Culture

Is This It? I'm Afraid So

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Jews of my generation are trained from infancy to sense which way the wind is blowing.If you descend as I do from a long line of nomads and refugees – if your family tree is stunted, the branches disappearing into cracks in history, if the images of children being torn from their parents’ arms are imprinted just behind your eyes – you develop a keen sense of impending disaster. And so the question that reverberates is simple: Is it now? Is this it? I’m afraid so. The Present Occupant of the White House is trumpeting his policy of separating families at the border as a clever negotiating tactic, hinting he’ll stop if Congress gives him the wall and other expensive, vicious tools of othering.

Culture

Response to "Thoughts on Roth"

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In response to Shaul Magid’s recent piece on Philip Roth, Judith Mahoney Pasternak also reflects on Roth’s passing, but argues that feminism allowed her to articulate what Roth’s books achieved: they revealed the ways in which men saw women.

Culture

Thoughts on Philip Roth: America, Jew, Male

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Shaul Magid reflects on the passing of Philip Roth who, according to Magid, “spoke from the Jewish psyche.” Rabbi Michael Lerner responds, noting that perhaps Roth succumbed to the pessimism of reconciling with “what is” rather than struggling for “what could and should be.”

Non-Violent Communication (NVC)

Stepping off the Line into Freedom and Interdependence, Part 2: How

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In my last blog post, I introduced the idea of stepping off the line we all live on, where most of us are constantly trying to get ahead, and described the value I see in aiming to step off the line and what we can gain by doing it: reclaiming our freedom to choose for ourselves, from within, aligned with our deepest needs and values, and reconnecting with our place in the vast web of interdependence. In this piece, I focus on the actual process, the inner and outer spiraling dance of transformation we can engage in, from where we are, to move in that direction, knowing full well we cannot dismantle the line.

General News

Stepping off the Line into Freedom and Interdependence, Part One: Why

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One of the potent images of our modern, competitive era is that of a long line we are all trying to get ahead in. Our spot in the line determines our access to resources to sustain our bodies, souls, and families. All of us were born into a world in which we are all on this endless line. We don’t choose the line. We only choose how we relate both to our place in the line and to the existence of the line.

Judaism

Stepping into Leadership: 
the Magic of Self-Acceptance

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Developing this particular version of humility, the true dis-identification with our strengths and, from that, the ability to enjoy them, can then become fuel for our leadership as well as clarity about what to call on when we embrace leadership, when we plan our actions, when we choose how to respond in a moment of challenge. These are the baseline qualities that we will lean into and build our leadership around.

Culture

Planetary Parenting

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Stan Charnofsky proposes a new category of parenting in which we all, parents and non-parents alike, take responsibility for providing harmony, love, and honesty for the next generation.

Empathy

Transcending Barriers while Life Meets Death

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In this time, so full of pain and challenge, I was unexpectedly nourished by an email I received from someone who is consciously, purposefully trying to live applied NVC and Conflict Transformation in work and life, currently doing it in Eastern Sri Lanka. I am sharing an abridged version of her words here.