AYF-News> Fwd: Members-Discuss> FW: wake up call

["Paulyn Jansen" <ayf-info@xxxxxx>]

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> dadurch beeinträchtigt.<hr><FONT size=2> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> 
> <DIV><FONT size=3>What follows was forwarded to me from a former</FONT></DIV> 
> <DIV><FONT size=3>Peace Corps volunteer in Benin. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT 
> size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>It is from Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the 
> Shalom<BR>Center,  and it is worth reading.<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT 
> size=3>>></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3><BR>In 1984, when the nuclear arms 
> race was in </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>speed-up mode, The Shalom Center 
> built a </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>sukkah between the White House and 
> the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Soviet Embassy in Washington.<BR><BR>We 
> focused on the line  from the evening </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>prayers 
> - "Ufros alenu sukkat shlomekha" -- </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>"Spread 
> over all of us Your sukkah of shalom."<BR><BR>And we  asked, "Why a  sukkah?" 
> -- Why does </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>the  prayer plead to God for a 
> "sukkah of shalom"  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>rather than God's  "tent" 
> or "house"  or "palace"  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>of 
> peace?<BR><BR>Because the sukkah is just a hut, the most  </FONT></DIV> 
> <DIV><FONT size=3>vulnerable of houses.  Vulnerable in time, where  
> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>it lasts for only a week each year.  
> Vulnerable in  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>space, where its roof must be 
> not only leafy but </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>leaky -- letting in the 
> starlight, and gusts of </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>wind and 
> rain.<BR><BR>For much of our lives we try to achieve  peace and <BR>safety by 
> building with steel and concrete and </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT 
> size=3>toughness. Pyramids, air raid shelters, Pentagons,  </FONT></DIV> 
> <DIV><FONT size=3>World Trade Centers.  Hardening what might be targets 
T size=3>and, like Pharaoh, hardening our hearts against what  </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>is foreign to us.<BR><BR>But the sukkah comes to remind  us:  
We are in truth <BR>all vulnerable. If "a hard rain gonna fall," it  will 
</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>fall on all of us.<BR><BR>Americans have felt 
invulnerable.  The oceans, our <BR>wealth, our military power have made up what 
seemed  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>an invulnerable shield.<BR><BR>We may 
have begun feeling  uncomfortable in the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT 
size=3>nuclear age, but no harm came to us. Yet yesterday  </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>the ancient truth came home: We all live in a  
sukkah.<BR><BR>Not only the targets of attack but also the </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>instruments of attack were among our proudest </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>possessions: the sleek transcontinental airliners.  
</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>They availed us nothing. Worse than 
nothing.<BR><BR>Even the  greatest oceans do not shield us; even </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>the mightiest buildings do not shield us; even the  
</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>wealthiest balance sheets and the most 
powerful<BR>weapons do  not shield us.<BR><BR>There are only wispy walls and 
leaky roofs between  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>us.<BR><BR>The planet is 
in fact one interwoven web of life.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>I MUST 
love my neighbor as I do myself, because my  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT 
size=3>neighbor and myself are interwoven. If I hate my </FONT></DIV> 
<DIV><FONT size=3>neighbor, the hatred will recoil upon me.<BR><BR>What is the  
lesson, when we learn that we -- all </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>of us -- 
live in a sukkah?</FONT></DIV><FONT size=3> <DIV><BR>How do we make such a 
vulnerable house into a place </DIV> <DIV>of shalom, of peace and security and 
harmony and </DIV> <DIV>wholeness?<BR><BR>The lesson is that only a world where 
we all </DIV> <DIV>recognize our vulnerability can become a world where </DIV> 
<DIV>all communities feel 
 </DIV> <DIV>communities. And only such a world can prevent such </DIV> 
<DIV>acts of rage and murder.<BR><BR>If I treat my neighbor's pain and  grief 
as foreign, </DIV> <DIV>I will end up suffering when my neighbor's pain and 
</DIV> <DIV>grief curdle into rage.<BR><BR>But if I realize that in simple fact 
 the walls </DIV> <DIV>between us are full of holes, I can reach through </DIV> 
<DIV>them in compassion and connection.<BR><BR>Suspicion about the perpetrators 
 of this act of </DIV> <DIV>infamy has fallen upon some groups that espouse a 
</DIV> <DIV>tortured version of Islam. Whether or not this turns </DIV> 
<DIV>out to be so, America must open its heart and mind </DIV> <DIV>to the pain 
and grief of those in the Arab and </DIV> <DIV>Muslim worlds who feel excluded, 
denied, unheard,<BR>disempowered,  defeated.<BR><BR>This does not mean ignoring 
or forgiving whoever <BR>wrought  such bloodiness. Their violence must be 
</DIV> <DIV>halted, their rage must be calmed -- and the pain<BR>behind them 
must be  heard and addressed.<BR><BR>Instead of entering upon a "war of 
civilizations,"  </DIV> <DIV>we must pursue a planetary peace.</DIV> 
<DIV><BR><BR>Shalom, Arthur<BR></DIV> <DIV> </DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> 
<DIV><BR>Rabbi Arthur Waskow<BR>Director, The Shalom  
Center<BR><BR><BR><BR>__________________________________________________<BR>Terrorist
  Attacks on U.S. - How can you help?<BR>Donate cash, emergency relief  
information<BR></FONT><A  
href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/";><FONT  
size=3>http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/</FONT></A></DIV> 
<DIV> </DIV> 
<DIV>/<<>>\\\\<<>>////<<>>\\\\<<<>>>////<<>>\\\\<<>>////<<>>\<BR>The  Life in 
Africa Foundation </DIV> <DIV>PO Box 28825, Kampala, Uganda <A  
href="http://LifeInAfrica.com";>http://LifeInAfrica.com</A> </DIV> <DIV>Echoes 
of Africa <A  
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