Struggling with God
A few weeks ago, I was invited to participate on a panel of Jews, Christians, and Muslims who are seeking a way to end the violence among the adherents of these religions around the world. This “Abrahamic Family Reunion” was hosted by Dulce Murphy and Joe Montville of Track II: An Institute for Citizen Diplomacy, and by Michael Murphy, founder of Esalen Institute, where the meeting was held. Montville and the Murphys started this organization in the 1980’s with citizen exchanges between the US and the Soviet Union. The exchanges had profound effects, such as initiating the joint astronaut-cosmonaut missions of the two nations. Imagine the conversations that happened among KGB agents and American transpersonal psychologists in the hot tubs south of Big Sur! Track II is now engaged in an effort to replicate that success among the three faiths that trace their roots back to Abraham.
It was a bit much to expect that our Muslim participants would bathe in the buff, but otherwise the four days brought us all together in commitment to do what we can for the sake of peace.
One of the panelists was Haim Dov Beliak, a rabbi from Los Angeles who has devoted himself to the cause of ending religious extremism. This soft-spoken man inspired and entertained the rest of us with his wise observations.
Beliak is the co-director of www.stopmoskowitz.org and www.jewsonfirst.org, sites dedicated to expose and counteract religious extremism. The first site addresses the activities of Irving Moskowitz, who runs a big charitable bingo casino in Hawaiian Gardens, a small, poor municipality in the LA area. Millions in “profit” scooped up from the low-income people who play the game is sent to support the Jewish settlers who build housing on Palestinian land in contravention of Israeli policy and international law. Beliak is on a mission to “out” Moskowitz and get his casino’s license revoked by the state of California. Jews on First is a campaign to inform the public about the damage that extremist Jewish and Christian Zionists are doing to the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Not only Moskowitz and other Jewish donors are fueling the violence among the “Abrahamic Family”, but fundamentalist Christian groups are also giving a lot of money to the settlers, paying the fines that the Israeli government imposes on the settlers for building illegal housing tracts, making it very difficult to stop them from building more and further ruining efforts for peace.
Beliak told us about a conversation he had with a Muslim leader who is a colleague of his in Los Angeles. They realized together that the name “Israel” and the word “jihad” have the same root meaning. Israel is the name that was given to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, after he wrestled with God in the form of the angel he encountered in his sleep in the desert. According to the biblical story, “Israel” means “wrestle with God.” And in the Koran, the Arabic word “jihad” means “struggle”. While the news media identifies the word only with violent struggle against infidels, the primary meaning of “jihad” in Islamic tradition is the personal struggle of the Muslim to stay in close relationship with God.
And since Christianity also claims Jacob, or Israel, as one of its patriarchs, practitioners of all three religions are united in a common struggle to be faithful to the divine. Together, we wrestle to encounter and understand the Source of the life we share. As the match between Jacob and the angel came to a draw at dawn, leaving the newly-named Israel with a blessing, so may the three religions be blessed with peace!
Continuing this theme of honoring different religions, if you are part of a church, I hope you’ll encourage your congregation to participate in Pluralism Sunday on May 11. I’m coordinating this annual event for The Center for Progressive Christianity. See www.pluralismsunday.org or email me for more information about this event that celebrates the idea that other religions may be as good for others as our religion is good for us!
