal: 

Beyond "Renewal" to a Transformative Judaism

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[By “Transformative Judaism” I mean absorbing and going beyond the wave of “Jewish renewal,” which has become a life-giving internal reopening of Jewish thought and practice — to a Judaism that sees beyond itself: sees its task as the transformation of the present world crisis into the creation of world community.

[At the end of this statement, I propose some specific and concrete actions we would undertake in pursing this vision. I welcome comments.]

We are at perhaps the greatest choice-point in human history. We hold in our hands and hearts the technical tools and the spiritual wisdom that could create an interwoven planetary community of love, abundance, and freedom rooted in cultural and biological diversity. On the other hand, those same tools—without spiritual wisdom—can bring about disaster for the web of life on our planet and for human civilization. 

Responding to this choice—point so as to create a planetary community requires of Judaism as well as of other life-paths a profound commitment of our spiritual, religious, ecological, economic, political, communal, and interpersonal abilities to serve the transformation of our world.

We think of this process as a “movement” not in the sense of a highly structured institution or denomination but as a wave of people in motion.

Fracking & Fukushima: Obscene Subjugations of the Earth

Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

What is just happening in Japan and what is on the verge of happening in Pennsylvania have a deep connection.

In Japan, it might seem that disaster flowed from a small-scale mistaske:  that it was “impossible” for a tsunami to get higher than x feet. Result: cascading disasters. 

But it was all not exactly a “mistake.” The whole nuclear energy system, and the whole system of deep-sea oil drilling (now again permitted in the Gulf), and the whole threat of ”fracking” for natural gas that endangers the drinking water of millions of Americans  -- all are the result of a far more profound transgression.

That transgression is the pursuit of power to control the earth and other human beings that has run amok. Has become not mere “control,” but subjugation. And has brought Plagues upon the Earth and all Humanity, as tyrannical Pharaoh brought plagues upon ancient Egypt.

All life on Earth is the result of a Dance between control and community. Eco-systems are ways in which any given species restrains itself from overwhelming its surroundings, encouraging other species to co-exist with it in a biological community– not using as much power to control as it might, so that it can continue to live in the longer run.

(For example: an amoeba might gaily multiply itself into proliferous plurality, gobbling up all the sugary water in the vicinity – until there is no more sugar and too many amoebae, who then all abruptly die.  But if the amoebae learn to limit themselves and leave space for other life-forms, what emerges is a eco-system. Fewer amoebae at any one moment, but they can live on into the future.)

In human culture, knowing when to Do and when to Pause, when to restrain one’s self, when to encourage a community instead of gobbling up all wealth and power for one’s self, is   crucial. All the great traditions tried to teach this wisdom. Indeed, it was what made them great, able to live across millennia.

When some human institution of Power-Over over-reached, ran amok – like Pharaoh, the Babylonian Empire, Rome – the corrective came in a great new surge of community – new kinds of community. But Modernity has become an adventure in Over-reaching, Over-powering, far beyond any previous imperial power.

Passover Now: Interfaith Seder to Free the Wounded Earth and Face the Pharaohs of Today

Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

Photo of

Two years ago, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Freedom Seder, The Shalom Center created an Interfaith Seder for the Earth to help us free ourselves from the greatest dangers of our time: What are
the Ten Plagues endangering the earth and human life today, who are the Pharaohs of today, and what are the Ten Blessings we ourselves can bring to heal the earth and our own societies?

    On our Website at http://www.theshalomcenter.org/haggadah-for-the-earth there is a PDF version of the Earth Seder, easily downloadable and printable. Its cover (see the graphic just above) is by Avi Katz, illustrator for the Jerusalem Report.

    We urge you to consider holding this as a Second or Third Seder, Tuesday or Wednesday night of Passover, April 19 or 20; or before Passover and Palm  Sunday, during the week of April 10; or on Earth Day, April 22.

    If you do want to use the Earth Seder,  please consider the following requests:

    “To Bigotry No Sanction”: Should America follow the path of President Washington or Pharaoh?

    Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

    The hearings planned by Congressman Peter King to isolate American Muslim communities as hotbeds of terrorism evoke two memories from Jewish life – one from two centuries ago, in America; the other, far more distant --  about 35 centuries ago, in Egypt.
     
    The first: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt… And he said to his people, 'Behold,  the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly against them, lest they multiply and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and rise up over the land…. So they made the Children of Israel subservient and embittered their lives.' (Exodus 1: 10-13)

     In the other, it was August 17, 1790. The new Constitution had been in effect barely more than a year, and the Bill of Rights – including the First Amendment’s forbidding Congress to invade freedom of religion -- had not yet been adopted. But President George Washington had just received a letter from the “Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island,” asking what the role of Jews and Judaism would be under the new government.
     
    Washington was no great writer, no great speaker. Yet he wrote back perhaps the most eloquent and ringing words of his life.  Though it is clear that his behavior as a slaveholder was ignoble, yet this letter bespoke nobility:
     
    "To bigotry, no sanction;
      
    To persecution, no assistance.”

      “May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall  be none to make him afraid. ...”  
     
    In the minds of Americans in 1790, “the stock of Abraham” meant the Jewish community. Yet two centuries later, millions of American Muslims also look upon themselves as “the stock of Abraham,” and for them Washington’s promise is in jeopardy.
     
    Shall American government and society today lean toward Washington’s or Pharaoh’s vision of society, when it comes to behavior toward American Muslims?

    There have been virulent attacks by radio talk “hosts” with millions of listeners against Islam as a religion. Local governments have tried to use zoning laws to prevent the construction of mosques in neighborhoods where churches were warmly welcomed. And where local governments have supported such efforts (as in New York City and the plans to create a Muslim community center/mosque in Lower Manhattan), political vigilantes have whipped up a storm of fear and rage.
     
    Yet the most egregious of these acts of bigotry is the  decision by the new chair of the House of Representatives Committee of Homeland Security, Congressman Peter King of Long Island, to hold hearings on American Islam as if it were a hotbed of terrorism.

    The Torah of Wisconsin: Rabbinic Teaching on Labor Unions

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    BY ELISSA BARRETT & ARYEH COHEN
    [Elissa Barrett is the Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.  Rabbi Aryeh Cohen, author of the forthcoming Justice in the City: Toward a Community of Obligation (Academic Studies Press), is a past President and current member of the PJA board of directors, and an Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature at American Jewish University. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.]

    In the streets of Madison, we can hear the echoes of Torah. From Moses to Maimonides to modern day Rabbis across the country, Jews have a long and lively history of supporting the rights of working people. Rabbis Bonnie Margulis and Jonathan Biatch recently reported from Wisconsin that standing for worker’s rights is “absolutely” the Jewish thing to do. Now is a good moment to ask ourselves, why?

    In Wintry times, nurture life!

    Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

    The new Congress convened this week. If you are worried over its impact on continuation of mass disemployment, on massive home foreclosures, on making Muslims and Hispanics into pariahs, on the newly enacted health-care system, on the swollen military budget and the possibility of bringing home our young men and women from the endless, self-destructive war in Afghanistan, and most ominous of all, on the Earth itself -- take a deep breath.

    Breathe in the Breath of Life, YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh. We breathe in what the trees breathe out; the trees breathe in what we breathe out.

    The time has come to plant new life in active joy, to feed the roots of change.

    This is a dark and wintry time in our society. It is also the dark and wintry time in the Northern Hemisphere of Mother Earth. Yet it is exactly at this time every year, the Jewish mystics reminded us, that trees not only renew their life but call on us to renew our lives – our energy and our commitment to their rebirth — and indeed the rebirth of all God’s abundance.

    The mystics celebrated this moment — Tu B’Shvat, the full moon of midwinter, falling this year on January 19-20, by creating a joyful Seder of wine, nuts, and fruit — which not only give new life to the next generation but even when we eat them do not require the death of any living being. They are the foods of Eden and the Song of Songs.

    The mystics chose exactly the time of tithing – taxing -- fruit to celebrate God’s fruitfulness. They knew that unless abundance is shared, it withers. Yet today, the dominant voices of American politics and media sneer at taxes and at the shared abundance — the “common wealth” -- that taxes make possible.

    And we live in a moment when those same dominant voices sneer at those who are trying to protect and heal the earth. Indeed, one of the most dangerous and destructive actions being announced by members of the new House and Senate is an attempt to cripple the EPA’s ability to protect us all from the emissions of CO2 that are already scorching our Earth and damaging our lives.

    What can we do?

    1. Start by learning more about Tu B’Shvat, about the danger the climate crisis is creating for our planet, and about what we can do to heal the Earth.

    For a spiritual history of Tu B’Shvat from ancient Temple times to our own generation, click here.

    For a deeply moving modern version of struggle between a spiritual community that treats trees and all abundance and life-forms as sacred, versus a military-corporate force that is willing to destroy people, trees and all life for the sake of wealth and power, see the film “Avatar” (now out on DVD). If possible, gather the people who will be at your Tu B'Shvat Seder to see "Avatar" with you a few days earlier. (It's too long to integrate into the Seder itself.)

    For a clear and concise summary of the role of EPA in addressing the climate crisis, click here.

    2. Celebrate the Seder either on the evening of January 19 or possibly on Sunday, January 23, as an act of emotional and spiritual connection. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, and those of secular ethical communities can join in the celebration and action. For one beautiful and powerful way of doing the Seder that you can adapt for your own use, click here.

    Perhaps have a discussion at the Seder about "Avatar." How did you feel about the ex-Marine "Sully" and other Earthians "changing sides" and joining with the Na'vi to resist the Crusher invaders? Were they traitors or heroes? How did you feel about the Na'vi using violence to oppose the Crushers? Do you think nonviolent resistance would have been better? Were you surprised that Pandora's trees, animals, and birds fought the invaders? Did the story remind you at all of the biblical Exodus, when Pharaoh's arrogance brought locusts, frogs, and hailstorms to rise up in the "Plagues"?

    3. Take action at the Seder itself. Several Senators at the behest of Big Coal have already boasted they will be trying to cripple EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to limit CO2 emissions for the sake of our endangered planet. Set aside 15 minutes during the Tu B'Shvat Seder to ask all the participants to write in their own words a letter to their Senators and local newspapers supporting EPA, for the sake of our health and our planet. Collect the letters to copy them for the writers and send them to the Senators and newspapers.

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