Buddhism

Why the Dalai Lama is Wrong to Think Meditation Will Eliminate Violence

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This quote by the Dalai Lama is going viral on the internet, “If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” Marianne Williamson shared this quote via her Facebook account and it received a tremendous reception. Google the quote and you will find tens of thousands of web sites, Facebook pages and twitter feeds where it has appeared. Needless to say, the enthusiasm over the Dalai Lama’s statement is profound. It has struck a cord for sure.

General News

Why I'm Rejecting Rabbi Yoffie's Call for Progressive Jews to Support Israel's Bombing of Gaza

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Rabbi Eric Yoffie has penned a Haaretz opinion piece directed at progressive, U.S. Jews that is so deluded and insidious, it’s as though it was written in the same political and psychological vacuum inhabited by Netanyahu’s government. Yoffie, former head of the Union for Reform Judaism, argues that progressives should champion Israel’s “get tough” Gaza stance. It’s a call he makes using shockingly misguided and narrow arguments. It’s a call I, and all progressives, should reject. Here’s why:
First, Yoffie fails to understand the strategic motivations behind Israel’s current “Pillar of Defense” campaign.

Judaism

Weekly Sermon: BE GENERATIONOUS

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Very OFTEN, dear friends, have we told here the tale of Israel’s sorrow at the breaking of her city walls, the smashing of her temple, the forced marching out to exile of her nobles, her leaders, her men of law and letters, and all their families. Of how in a city far away they despaired of help from their God, how some defected to other gods, how some abandoned hope, and some heard a new song, to whose strains we listened again just now. Thus says the Lord, Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. For behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth.

Environment

A Call for A Politics of Love

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Dear President Obama and Democratic Members of Congress,
I invite you to embrace the radical notion that there are fundamental truths and values that the vast majority of US citizens believe in and support. They have chosen you to be the messenger and implementer of those ideas in the form of legislation and actions on a federal level. Now is the time for you to step out of a politics based on fear and limiting beliefs and into the very real possibility and actuality that when you choose to stand in a politics of love, your actions will be celebrated. This is what a politics of love looks like:
1. Genuine care for the well-being of all, both in the US and abroad.

General News

Is there a Yoga of the Heart?

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Yes, and it’s called prayer. And its power does not depend on faith in God or sacred texts, but on the passionate commitment of the person who prays. As Kierkegaard cautions: “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” Prayers may be voiced in anguish or wrapped in silence, mumbled dutifully or constructed with care, put to melody or tears. They can be wordless, as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said that when he marched for justice with Martin Luther King “my feet were praying.”

Healing Israel/Palestine

Israel Ponders Retaliation Possibilities, I Ponder Words vs. Action

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When it comes to how Israel responds to attacks, message received: fight first, think later. But a look into alternative Israeli media sources revealed a reality even more troubling than Israel’s possible retaliations against its neighbors. In moments like these, in which a nation’s drone strikes, mortars, and missiles are juxtaposed with thoughts, words, and actions of an individual, I must take a deep look at my own choices, and I must ask myself: What am I doing?

ESRA

My Post-Election Reflections – Two Slightly Different Angles

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The media today are filled with stories revealing that ‘Grand Bargain’ Talks Will Likely Target Medicare, Social Security & Programs For The Poor. Paul Krugman’s article in the NY Times this past Friday pleaded with the President, “Don’t Make A Deal,” but Obama and Congressional Dems will make such a deal unless we can get justice- and generosity-oriented people (across traditional party lines) in every state and every congressional district to let their elected representatives know that the outcome of the election was meant to be a mandate for protecting the poor and vulnerable, not sacrificing them on the false altar of Republican ideology about the deficit!

Culture

To Liberal American Zionists: A Call to Intervene

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Due to a breakdown in budget negotiations within the governing Likud-led coalition, Israel is now scheduled to hold elections on January 22, 2013. What a perfect opportunity for liberal Zionists in America who support U.S. President Barack Obama to pull a “Bibi,” that is to say, to be actively engaged — dare I say meddlesome — in the upcoming Israeli elections in order to help oust current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu from power. For those unfamiliar, during a critical period of the U.S. presidential campaign, Bibi went public with his disagreements with Obama over the Iranian nuclear issue, leaked a story about being snubbed by Obama after requesting a meeting, and lavishly courted republican presidential candidate and former colleague Mitt Romney during his trip to Israel earlier this year. These tactics were intended to bind Obama to Israeli red lines for military action against Iran by exploiting his vulnerability to attacks from the right during the campaign season. But they were also a not-so-subtle endorsement of Romney.

General News

Armistice Day/Veteran's Day 2012 Four Haiku

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Armistice Day Peace. Let us not forget the start
of Veteran’s Day. Cool November days,
Eleven Eleven is
a time to think peace. Let us not allow
our love for warriors to
become love of war. Veterans have seen
humanity at its worst.