Praise for Embracing Israel/Palestine

447 Pages·2012·7.05 MB·English

Praise for Embracing Israel/Palestine
Embracing Israel/Palestine is a terrific book by a pioneer
of global transformation. Out of love for both Israelis and
Palestinians as equal creations of God, Rabbi Lerner offers
us the deepest way out of the bloody conflict. Not just a
political agreement, not a simple “real estate” and power
sharing transaction, Embracing Israel/Palestine draws from a
deep psychological and political understanding of the dynamics
of the Middle East. Lerner’s book is coming out of a loving heart
and a powerful analytic mind. He offers us a strategy of trust
that could heal and repair the mentalities of fear that limit the
current perspectives that dominate our politics.

—Avrum
 Burg,
 former
 chair
 of
 the
 Jewish
 Agency
 and
 World

Zionist
 Organization,
 speaker
 of
 the
 Knesset,
 and
 interim

president
 of
 Israel
Rabbi Michael Lerner is one of America’s most significant
progressive intellectuals and political leaders, and Embracing
Israel/Palestine is not only a great conceptual breakthrough
in dealing with the Middle East but also demonstrates a
methodology for how best to think about global and domestic
U.S. politics. For many decades Muslims around the world
have been cheered by Rabbi Lerner’s challenge to the
media’s demeaning of our religion and dismissal of the rights
of Palestinians, just as they have been challenged by his
insistence that they recognize the importance of truly and
deeply accepting Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.
I hope my colleagues on Capitol Hill, the cynical media, and
leaders in Israel, Palestine, and throughout the world are
pushed by ordinary readers to grapple with the brilliant path
to peace and reconciliation put forward in this book. Rabbi
Lerner’s commitment to nonviolence and a path of love and
generosity should not be dismissed as utopian. My experience
in Congress leads me to believe, on the contrary, that it is
precisely his way of thinking that is the only path that will give
Israel, Palestine, and the United States the peace, security, and
well-being all three deserve!
—Rep.
 Keith
 Ellison
 (
 D-­‐Minn.),
 the
 first
 elected
 Muslim
 to
 the

U.S.
 Congress
 and
 chair
 of
 the
 seventy-­‐member
 Progressive

Caucus
 of
 the
 U.S.
 House
 of
 Representatives
Rabbi Michael Lerner provides us with a brilliant and hopeful
vision of how to transform the Middle East from a cauldron
of violence to a vanguard of peace. For several decades
Lerner has been a remarkably courageous rabbi, defying
the orthodoxies of some in his own community to insist that
Biblical teachings require recognizing the equal value to God
of both Israelis and Palestinians. Challenging the extremists on
all sides, Lerner insists on the practical and ethical necessity
to embrace both Israel and Palestine with compassion and
love. Lerner presents us with a path to peace that will require
our replacing the strategy of domination and war with what
Lerner appropriately describes as the far more effective path
to homeland security: the strategy of generosity and genuine
caring for the well-being of everyone involved. I hope every
American will read this book and apply its lessons to change
how we deal with the Middle East.
—Jimmy
 Carter,
 39th
 president
 of
 the
 United
 States
 of
 America
Embracing Israel/Palestine is a must-read for those who care
about peace in the Middle East. It is provocative, radical,
persuasive, and, if given the attention it deserves, could make a
major contribution to reconciliation. Please read this book!
—Archbishop
 Desmond
 Tutu
Rabbi Michael Lerner is one of the great prophetic figures of
our time. He inherited this mantle from his teacher and my
hero, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. This book should be the
indispensable work on the delicate and difficult effort to keep
track of the precious humanity of Jews and Palestinians in the
epic struggles for security and justice.
—Cornel
 West,
 author
 of
 Race
 Matters
 and
 professor
 of
 African

American
 studies
 and
 religion
 at
 Princeton
 University

Our sages tell us: words that come from the heart enter the
heart. Michael Lerner’s Embracing Israel/Palestine is not only
a passionate book that comes from the heart, it also demands
of us to use our hearts. Lerner suggests that a politics of
generosity, a politics that begins with careful and compassionate
listening to the stories of both Israelis and Palestinians, is the
only way forward. The politics of greed and power that is once
again on the rise in the United States can only be defeated by
a politics that takes as its starting point the worth of all human
beings. Lerner has sketched a path from here to there. Read the
book. Take up the conversation. Change the world.
—Rabbi
 Aryeh
 Cohen,
 associate
 professor
 of
 rabbinic
 literature

at
 American
 Jewish
 University
 and
 author
 of
 Rereading
 Talmud
Rabbi Michael Lerner is one of the very few Jewish leaders in
the Diaspora who has consistently challenged slavish Jewish
pandering to right-wing Israeli chauvinism and messianism,
opposed the Occupation of the West Bank and the crimes of
many Israeli settlers, supported Palestinian rights and justice for
the Palestinian people, called for an end to religious coercion
and separation of state and synagogue in Israel, yet has
simultaneously retained a strong commitment to the safety and
well-being of Israel and the Jewish people. He has been a fierce
critic of those who move from legitimate criticism of Israeli
policies to illegitimate anti-Semitism or attempts to destroy
Israel. His voice needs to be heard by Israelis, Palestinians, and
all those who seek peace for the Middle East.
—Uri
 Avnery,
 former
 member
 of
 the
 Knesset
 and
 current
 chair
 of

the
 Israeli
 peace
 movement
 Gush
 Shalom
This important book will be difficult for many people to read,
and those who will find it off-putting are the ones who most
need to read it. Some will want to reject it because Rabbi
Lerner works so hard to compassionately present the narratives
and fears of both “sides.” How can he not take a “side”? Still
others will seek to argue with one interpretation of a fact or
another, or the omission that they deem critical, and will then be
relieved that they can dismiss the entire book. These defensive
strategies must be put aside, and this book must be read from
cover to cover with an open mind, heart, and soul. If you dare to
do so you may have a transformative experience.
—Rabbi
 Arik
 W.
 Ascherman,
 former
 director
 of
 Rabbis
 for

Human
 Rights
 in
 Israel
 for
 fifteen
 years
Michael Lerner’s passionate call to the Jewish community to
heal the wounds of Jewish historical trauma is an indispensable
element of peacemaking.
—Rabbi
 Lynn
 Gottlieb

Embracing Israel/Palestine is the nuanced, historically-
balanced, psychologically astute, and spiritually resonant
accounting of Israel/Palestine that we have been waiting for. A
must-read for all who seek to deepen our understanding of, and
our action around, Israel/Palestine.
—Holly
 Taya
 Shere,
 co-­‐founder
 of
 Kohenet
 Hebrew
 Priestess

Institute
Michael Lerner has been a national leader of the social change
movements in the United States for the past forty-five years.
The practical wisdom derived from that experience plus his
analytic skills honed as a psychotherapist, philosopher, and
theologian combine in this book to give Americans, Israelis,
and Palestinians a brilliant path to heal the Middle East. This
book is at once a major intellectual achievement, a practical
guide for peacemakers, and a perspective on politics and
social change that everyone needs to read. Share it with your
most partisan friends on every side of this issue and on every
side of America’s political divisions, and watch how they begin
to broaden and mellow their understanding of the world.
—Michael
 Nagler,
 founder
 of
 Peace
 Studies
 at
 U.C.
 Berkeley
 and

chair
 of
 the
 Metta
 Center
 for
 Nonviolence

I’ve read dozens of books on the subject, but none has the
potential this book has to inform wisely and fairly, mobilize
good will effectively, and motivate action intelligently toward
needed change. Rabbi Lerner’s generous Jewish vision warms
my Christian heart, and his deep integration of spirituality,
theology, political philosophy, and human kindness serves as a
model I hope many will join me in following.
—Brian
 McLaren,
 Christian
 Evangelical
 Pastor
 and
 author
 of
 A

New
 Kind
 of
 Christianity
Rabbi Lerner writes from a deep and passionate framework
of social justice within the Jewish tradition. Yet he is deeply
sensitive to the humanity and moral imperative to find a
solution that speaks to the needs of both Israel and Palestine—
indeed, they are inextricably linked.
—Aaron
 Back,
 director
 of
 Israel
 Social
 Justice
 Fund
Embracing Israel/Palestine is a masterpiece among the myri-
ads of studies dedicated to the numerous human catastrophes
of our times. No matter how many books you’ve read on this
subject, Rabbi Lerner will give you a new and powerfully insight-
ful perspective that could empower you to play a significant
and hopefully effective role in healing this conflict—and in doing
so beginning to heal the world.
—

 Zygmunt
 Bauman,
 author
 of
 Modernity
 and
 the
 Holocaust

and
 Postmodernity
 and
 Its
 Discontents
Rabbi Lerner’s penetrating analysis both grasps the
complexities that polarize Israel and Palestine and lays out
a stunningly clear potential for peace. Lerner’s breathtaking
insights challenge all of the assumptions of despair and
cynicism and bring light and hope to one of the most difficult
political conundrums of our time.
—

 Rabbi
 Dan
 Goldblatt
Michael Lerner takes a courageous, enlightening position
in Embracing Israel/Palestine, not only in speaking as an
American Jewish rabbi who cares about both countries,
but in his conviction that only real attention to the suffering
and historical traumas of both sides can bring about peace.
The intellectual clarity and psychological sophistication of
his presentation is matched by his passionate plea for the
transformation of religion from a tool for political partisanship
to a basis for genuine renewal of commitment to justice
and recognition of all peoples. His argument breaks the
conventional splitting between the pragmatic and the idealistic,
making a convincing case that only respect for the needs of all
peoples will bring about the will and the possibility of resolution.
—Jessica
 Benjamin,
 psychoanalyst
 and
 author
 of
 The
 Bonds
 of

Love
Rabbi Lerner has been passionately advocating a new era of
peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land utilizing the interfaith
resources. We are confident that this spirit of mutual respect
and cooperation can work in the Holy Land as well. There are
enough resources in our scriptures, traditions, and history to
make such solidarity legitimate. I hope that Muslims, Jews, and
Christians will use Embracing Israel/Palestine as a jumping off
point for discussing how our three faiths can work together to
bring peace and justice to the Middle East.
—Sayyid
 M.
 Syeed,
 National
 Director
 at
 the
 Islamic
 Society
 of

North
  America’s
  Office
  for
  Interfaith
  &
  Community
  Alliances

This book would change the world if there were enough people
who would open their eyes and read it. Lerner uses Israel/
Palestine as a prism to look at the world as a whole—rife with
conflicts of many kinds, a number of which involve the United
States. He comes to the wildly “utopian” conclusion that the
solution to these conflicts can only come by following the
Biblical injunctions to love the stranger. Far from being utopian
or unrealistic, Lerner shows that this will be the only practical
way to keep the alliance of nationalism and capitalism that rules
the world today from destroying the fabric of natural and social
life. I hope this book will be used widely in courses in political
science and sociology in our universities, not only in courses
about the Middle East.
—Robert
 Bellah,
 Professor
 Emeritus,
 University
 of
 California,

Berkeley,
 author
 of
 Religion
 in
 Human
 Evolution,
 and
 co-­‐author

of
 Habits
 of
 the
 Heart
There are good books and there are needed books. This book
is both. It is good because Michael Lerner gives an insightful
account of the history and politics of struggles between Israelis
and Palestinians. It is needed because he grasps the religious
underpinnings of this conflict and his spiritually progressive
perspectives offer hope for peace. What Rabbi Lerner has to
say will be especially helpful for my fellow Evangelicals who
must balance their justifiable love for Israel with a cry for justice
for the Palestinian people.
–Tony
 Campolo,
 Evangelical
 pastor
 and
 professor
 of
 sociology
 at

Eastern
 University
Embracing
Israel/Palestine
Other Books by Rabbi Michael Lerner
Jewish Renewal:
A Path to Healing and Transformation
The Politics of Meaning:
Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism
The Socialism of Fools:
Anti-Semitism on the Left
Spirit Matters:
Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul
Surplus Powerlessness:
The Psychodynamics of Everyday Life and the Psychology of
Individual and Social Transformation
Jews & Blacks:
A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America
(with Cornel West)
Healing Israel/Palestine:
A Path to Peace and Reconciliation
The Left Hand of God:
Healing America’s Political and Spiritual Crisis