The Shalom Center - Addressing global militarism & world empire

The Spirituality of the Future by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Fri, 09 May 2008 04:34:34 -0400

Toward a New and Kerygmatic Credo
Zalman M. Schachter Shalomi

Chair of World Wisdom;
The Naropa Institute
Boulder CO.

This essay is a plea for research into the spirituality of the future and invitation for collaboration to bring this about.

Much of my perspective is based on my devotion to the Ribbono shel Olam, the divine Life-Spirit of Gaia. I come from a deeply spiritual Jewish formation in which the values of Tikkun Olam (Healing the planet) and the biblical command of Bal Tash’hit (not to destroy any natural resources) are an essential and constant feature.

In some ways I am on one foot, one of the last Mohicans of pre-holocaust Jewish mysticism and on the other foot I stand on concern with our future. Not only the future of our Jewish people and the continuity of its tradition and lineage but with the global future, our survival as humans on their way to the Great and divinizing metamorphosis.

Interfaith Witness for Peace in Iraq, March 7 in Washington DC

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:50:20 -0400

Sponsors: Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership

Communities and individuals of all faith traditions and spiritualities who are committed to ending the war in Iraq are holding an interfaith witness in Washington D.C. on Friday, March 7, 2008 to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the sacredness of human life. The world cries out for a common voice for peace from across religious traditions and paths.

TO GET DETAILED INFORMATION AND SIGN UP FOR EVENTS, PLEASE GO TO --
http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org

THERE WILL BE FOUR MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE MARCH 7 EVENTS:

'CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR,' THE CULTURE OF IMPERIALISM, AND THE DISTORTION OF HISTORY

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:51:20 -0400

By Jeremy Kuzmarov

History News Network
December 31, 2007

http://hnn.us/articles/45974.html

In his provocative 1993 book, *Culture and Imperialism*, Edward W. Said
examines how cultural representations in the West have historically helped
to stereotype Third World peoples as being passively reliant on foreign
aid for their social and political uplift, thus engendering support for
imperial interventions ostensibly undertaken for humanitarian purposes.

This was true, he argued, even in works critical of Western interventions,
like Joseph Conrad’s *The Heart of Darkness* and Graham Greene’s *The

Pakistan's Power Puzzle

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:54:25 -0500

BY BARNETT R. RUBIN
TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2008

The Pakistan Electoral Commission's decision to postpone the elections scheduled for January 8 because of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto could be justified on technical grounds, but few people in Pakistan will believe the decision was made on technical grounds. Under current conditions in Pakistan, which are worse that most U.S. reporting indicates, it is impossible to hold a free and fair election. But there is little indication that the government ever intended to hold a free and fair election, even when it could have.

I called a friend in Lahore this morning. The obstacles are not just that electoral materials (possibly including those prepared for rigging) were destroyed in the rioting. The country's infrastructure is under severe stress. In Lahore there are only 7 hours of electricity a day, and water pressure is also reported to be unreliable (I know those of you in Kabul may not feel their pain). Optic fiber lines were cut in Sindh, blacking out telecommunications for a while. The front page of Dawn online yields the following: There has been massive damage to the country's rail network. Fuel is in short supply, and the shortages are likely to get worse. The stock market and the currency are both crashing. Government ministers are charging "foreign elements" (i.e. India) with organizing the riots, a useful excuse for martial law.

Ten Goals for US Middle East Policy in 2008

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:53:10 -0500

By Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate. He has published several peer-reviewed books on the modern Middle East and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian. Since 2002, he has written a weblog, Informed Comment.

His assessment follows of the ten most important steps for the US to take in policy toward the broader Middle East.

10. Helping broker a deal in Lebanon between the March 14 Movement and the Shiites so that a new president can be elected and a national unity government can be formed.

Why Do We Need a Tent of Abraham?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:15:06 -0500

Reopening the Tent of Abraham

Rabbi Phyllis O. Berman and Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow *

The world is falling helter-skelter down a steep incline toward a fatal cliff: an endless world war between the whole Muslim world and the West, or perhaps the United States. A war between the different families of Abraham.

Sometimes it seems we are already over the edge of the cliff, but perhaps, God willing, im yirtzeh hashem, inshallah, not quite yet. Barely.

Such a war would leave us all at constant risk of death, impoverishment for all public and many private goods, ridden and riddled with fear and rage. Write large – write "global" -- the tip of Manhattan on September 11, 2001; the city of Baghdad all of June, July, August, 2006; Qana on July 30, 2006; Kfar Giladi on August 6.

The 2006 Vote & Beyond: Celebrate -- & Build anew; Mourn -- & Build Anew; Celebrate -- &

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:12:30 -0500

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

The midterm Congressional elections of 2006 and their aftermath open up the possibilities of change.

During the election campaign, The Shalom Center scrupulously adhered to our obligation to focus on spiritually rooted policies, not on candidates for election. And the election results in terms of specific people and their connection to specific ethical policies are somewhat spotty.

But over-all, the window has been opened for fresh winds of change, to bring new life into what was an airless, lethal lock-box.

And this we should celebrate!

In the Passover Seder, there is a puzzling song that celebrates each step of liberation as if that step were enough. "If we had gotten to the Red Sea but the waters had not split for us - Enough! Dayenu!" "If we had gotten to Sinai but no Torah had appeared - Enough! Dayenu!"

A JEWISH CALL TO HEAL GOD'S WORLD BY WEAVING WORLD COMMUNITY

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:36:31 -0400

Dear Friends,

Below you will find A JEWISH CALL TO HEAL GOD'S WORLD BY WEAVING WORLD COMMUNITY.

This call has been signed by 82 rabbis and four cantors, from all the branches of the Jewish religious tree. Now we welcome all members of the Jewish community to sign as well.

To do so, please click on the blue Donate button on this page, and on the "in behalf of" line, write in "worldweave." Please give what you can (it's tax-exempt). All gifts are a great help; AND please aim to give as close to $180 as you can - to make it more possible to spread this message.

Please note that the signers commit themselves to go beyond embracing and announcing this Call -- to consult and then to act, as each of us assesses her or his own time and energy, to move the vision forward into actuality.

AFTER IRAQ: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING U.S.

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 14:42:24 -0400

By Helena Cobban

** Despite the death of Zarqawi, Bush's huge gamble in Iraq has failed. As a result, the U.S. is weaker everywhere in the world.

**Salon.com & Spiegel International June 9, 2006

The Bush administration has just received two pieces of welcome news from Iraq. It learned first that a U.S. attack plane had killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the long-hunted leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, and then that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was finally able to name designees for the three security posts in his government. The new ministers were sworn in within hours.

However, the longer-term trends within Iraq remain grim for the administration. Zarqawi's killing might dent but certainly promises no quick end to the insurgency among Sunni Arabs in the west and center of Iraq.

Korean War secret surfaces: Mass killings of civilians was US policy

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 07:35:40 -0400

Philadelpohia Inquirer, posted May. 30, 2006

'50 letter shifts Army's role in Korean killings
It indicates that the slaying of S. Korean refugees at No Gun Ri was actually U.S. policy.

By Charles J. Hanley and Martha Mendoza
Associated Press

More than a half-century after hostilities ended in Korea, a document from the war's chaotic early days has come to light - a letter from the U.S. ambassador to Seoul, informing the State Department that American soldiers would shoot refugees approaching their lines.

The letter - dated the day of the Army's mass killing of South Korean refugees at No Gun Ri in 1950 - is the strongest indication yet that such a policy existed for all U.S. forces in Korea, and the first evidence that that policy was known to upper ranks of the U.S. government.

Prophetic minister, Prophetic rabbi: Wm. Sloane Coffin & Abraham J. Heschel

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:30:18 -0400

A Tribute to William Sloane Coffin (1924-2006)
By Or N. Rose *

The Rev. William Sloane Coffin died on April 12th, 2006. He was 81.

The first time I heard William Sloane Coffin speak was at a memorial service for Abraham Joshua Heschel at B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan. As I listened intently to Coffin’s address, I thought to myself, “That is the kind of rabbi I want to be someday.” Of course, Coffin was not a rabbi, but a renowned Presbyterian minister. Nevertheless, his eloquence, humor and chutzpah all greatly impressed me. I quickly realized why he had been dubbed “the greatest white preacher in America.”

Rev. Bill Coffin: Prophetic Resistance

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:52:04 -0400

Dear Friends,

There have been a few people in the world who have become heroes and teachers for both Phyllis (Rabbi Phyllis Berman,my life-partner) and me through our getting them to know them before we knew each other. One of these few was Rev. Bill Coffin -- William Sloane Coffin.

I got to know him as antiwar activist while he was chaplain at Yale, in the '60s, and I was a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. Phyllis got to know him while he was senior minister of Riverside Church, where the school for adult immigrants and refugees she co-founded in 1981, the Riverside Language Program, was and is housed.

'A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority'

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:44:14 -0400

In 1967, Marcus Raskin and Arthur Waskow of the Institute for Policy Studies wrote and arranged for publication of "A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority." It offered and urged support of young men who chose to refuse to participate in the "unconstitutional and illegal" war in Vietnam. It was widely circulated and signed by thousands of people.

Five antiwar activists who disseminated the document-- Raskin, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Yale University chaplain William Sloane Coffin, author Mitchell Goodman, and Harvard graduate student Michael Ferber--were charged with conspiring to "counsel, aid and abet" resistance to the draft. (All but Raskin were found guilty. The others had their convictions reversed on appeal, on the grounds that the judge had committed a number of prejudicial errors.)

Woven by Each Other's Destiny: Celeste Zappala on being honored as a Prophetic Voice by The Shalom Center

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 08:01:15 -0500

Celeste Zappala's response to being honored as one of the Prophetic Voices of our day, by The Shalom Center on February 5, 2006.

Thank you to all of you for being here, and to Arthur and The Shalom Center for all of the extraordinary work that they do.
Congratulations to Cindy and Judy and Jeffrey for all their amazing efforts.

My I introduce my youngest son Raphael, my daughter in law Selma, my son Dante and the little peace baby we will greet in July.

Though you name me in this award, please know that it is our whole family’s effort along with their dad Al and their step-mom Joan.

Shalom Ctr Honors Cindy Sheehan & 3 Others as 'Prophetic Voices'

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 13:11:01 -0400

SHALOM CENTER HONORS CINDY SHEEHAN
& 3 PHILADELPHIANS AS "PROPHETIC VOICES"

More than 250 people joined with The Shalom Center Sunday, February 5, at a Philadelphia synagogue to honor the prophetic voices of Cindy Sheehan and three Philadelphia activists.

The event was covered with long news stories and photos by both Philadelphia daily newspapers and by three TV stations.

Eight rabbis, two cantors, and three choirs from various congregations took part in the event, which was held at the Reconstructionist synagogue Mishkan Shalom.

"We are members of the human race first and we are Americans second," Sheehan said during the ceremony. "We are members of the human race first and Jews second, Muslims second, Christians second, Iraqis second, Israelis second, Palestinians second. Our love of our fellow human beings does not stop at the border."