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Rabbinic Insights

Holy Peace

San Diego Jewish Times, August 25, 2006


By Rabbi Wayne Dosick

Again, this article is being written two weeks before it will be published. The moment-to-moment "on the ground" reality for Israel and her neighbors may be much different than described here.

My dear friend and distinguished colleague, rabbi and teacher to this community, Rabbi Jack Riemer, says that every congregation is entitled to two opinions, but since most have only one rabbi, all they hear is one opinion. Same here. I have only one column, so most of the time you get only my one opinion. Yet, the situation for Israel and her neighbors is more subtle than that, so, in this week's article, you get a slightly different viewpoint than I offered in the last issue.

Last time we spoke of "us" and "them." Israel is the "good guy," wearing the proverbial "white hat," and the Arabs are the black-hatted "bad guys." They are "the enemy." All they do is wrong; all Israel does is right.

And, in many, many ways, this is completely true.

However, by dividing the conflict in "us" and "them," we make them into "the other." We objectify them. We separate ourselves from them. We dehumanize them. We forget that we are all children of God; that we are all One.

We Jews have a tendency to do just that. The Aleinu prayer — which traditional Jews recite three times a day, each and every day — says just that. Shelo asanu k'goiay ha-aretzot. "For You have not made us like the [other] nations of the world." V'lo sa-manu k'mishpachot ha-adamah. "And You have not made us like the families (pagans? heathens?) of the earth. Shalo sam chelkanu ka-hem. "You have not made our portion like theirs." V'goralanu k'chol ha-monam. "Nor made our lot like the multitudes (read: riff-raff.)"

Undoubtedly, the prayer writer was very proud to be part of the "Chosen People." Unfortunately, the prayer-writer considered chosenness not — as we do — as a responsibility to receive, learn, live and transmit God's word and will, but, rather, a proclamation of Divinely-ordained superiority. That hubris made the Aleinu prayer — to any "outsider" who could read it — the most hated prayer in the Jewish canon. Would you like to be part of a nation or a people that is called "riff-raff? Would you like to know that others are saying prayers thanking God that they are not like you? Is it any wonder that the Church censored Aleinu from Jewish prayer books time and time again? Who do these Jews think they are to flaunt their supposed-superiority over us? Is it any wonder that Jews are accused of fostering anti-Semitism?

For the past decade and more, I have eliminated these words from the Aleinu from my own prayers, and from the prayers that the members of The Elijah Minyan recite collectively. After all, I spent 16 years teaching Jewish Studies at our local Catholic university, the University of San Diego. A number of times, I recited prayers and preached from the pulpit of the Immaculata. One of my closest and most intimate friends in the world is a Jesuit priest. Are he, and my colleagues on the faculty who warmly welcome me, and encourage and support Jewish teaching at the Catholic university, "riff-raff?"

How can we ever overcome the misunderstanding and the hurts — and yes, the Crusades and the pogroms — if we continue to objectify and dehumanize? How can we hope and pray — in the concluding words of Aleinu — that "on that day, God will be recognized as One, and God's Name as One" if we continue to be separate? When we utter that prayer, are we asking that only our God, only the God we call Adonai, be recognized as One? What about God who is One, yet is called Jesus or Allah, or any other of the multitude of names by which God is known and which make God known? One God; many different interpretations and relationships. The body needs a heart, but it also needs a liver, and a brain, and an eyelid, and a fingernail, and a spleen. The whole, the One, made up of many parts — each integral and vital.

So, throughout the centuries and the millennia, we Jews have not been so pure in seeing every person, regardless of faith or creed, as a child of God. We should not be surprised that our "enemies" objectify and dehumanize us. And, we have darkness, not light; war, not peace; hatred, not love.

And, I must — not very proudly — admit that recently, in the face of radical Islamic fundamentalism, I have often thought of returning the words of Aleinu to my prayers. They are not like us! But, what good would that do? All I would be doing is objectifying "the enemy," separating "the other," and fostering my own hate, as well.

So, how do we break the bonds? On the ground, we know that a ceasefire means only the momentary halt to killing. It is not an end to war. It is not an end to hatred. It is not a long-term solution; it is not an end to hatred; it is not peace. And, we are deeply concerned that Israel did not meet her objective during this incursion; Hezbollah demonstrated much more strength than Israel anticipated. Hezbollah is emboldened, while, truth be told, Israel is a bit demoralized over the failure to wipe out the terrorists. Even though much of the world supports Israel's action — though anti-Semites and anti-Zionists reared their ugly heads in too many places — still, Israel's very existence remains at stake.

How do we see that there ever is a chance for normalcy and peace between Israel and her neighbors?

When Yitzhak Rabin z"l and King Hussein of Jordan (his memory for a blessing, too) came to Washington to sign the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, after the formal ceremony and the scripted speeches, there was a dinner where the real feelings, the real sentiments, were expressed in the form of toasts.

Rabin said, "I am a seventh generation Jerusalemite. In 1948, I was a young soldier. In 1967, I was Chief of Staff. In 1973, I was in the Government. And each time I went to war, I was passionate for my country, because I knew that the life of my country, the life of my wife and children were at stake. And, every time King Hussein went to war, he went with the same passion for his country. And what have we achieved? All we have done is fill the cemeteries of both our countries with the best of our young men and women.

“Now, King Hussein and I are old men. He is sick, and I look into the eyes of my granddaughter (ironically the very granddaughter who, just a few weeks later, would speak a deeply moving eulogy for her grandfather after his assassination) and what do we see? Can we possibly see more war? Can we possibly see more dying? We cannot. Peace has come now to our hearts, and we have come here to Washington to make peace for our countries."

As difficult as it might seem, it is the only answer. Peace must come to hearts in order for peace to come to nations. No longer can either "side" objectify and dehumanize "the enemy," making it into "the other." Somehow, we must all open our hearts and see each other as children of the universe, children of God. And we all must know that God does not want hate; God does not want war; God does not want killing. God has never declared one pathway to the Divine better than any other. God wants the hearts of all God's children open to love and peace.

If Prime Minster Rabin and King Hussein could open their hearts to love and peace at their moment in time, Israel and her neighbors can open their hearts to love and peace at this moment in time.

Granted, the new element of radical Islamic fundamentalism has been added to the mix.

But, trite as it may sound, we all have to love our children more than we hate each other. There is a pathway to peace. There must be a pathway to peace. Surely, it is worth our best energy to seek that pathway. For, everything we know and love depends on finding the way to reconciliation, healing and transformation.

Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., the spiritual guide of the Elijah Minyan, an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego and the Director of the 17: Spiritually Healing Children's Emotional Wounds. He is the award-winning author of six critically acclaimed books, including Golden Rules; Living Judaism; and Soul Judaism: Dancing with God into a New Era.