Pre-Annapolis Dvar Torah by Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, National Secretary, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

November 2007

Thoughts on the 12th Yartzheit of Rabin:  Living with A "Half-full"
Perspective

Many of us live with the philosophy embodied by the phrase, "the glass is half empty/the glass is half full."  And while it might not be the operating principle for every decision, we often react based on this idea: we are either leaning optimistic or leaning pessimistic.  This way of viewing the world often either promotes a forward way of thinking, or promotes a regressive, fear-based way of thinking.  We either believe that change is possible, or we believe that things are destined to remain the same.

In a midrash from Genesis Rabbah 39:1, we are presented with this dichotomy, based on a creative reading of the text by my teacher, Rabbi Roly Matalon, in the story of how Abraham came to find God at the beginning of parshat Lech L¹cha.  The midrash says that Abraham was traveling from place to place when he came upon a birah doleket, a castle alight, and gained consciousness of God for the first time.  The question arises in understanding exactly what Abraham saw. Rabbi Matalon explains that some people translate doleket as "radiating brilliant light," while others translate doleket as "burning, enveloped in flames."  These are two very different readings of the same word, two readings that can reflect the idea of "half empty vs. half full." We can either see a situation, and our world for that matter, as radiating bright light, as being full of potential, or we can see the same world as burning with fire, representing pessimism and fear. Rabbi Matalon, based on readings of Rabbi Heschel, teaches that we must see both in the world, the radiant hope and the burning fear, but ultimately we must overcome the fear and focus on the hope.  Heschel writes, "One may look upon the world with enthusiasm and absorb its wonder and radiant glory; one may also see and be shocked by its ugliness and evil."  (Passion for Truth, pg. 34)  It is with this way of seeing the world that I am focusing on the 12th yartzheit of Yitzhak Rabin, which is observed this week.

If there is any single place in the world that operates with the full understanding of the birah doleket as both light and fire, it is the Middle East, most specifically Israel-Palestine.  And Prime Minister Rabin embodied both aspects of this world view within himself throughout his life. His early days, as one of the founders of the modern State of Israel, a general and leader of extraordinary measure, were mostly founded on the "half-empty" view of the situation, such that there was no living together with Palestinians, no hope for making peace. However, his later days, as Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner, could be seen as a major shift to the "half-full" perspective, which in the end, was what cost him his life. He was assassinated because he believed that peace was the only way to move forward, because he was tired of the bloodshed, tired of the wars and tired of living with the pain of pessimism, a pain that was eating away at his soul.  And so, he began to shift his ways, reached out to the enemy and attempted to make peace.  From his grave now, he still waits for that dream to come true.

As we approach the upcoming Annapolis Peace Summit that is tentatively scheduled to take place at the end of November, I believe that we need to adopt the strongest vision of "half-full" that we possibly can, seeing the birah doleket as alight with possibility, albeit with challenges, and pursue a final peace settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  In one of his masterful works, Kol Dodi Dofek, the great Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik teaches us about the difference between living an existence of fate and an existence of destiny.  The former is a life "devoid of meaning, direction and purpose, solely subject to the forces of the environment unto which the individual has been cast by providence."  The latter, an existence of destiny, is an "active mode of existence, one wherein a person confronts the environment into which he/she is thrown...[living] to struggle with his external circumstances without forfeiting either his/her independence or selfhood."[1] It is with this mindset that we ought to be approaching the upcoming peace conference: with hope, optimism and a spirit of mutual respect and acknowledgment that will allow for a lasting, meaningful and viable resolution to this conflict to emerge.

To be sure, there are challenges and obstacles to overcome, like Hamas in Gaza, the weakness of both Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, and the lack of time and commitment that the current US Administration has paid to this seething conflict in the past seven years, waiting until the 11th hour to work for a settlement.  However, as the past history reflects, obstacles can be overcome, as nobody thought Egypt would be a partner for peace in 1973, but four years later the Camp David Accord was signed.  These are all of the reasons to see the situation as "half-empty."  Rather, let us think of the children on both sides, the dead on both sides and the desire for peace that exists on both sides to tip the scales over to the "half-full" view.  In the Torah, Isaac and Ishmael, the two sons of Abraham, come together to bury their father and then go their separate ways. Let us not wait until death to come together.  Let us see the "castle alight," put out the fires of the burning pain that has existed for too long, and come together in life to bring an end to this conflict.  For the sake of Abraham our shared parent; for the sake of Yitzhak, the modern hero of Israel; for the sake of all humanity: let this be time that shalom comes.