The Shalom Center - Yom Kippur

New Book: "The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope & Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims"

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:38:14 -0400

Dear Friends,

In 2004, as religious animosities worsened around the globe, I joined with Sister Joan Chittister, a world-renowned Benedictine nun, and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti (Neil Douglas-Klotz), a Muslim Sufi who has written a remarkable series of books on Aramaic, Gnostic, and Sufi spirituality --

-- to write a book called THE TENT OF ABRAHAM: STORIES OF HOPE AND PEACE FOR JEWS, CHRISTIANS, & MUSLIMS.

We sent the manuscript to Karen Armstrong. She was so excited by the book that she wrote a Preface for it.

It was (June 2006) published by Beacon Press and won an enthusiastic "Starred Review" from the Library Journal. That review and others are below.

Shalom Ctr as Amicus in Torture case

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:52:56 -0500

The Shalom Center was invited to join in an Amicus (friend of the court) brief in the case of Yousuf v. Samantar, involving whether survivors of torture by other governments can, in the US, sue officials of those governments as provided in US law. We agreed to join in the Amicus brief, along with other religious groups, and submitted an explanation of our stake in supporting the argument on appeal. For our explanation, see below. First, the essence of the argument we support is this:

When Congress passed the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1350 note (2000), it intended to allow survivors of torture to sue former officials of foreign governments in U.S. courts, on the understanding that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602-1611 (2000), would not bar suits against former officials accused of torture.

THE PEACE OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, & SARAH: Sharing Sacred Seasons, Fall 2007

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:14:35 -0400

THE PEACE OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, & SARAH:
SHARING SACRED SEASONS, 2007

Shalom, salaam, peace! --

In the fall of 2007, several sacred seasons of the Abrahamic faiths will come together. At a moment of history when religious conflict and violence have reemerged bearing lethal dangers for each other and our planet, God has given our spiritual and religious traditions an unusual gift of sacred time.

Let us celebrate this rare confluence of THE PEACE OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, & SARAH by praying and learning with each other and by acting together to –-

SEEK PEACE, PURSUE JUSTICE,
FEED THE POOR, HEAL THE EARTH,

THE PATH IS ALWAYS PRESENT: TSHUVAH, HABIT AND THE IDEA OF DIRECTION

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 15:02:21 -0500

Debra Cash, 6/29/2005
From Direction: A Journal of the Alexander Technique Vol2 No 9 copyright 2000 Debra Cash

At Yom Kippur, Jews are offered a fresh spiritual start: they can stop and choose not to act on false habits which seem second nature.

The holiest day of the Jewish Year is the day ordinary activities: eating, drinking, bathing, making loveare forbidden. Jews fill the emptied-out hours with prayer, meditation, study and memorialisation of loved ones. The liturgy reflects our public responsibilities as a community and on our personal commitments as individuals. During the intense and solemn hours of Yom Kippur, our spiritual efforts make room for the flowering of tshuvah.

T'shuvah as Error Recognition and Repair in the Basic Design of Living Systems

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 01:00:00 -0400

6/29/2005

This is a somewhat modified version of a talk/meditation process that I presented during Yom Kippur Shakharit services for the High Holydays 5753.

I offer here a short drash, commentary, on T'shuvah - from the point of view of a cell biol

The Haftarah for the Fast of Yom Kippur

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:01:26 -0400

Isaiah, translated by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 8/23/2004

The Haftarah for the Fast of Yom Kippur:
Isaiah 57:14-58:14
[Slightly midrashic translation]

And God said:
Open up, open up, Clear a path!
Clear away all obstacles
From the path of My People'
For so says the One
Who high aloft forever dwells,
Whose Name is Holy:

I dwell on high, in holiness,
And therefore with the lowly and humiliated,
To breathe new life into the humble,
To give new life to the broken-hearted.

I will not do battle against you forever,
I will not be angry with you forever.
From Me comes the breath that floats out to make the world.

Adding to the Tales of Rosh Hashanah a Reading for Yom Kippur

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:46:38 -0400

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 9/7/2003
Midrash — reinterpretation of the text of Torah — like reinterpretation of any sacred text, can point us toward violence and war, or point us toward peace and compassion.

This essay focuses on the Abraham

A new kind of Jewish martyr, dying for Kiddush Hashem

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 01:00:00 -0400

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 9/2/2003

The liturgy for Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of Jewish observance, includes "Eleh Ezkerah," "These we remember," often called "the Martyrology." This note suggests some additional names we might add to the Martyrolog

For Our Sins -- a Gentle Heart

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 01:00:00 -0400

Leon Olenick *, 9/2/2003

I was thinking about the practice of pounding our hearts with our fist
while doing al khayt on Yom Kippur. At least symbolically, this simply thickens and toughens the callus on my heart.

I have never physically punished an

Jonah, God, & the Castor Bean Tree

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 01:00:00 -0400

9/2/2003

In the last few verses of the Book of Jonah (which we read on Yom Kippur), Jonah's well-being depends on this small tree, a "lower form of life" that he had not planted or cared for. It shaded him from the broiling sun.

Yet he showed no co

The Leopard in Isaiah

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 01:00:00 -0400

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 9/2/2003

How shall we read the Great Haftarah — the passage from Isaiah that the rabbis taught us to read on the morning of Yom Kippur ?

Since the earliest days of Fabrangen, 30 years ago, I have made it my business to do

Al Cheyt: for the misdeeds we have done before You

Sat, 08 Sep 2001 21:46:40 -0400

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

AL CHEYT: FOR THE MISDEEDS WE HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU*

A RITUAL FOR THE AL CHEYT ON YOM KIPPUR

1. We'll begin our preparations for YOM KIPPUR by taking four cards -- one of each color according to directions -- and writing

Mouth to Mouth with God

Sat, 08 Sep 2001 21:46:40 -0400

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Mouth to Mouth with God

By Arthur Waskow

The Yom Kippur chant "Ki anu amecha, v'attah elohenu," first goes thru an entire litany of complementary but unequal relationships — people/God, serfs/king, pot/potter, vine