The Russian Canadian: “Tent Under The Stars”
Posted on October 24th, 2017
The Toronto newspaper The Russian Canadian published my article: “Tent Under the Stars” (page 13)
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The Toronto newspaper The Russian Canadian published my article: “Tent Under the Stars” (page 13)
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The Toronto newspaper The Russian Canadian published my article: “The Whole Life Is Like “Day One”:
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Chicago’s Russian periodical 7 Days published my article: “Simchat Torah: The Day We Take the First Step”
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The largest portal Newsmax published my new article “Paddock’s Motive Unknown But Motive for Violence Is Everywhere“
As expected, the Las Vegas massacre has refueled the gun control debate in America. But no one seems to consider a much wider debate to be had on the ongoing breeding of violence in the U.S.
“We still don’t have a clear motive or reason why,” says Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, about a week after the massacre. But it’s not just police detectives who are tenaciously looking for answers. It’s everyone.
The default answer that comes to mind is that Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white male with no criminal record, was some sort of a psychopath. A madman. One of those deeply disturbed people whose senseless actions may never be fully understood.
But there’s a problem with that answer. It casts Paddock and everything about him as an outsider, detaches him from our social values, and rejects any association of his image with our culture. And by doing so, it prevents us from taking a good hard look in the mirror as a society.
Paddock could have very well been a psychopath, and some even suggestthe criminal genes of his father played a role. But Paddock was also a replica of the horrific scenario that repeats itself in America, over and over again. He managed to leave a painful scar in America’s collective memory as the deadliest mass shooter in U.S. history, but do we realize that there were six other mass shootings in America the very week before?
Broadening the Discussion
It’s frightful to discover that a mass shooting, defined as at least 4 people shot in a single incident, happens in America every 9 out of 10 days on average (!). More than 30,000 people die every year from gun-related incidents in the U.S. — more than HIV, malnutrition, and fires, to name a few. No other country in the developed world even comes close to these numbers. Moreover, sociologists from Yale University have shown gun violence to be a social epidemic that spreads over time.
But even more eye-opening is the fact that overall assault death rates — including but not limited to gun-use — reveal a similar picture: the U.S. is significantly and consistently more violent than other OECD countries since the 1960s. With this in mind, what we should be debating is a social epidemic of violence, of which guns are simply the loudest and most detrimental expression.
So instead of limiting the discussion to Paddock’s motive and the gun control debate, I believe Americans should expand the public discourse to ask the question: What keeps fueling America’s extremely high rates of violence?
Like Something Out of a Movie
Officer David Newton of the Las Vegas Police Department told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that breaking into Paddock’s hotel room and finding his body alongside his weapons arsenal was like something “out of a movie.” Newton, without noticing, pointed to one of the major variables that are usually left out of the equation that explains the extreme levels of violence in America — the countless visualizations of violence seen by the American people.
With television programs displaying 812 violent acts per hour, the typical American will watch 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders, before they turn 18. And this is just television. When you take a moment to consider the impact this has on our social climate, is it really so surprising that similar violent scenes are playing out in real life?
We are trapped in a vicious cycle that makes it easy to overlook its psychological consequences: Content producers are taking their violent scenes to greater extremes, giving audiences a bigger fix to keep them watching. At the same time, viewers are becoming increasingly desensitized to what they see. The result is a society whose attitudes and norms concerning violence are reaching a new low each time.
Gradually, we get used to the ongoing appearance of extremely violent acts and they become a “normal” part of everyday life.
Every couple of days, the same amount of people as in the Vegas shooting are intentionally killed by guns, but these killings don’t make the headlines. Every day, domestic violence takes the lives of nearly 3 women, but these deaths don’t break into the public’s awareness. It takes a mass shooting of hundreds of people at once from the 32nd floor to shock society.
Systematically Nurturing Common Humanity
So, regardless of where you stand on gun control, if we want to treat the violent tendencies in America from their root, we have to deal with something much deeper: the culture that breeds them.
The morning after the Las Vegas shooting, President Trump said: “We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence.”
Every sensible person would agree with this statement. But in order for its effect to last more than a day, we have to consistently work on our unity so that it is more powerful than our evil, which is the potential eruption of the human ego. And only if we regularly strengthen our bonds and our common humanity, then violence between us will rarely happen.
Social scientists have long established that we are all highly susceptible to the examples, norms, and values of our environment. We must open our eyes to this and cultivate a social climate that nurtures our common humanity on a daily basis. If we begin to do so systematically, we will surely see a much less violent America, and we could hope to prevent the next Paddock from happening.
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The Toronto newspaper The Russian Canadian published my article: “Is Judgment Day Waiting for American Jews?”
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The largest portal Newsmax published my new article “GOP and Dems Can Share a Tent Without Calling Police“
Setting up an Empathy Tent amidst the chaos that took place between political protesters in the University of California at Berkeley last week seemed like a thoughtful idea—a calm area where protesters from both sides could have a peaceful discussion, free of aggressions.
However, it failed miserably, when a shouting argument led to a violent quarrel which ended with four people being arrested.
Among those arrested for violent behavior was school teacher-turned-Antifa leader, Yvonne Felarca, who had been arrested before for similar behavior. This certainly makes you ponder about the violent ways in which those who consider themselves the guardians of free speech choose to operate. While this is worthy of scrutiny in its own right, I believe it is more urgent to answer: How can we put Republicans and Democrats in the same place without generating violence, and perhaps even produce mutual understanding?
Understanding Human Nature is Key
First things first. We have to acknowledge human nature. Not the nature of Republicans or the nature of Democrats, but the nature of how all people operate. We are inherently driven by our ego, and that’s especially evident when it comes to our political views.
Our ego vehemently fights to self-justify, to the point that it blinds us from seeing anything else and blocks our capacity to understand any opinion that is not similar to or supportive of our own.
Therefore, it’s naïve to think that amidst the sweltering pot of egoistic urges from both left and right, setting up a tent will magically allow people to rise above their differences and find empathy, even temporarily.
In order to produce empathy in the Empathy Tent, participants need proper guidance and preparation. They need a method of deliberation that can produce equality in the discussions and a professional moderator who doesn’t take sides and whose only role is to maintain a “circular” discussion.
“The Circle,” a Safe and Positivie Discussion Platform
To conduct a safe and positive discussion, it’s recommended that participants sit a in a circle, and not just because it helps everyone see and hear each other. This seating arrangement also places them in an equal distance from the center of the circle, which symbolizes a common place between them, where each has a bird’s eye view of all opinions in the circle, without cancelling their own. Only that higher perspective from “the center of the circle” can bring about mutual understanding.
How can such a common place be created? It’s the result of a successful round of discussion. And the starting point is to agree on two simple rules, which will be stated and kept by the circle moderator.
Rule number one: Equality in the discussion. Every participant is given the same amount of time to express themselves freely and safely. Freedom of speech at its best. Each speaker takes his or her turn following the order of the circle, so no one needs to spend their energies in fighting for their time to be heard.
The second rule is listening to every input. This means that when someone speaks in the circle, the role of the other participants is simply to listen. This does not mean they need to agree with what they hear, nor do they need to start thinking like the speaker. Rather, they listen in order to understand what motivates the speakers, what they aspire for, what is their view.
A professional circle moderator will make it clear that there is no attempt to decide on a winning view, and we also don’t want to blur out our differences. The circle encourages opening one’s ears without shutting one’s mouth. This brings us back to understanding human nature – when a person is certain that he will have the time to express himself and that his message will be heard, he also becomes more capable of listening.
American Society Needs to Focus on Collective Intelligence
These two simple principles, equality in the discussion and listening to each other, are like much needed oxygen in today’s society. But there’s more. These principles have been empirically proven by MIT researchers to drive the collective intelligence of any group of people. This means that if a group of people is faced with a collective challenge, their success is determined not by how sharp or talented the individuals in the group are, but rather how well they follow these principles in coming to a solution.
The relevance for the socio-political rifts in America is straight forward: with each side focusing on its righteousness, we are collectively incompetent in finding solutions to common challenges. We have to recognize the urgent need to foster our “collective intelligence” and establish effective practices to achieve it. Otherwise, what we witnessed in Berkeley last week is only the beginning. Social rifts will widen, the inability to communicate will become fixed, and violence will spread exponentially.
Fostering a New Social Mindset
Let’s face it. The change that’s needed in America will not happen by an occasional Empathy Tent even if it’s conducted according to the above guidelines.
Americans need to consistently experience the benefits of safe and positive deliberation, week by week, circle after circle.
Sounds far from reality? Of course it does. This is because we have come to accept a reality where constructive deliberations and mutual understanding between different views are not expected to occur. Instead, violence is an expected result when people of clashing views occupy the same space.
However, it is precisely this deadlock and these extreme disparities that bring about the dire need to implement a connection method that elevates us above our differences and enables us to find the “center of the circle.”
My experience has shown that such a method can be applied to all types of people and in all settings. This is because it relies on our natural wiring for human connection. It’s not about using pretty words and being polite to each other and has nothing to do with ethics.
Rather, we have to unearth the natural fountain of wisdom, resilience and efficiency that exists in the correct connection between people. In fact, it is a natural resource for prosperity in every aspect of human life.
But at the very least, it can prevent violence. Even for this reason alone, we should put it into practice as soon as possible. Otherwise, today it’s a flare-up at Berkeley, tomorrow it’s a wildfire everywhere.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “The Meaning of the Jonah Story Read on Yom Kippur:”
The story of the prophet Jonah that we customarily read on Yom Kippur captures the essence of the holiday, that we need to put ourselves aside and act for the benefit of others.
The Story of Jonah the Prophet – In A Nutshell
The story of the prophet Jonah begins with a mission he receives from God: to warn the people of Nineveh that they need to repent their evil ways, to change their relations from unfounded hatred to love of others.
However, Jonah is displeased with this mission. He escapes it by boarding a ship and sailing overseas. His escape sets off a storm. When the ship’s sailors realize that Jonah is the cause of the storm, they throw him overboard. In the sea, Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish. He spends three days and three nights in the fish’s belly. Afterwards he is ejected to land, and heads to Nineveh.The story of the prophet Jonah begins with a mission he receives from God: to warn the people of Nineveh that they need to repent their evil ways, to change their relations from unfounded hatred to love of others.
How the Story of Jonah Relates to the Jewish People
Just like Jonah, we—the Jewish people—have an unavoidable role. It is the same role today as it was in time of ancient Babylon, when Abraham united us as a nation on the basis of “love your friend as yourself”: to establish our unity such that it would serve as an example for humanity, i.e. to be a “light for the nations.”
“Israel is the first and foremost to receive all the abundance, and from them it is dispensed to all the worlds. For this reason they are called Israel, meaning ‘Li-Rosh’ (‘I am the head’), namely that they are in the discernment of Rosh (head), to receive the blessing first, and after them the rest of the world.”
– Be’er Mayim Chaim, Parashat Teruma, Chapter 25.
Historically, we have experienced how this interplay between us and the rest of the world operates: when we were united, both we and the world thrived. However, when our relations deteriorate into unfounded hatred, we experience blows as many forms of anti-Semitism, and the world experiences decline as many forms of crisis.
As the clock ticks on, and we continually escape the realization of our role, we gradually reach a state where re-establishing our positive connection seems impossible. Moreover, we become repulsed by the very mention that our role is to be “a light for the nations.”
Jews turn against each other. Jewish self hatred or Jewish anti-Semitism becomes rampant as divides between factions of secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, pro-Israel and anti-Israel Jews become markedly distinct. We ourselves let the gray cloud of unfounded hatred descend upon us, and set the scene for a great big storm.
The sailors in the story change each time. They’ve taken forms of the Nazis during the Holocaust, the Russians and Eastern Europeans during the Pogroms, the Catholic Spanish during the Spanish Inquisition, to name a few.
The Relevance of the Jonah Story for Jews and Humanity Today
In the last few years, there has been a sharp rise in anti-Semitic crimes and threats, together with a sharp rise with many other problems in the world, terrorism, natural disasters, depression, suicide, social division and drug abuse, to name a few. The more humanity experiences crises and problems, the more their fingers point at the Jews as the source of their problems.
The Jonah story describes the roots of anti-Semitism.
Jonah’s escape from the mission he was granted describes the Jewish people’s escape from their role to unite above their divisions and exemplify that unity for humanity.
The sailors’ realization of Jonah as the cause of the storm, and the throwing of Jonah overboard today describes the rise of the Jews being blamed for all kinds of problems people are experiencing.
The time will come when we’ll have to be thrown overboard, and enter into the big fish, i.e. undergo a serious examination of what does it mean to be Jewish? Why do so many people hate us? Also, how can we improve our situation both for ourselves and the world?
The question is only how much suffering will we need to experience until we reach that self examination: Is the current amount of anti-Semitism enough to spur us to undergo this self-scrutiny? Or, will we continue escaping our mission, and will that suffering need to take on proportions at scales of world wars and holocausts, which we’ve seen before, where only a small amount of us would be left again to undergo that examination and agree to our role?
Only when we agree to accept our role—to “love your friend as yourself” and to be “a light for the nations”—will we and the world experience a new tendency toward peace, harmony and happiness, i.e. will the fish bring us to the safe shore, to Nineveh.
|“Since we were ruined by unfounded hatred, and the world was ruined with us, we will be rebuilt by unfounded love, and the world will be rebuilt with us.”
– Rav Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook, Orot Kodesh (Sacred Lights), Vol. 3
The Meaning of Yom Kippur in Relation to the Jonah Story
Yom Kippur is a significant point in our development where we engage in deep introspection: How have we been thinking and acting until today in relation to our role—to “love your friend as yourself” and to be “a light for the nations”?
Are we doing what we need to do in order to unite above our differences? We might be very successful in all kinds of fields, like science, technology, medicine, high tech and startups, arts and culture, and we might be providing a lot of material benefit to the world through these fields, but are we trying to overcome the divisions between us?
How can we better realize our role as a Jewish people, and become the example that humanity needs from us?
Yom Kippur is an opportunity for us to realize our role, to pioneer the unity of humanity. This is the way to calm down the increasing global turbulence and explosions setting off more and more around the world, and a canopy of peace, harmony and happiness will cover us (i.e. the Sukkah).
“The people of Israel must be the first nation to assume the international altruism, and be a role model of the good and beauty contained in this form of governance.”
– Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), The Writings of the Last Generation
With optimism, despite our differences, I do see that we have the potential to unite: we’ve always been attracted to equality, we’re a people who have never held slaves, we’re drawn to knowledge and wisdom more than to dividing ideologies, and even the religious among us conduct our prayers not alone, but in tens (the Minyan). Also, the word for our prayer and study houses, synagogues, “Beit Knesset” means house of assembly or connection. Unity is embedded into the foundation of our people, and I hope that we will use the time for self-examination on Yom Kippur to scrutinize how we can extract our unity from its potential and put it into practice.
May all the Jewish people be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year.
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Chicago’s Russian periodical 7 Days published my article: “Is Judgment Day Waiting for American Jews?”
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The Jerusalem Post published my new article “The Secret to a Happy Year”
Jonah’s story tells us that when we avoid our task, prefer separation to connection, and spread discord throughout the world, there always comes a storm.
The High Holy Days are a time of joy, as well as a time of reflection. This year, it seems as though there is more to reflect on than in past years. The worldwide resurgence of antisemitism is growing increasingly foreboding with each year, and the rise of neo-Nazism in the US and Germany is bad news for the Jews wherever they are. So in the reflective spirit of the High Holy Days, let us examine our situation and find the opportunity in the challenge.
The past year has uncovered and deepened a chasm that exists within Jewish communities the world over, and primarily between the State of Israel and the American Jewish community. Often, the rift has become so deep that even some pro-Israel American Jewish leaders are openly reconsidering their support of the Jewish state.
But as long as we can talk about our problems, we can also make matters right, and Yom Kippur is the best time to reflect on our actions in light of the adverse worldwide developments toward Jews.
Avoiding Our Mission
The most important part in the Yom Kippur service comes after reading the Torah portion. It is called, Haphtarah, and in it, we read selections from the Prophets. On Yom Kippur, the text of the Haphtarah is the book of Jonah. In many communities, the wealthy pay hefty sums of money for the right to read this Haphtarah, as it is known to be a Segula (endowing power) for gaining (even more) riches.
Jonah’s story is special. It speaks of a prophet who first tried to “dodge” his mission, but finally repented. Another notable point about Jonah is that his mission did not concern the people of Israel, but rather the gentile city of Nineveh. Today, in light of the rising antisemitism, it is more pertinent than ever to reflect on the message behind Jonah’s story.
God orders Prophet Jonah to warn the residents of the great city of Nineveh that they have corrupted their ways. Put differently, Jonah must warn them that they have become so mean that their society is unsustainable. The prophet’s task was to restore the relationships among the residents of Nineveh, or they would all be destroyed.
However, Jonah decides to evade his task and tries to flee by ship.
As Jews, our nation was established on the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and our justification for existence has been our task to be “a light unto nations,” to spread that unity throughout the world. Yet, just like Jonah, we have been avoiding our mission for the past 2,000 years. We cannot afford to keep evading it.
For centuries, our sages and leaders have stressed the indispensability of our unity for our safety, and even for the safety of the world. They also stressed that when we fall into unfounded hatred, calamities and troubles soon pursue us and the world suffers, too.
But over time, we have lost awareness; we have grown detached and alienated from each other. Worse yet, we have come to ridicule such terms as “a light unto nations” and “a chosen people.” We have no recollection of what we were chosen for. But it still awaits, and when we run from it, there comes a storm.
We Are Asleep
In the story, Jonah’s escape from his mission by ship caused the sea to roar. At the height of the storm, Jonah went to sleep while the sailors remained on deck and struggled to save the vessel. Gradually, they began to suspect that it was someone among them who was causing the sea to rage. They cast a lot, which put the blame on Jonah, the only Jew on board.
Today’s plight bears many similarities to Jonah’s ship. The world has become a global village and we’re all in one boat, so to speak. The sailors—the nations of the world—are blaming the Jew “on board” (the Jewish people) for their troubles.
Like Jonah, we are asleep. We are beginning to wake up to the existence of hatred, but we have not woken up to our vocation. If we do not wake up very soon, the sailors will throw us overboard, as they did with Jonah.
Carriers of a Method
In the story, the sailors make a desperate attempt to calm the sea, and by Jonah’s order, they throw him overboard. Once in the water, the storm calms, but a whale swallows Jonah. For three days and three nights, Jonah introspects in the fish’s abdomen. He begs for his life and resolves to carry out his mission.
Just like Jonah, each of us carries within something that is stirring up the world. We, the people of Israel, are carriers of a method of connection, a method for uniting above the hatred, as King Solomon put it (Proverbs 10:12), “Hate stirs strife, and love covers all crimes.” This method of unity is the root from which our nation grew. It is what tied us into a single nation, and what today we must rekindle because wherever we go, this untapped mode of work destabilizes the world around us, which then blames us for its woes.
The unity between us will inspire is the light we must project to the rest of the nations, just as now the separation among us projects separation to the whole of humanity. This is the reason for all our troubles. When we unite, it will endow humanity with the energy required to achieve worldwide unity, where all people live “as one man with one heart.” Therefore, it is our choice to assume responsibility, or be thrown overboard, only to subsequently agree to carry out our task.
A Light unto Nations
Jonah’s role was to turn meanness and hatred into brotherhood among the people of the gentile city. This is also our role. Nothing has changed except the date and the names. Yet, instead of being “a light for the nations,” we are trying our best to be like the rest of the nations.
As more and more people and nations subconsciously sense that the Jews are not like the rest of the nations, that they are responsible for their misfortunes, they are beginning to treat us according to their feelings. People are reacting instinctively to what is happening to them, and subconsciously turn their anger and frustration against us. The Day of Atonement is our opportunity to make a decision to unite, and become “a light unto nations.” Only then will the global whirlpool around us subside, humanity will be at peace, and a canopy (Sukkah) of peace will spread over all of us.
In that Sukkah, we will all sit as one, without struggle or strife, and we will make unity our prime value. Now, as we recognize our role, we must begin to raise the tenet, “love your neighbor as yourself,” above all other values until it becomes a thatch that protects us from any trouble and affliction.
If we want to end our troubles, rid the world of antisemitism, and lead a safe and happy life, we must unite, and thus set an example of unity to the nations. This is will bring peace and quiet to the world.
Words from Our Sages about Unity, Love, and Israel’s Role in the World
Unity and Love
Our nation’s success depends only on brotherly love, on connecting as one family.
Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the great rule of Torah, to include in unity and peace, which is the essence of vitality, persistence, and correction of the whole of creation—by people of differing opinions merging together with love, unity, and peace.
Rabbi Nathan Sternhertz, Likutey Halachot [Assorted Rules], “Blessings for Seeing and Personal Blessings,” Rule no. 4
Since we were ruined by unfounded hatred, and the world was ruined with us, we will be rebuilt by unfounded love, and the world will be rebuilt with us.
The Raiah [Rav Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook], Orot Kodesh (Sacred Lights), Vol. 3
Any turmoil in the world comes only for Israel. Now we are called upon to carry out a great task willingly and mindfully: to build ourselves and the entire ruined world along with us.
The Raiah [Rav Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook], Igrot (Letters), Letter no. 726
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Everything that you would like others to do for you, do them for your brothers.
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Shoftim, “Rules of Mourning,” Chapter 14
When is the Creator fond of creation? When all of Israel are bundled together without envy, hatred, or competition among them, and each thinks of one’s friend’s well-being and favor. At that time the Creator is delighted with His creation.
The book, Remember for Miriam, Chapter 11
When all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves, and have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and jeopardy in the world would cease to exist. And we would all be assured of a whole and wholesome life.
Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” item 19
The Role of Israel
The people of Israel must be the first nation to assume the international altruism, and be a role model of the good and beauty contained in this form of governance.
Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), The Writings of the Last Generation
The people of Israel, who are more capable of approaching the Creator than all the other nations, will then bestow the bounty upon the rest of the nations.
Rav Baruch Ashlag (the Rabash), The Writings of Rabash, Vol. 2, Letter no. 18
The Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of light would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over.
Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
It is written that each of the nations will hold a Jewish man and lead him to the Holy Land. And it was not enough that they could leave by themselves. You must understand from where the nations of the world would come by such a will and idea. Know that this is through the dissemination of the true wisdom, so they will evidently see the true God and the true law.
And the dissemination of the wisdom in the masses is called “a Shofar (a horn used on festivities).” Like the Shofar, whose voice travels a great distance, the echo of the wisdom will spread the world over, so even the nations will hear and acknowledge that there is Godly wisdom in Israel.
Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “Messiah’s Shofar”
It is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world through Torah and Mitzvot (commandments), to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation, being adhesion with the Creator.
Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
The construction of the world, which is currently crumpled by the dreadful storms of a blood-filled sword, requires the construction of the Israeli nation. The construction of the nation and the revealing of its spirit are one and the same, and it is one with the construction of the world, which is crumpling and awaits a force full of unity and sublimity, and all that is in the soul of the Assembly of Israel.
The Raiah [Rav Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook], Orot (Lights), Chapter 9, p 16
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In San Francisco, the the Russian newspaper 24 Hours published my article “Requiem to Multiculturalism”:
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