Monthly quotes

Adar 5786

I sit on the rubble of my home. I sit where my living room once stood, where my grandchildren once played. Around me is devastation, silence mixed with grief. Yet even here, among the ruins, I refuse to surrender my belief in peace. I could choose anger. I could allow bitterness to consume me. But I know where that road leads. Hatred will not rebuild my home. Revenge will not shelter my grandchildren. Violence will not bring security to this land; it will only create new graves and new ruins. So I choose peace.
Khalil El-Halabi, “From the Rubble of My Home, I Still Choose Peace”

Shevat 5786

Bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.  A great people which had created a great civilization had become a nation of silent onlookers. They remained silent in the face of hate, in the face of brutality and in the face of mass murder. America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent.
Rabbi Joachim Prinz, “Speech at the March on Washington,” 28 August 1963

Tevet 5786

This train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This train
Faith will be rewarded
This train
Hear the steel wheels singin’
This train
Bells of freedom ringin’
Bruce Springsteen, “Land of Hope and Dreams”

Kislev 5786

The horror
the calamity
the disgrace,
the rubble of folly
and religion’s stupidities,
the dimness of vision
and violence of despair
won’t be repaired by an officer,
a bomb or a plane,
and not by still more blood.
Only wisdom of the heart could mend it
only the surgeon, the doctor,
the good teacher, the teachers
the medic—an Arab, a Jew—
only the quiet traveler
riding a bicycle,
someone carrying a sandwich
and walking along a street,
someone opening their eyes,
someone who speaks with compassion,
someone listening
someone learning and wise
someone waiting and thinking
someone guiding someone
down a path of kindness, affection,
the painter, the poet,
disciples of peace—
only the gardeners of peace.
Aharon Shabtai, “Tikkun” (October 10, 2023)

Heshvan 5786

Liberal Zionism today faces challenges not only from without but from within. While the situation on the ground is rapidly changing, the current war in Gaza raises profound moral questions for those of us who remain committed to the possibility of an Israel where Jewish flourishing is not predicated on Palestinian suffering. If we are truly committed to that goal, then we must be able to articulate our vision for Israel clearly, speak plainly about the ways in which that vision is not yet a reality, and work to chart a path from where we are to where we want to be.
Deborah Barer, “When Community Becomes a Zero-Sum Game”

Tishrei 5786

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
W.H. Auden, “The More Loving One”

Elul 5785

We are far beyond the blame game of who is the more guilty party. We don’t have the time to argue about who is holding up the food trucks.  A starving human being needs food today, not tomorrow.
Jose Andres