From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2001 #441 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Wednesday, September 26 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 441 The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage, created by Wally Breese, can be found at http://www.jonimitchell.com. It contains the latest news, a detailed bio, Original Interviews, essays, lyrics and much much more. The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Today's Articles: September 26 [les@jmdl.com] Thanks... (but be warned - long and sappy) [Merk54@aol.com] Re: 10 songs (NJC) [M.Russell@iaea.org] Re: Catholic Church on Peace (njc) ["Kakki" ] FW: racial tension in unexpected places (NJC) - long! [M.Russell@iaea.org] victor johnson!!!!!! (njc) ["Wally Kairuz" ] Re: War/AntiWar/Church [long and NJC] ["Kakki" ] more than a couple of prophets? (sjc) [PMcfad@aol.com] Re: Desert Island Disks ["Mike Pritchard" ] Catholic Church in Spain - NJC ["Mike Pritchard" ] Re: victor johnson!!!!!! (njc) [RoseMJoy@aol.com] FW: The Challenge of Terror: A Traveling Essay - NJC and very ve ry long [M.Russell@iaea.o] astrological analysis of 11 Sept. - NJC [M.Russell@iaea.org] Re: NJC - First post and 10 desert island discs [TimandMaryPowers@aol.com] Re: VLJC - First post and 10 desert island discs ["hell" ] Re: Ireland NJC ["Mike Pritchard" ] Re: My Top 10 Desert Island Discs- Tougher Version ["hell" ] Straight Dope for the High Holidays, NJC ["Laurent Olszer" Subject: Re: Catholic Church on Peace (njc) Shane, First, thank you for sharing your father's obituary with us. He sounds like someone who worked for good and made a difference all of his life. Thank you also for sending in your information regarding the evoluation of the Catholic church the past 40 or so years. I remember Pope John 23 being such a shining light to Catholics at the time. I have a sort of Joni related question - isn't Thomas Merton someone whom she has said influenced her? I may be totally mistaken, but if that is true (and I suspect you will know the answer!) I would be interested in knowing what she has said about him. Regarding the Berrigans, I have a slight connection - a cousin-in-law dated yet another of that family for many years. He was a feisty one, too. ;-) Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 09:59:58 +0200 From: M.Russell@iaea.org Subject: FW: racial tension in unexpected places (NJC) - long! Just passing this along. Maybe some of you would find it of interest. Marian <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From: "DAVID CHEVAN" To: "World music from a Jewish slant" Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 7:12 PM Subject: long story about today This is a pretty long, but true and UNEDITED story (it could probably use some editing) but I needed to send it and share it before I felt like I couldn't. I want to share with you something that occurred to me today during a performance I was giving with my group, The Afro-Semitic Experience. It just happened within the past few hours so that I am still in the midst of trying to absorb and understand exactly what happened and what it means. At least a month ago, maybe longer, the Afro-Semitic Experience was invited to give a performance that would occur today as part of the Arts and Crafts Fair at the New Britain Museum of American Art. The band spent quite a bit of time rehearsing and learning new pieces for this performance and realized only days before the event that this would be an opportunity for us to share our music as an act of reflection and healing. The repertoire of the Afro-Semitic Experience is a mixture of pieces that reflects the distinct cultural backgrounds of the musicians in the band. We play what I sometimes describe as a creative interpretation of the music of the diasporic worlds of the Jewish and African peoples. That means a mix of gospel, jazz, klezmer, spirituals, and Jewish and African-American liturgical song. As a general rule we perform instrumental renditions of these pieces and I do take the time to introduce the music and explain a bit about what we are doing. Our instrumentation today consisted of seven musicians playing clarinet, tenor sax, violin/pedal steel guitar, keyboards, bass, drum set, and African drums. A number of the pieces that we play from the Jewish tradition include melodies that incorporate the distinct Ahavah Rabo or freygish scale. And that scale was, I believe, at least one source of the trouble that happened today. We were performing an interpretation of my arrangement of the beautiful Shabbat melody, Shalom Aleichem, when I noticed a number of people walking by and shaking their heads. Then a few people came up and started to speak with the guys in the band. As the piece ended two people from the Museum came over to speak with me, the person who had hired us and the director of the museum. They told me that they had received numerous complaints about the inappropriateness of our music, that these people who were complaining felt that we shouldn't be playing music that sounded like "that" at a time like this. I asked them if they wanted us to stop because this is our music, this is what we do as artists and that the music was Jewish and sacred. Both women agreed that if we wanted to continue they would support us. But they suggested that I speak to the crowd and try to bring them into our performance. I realized that we were at something of a cross-roads and that whatever I said would either get us run out of town on a rail or save us from such a fate. I don't remember exactly what I said, but what I tried to convey was the spirit of what we were about. I explained about the band and why we had come together. I told of the many concerts that Warren Byrd and I have been giving that were the catalyst for the Afro-Semitic Experience. I spoke about my grandmother who had escaped the pogroms of Poland and come to America where she could live as a Jew, I spoke about the messages behind our melodies, how these songs represent traditions both new and old that celebrate freedom and opportunity. I tried to explain that our music celebrated peace and humanity in a way that should make everyone proud they could be there to hear it. Yes, I got a bit righteous--but it was one of those moments where I had to lay it on the line. We continued playing and we still got flack. We took a short break and I went to grab a bite to eat. While eating my fried dough one man came up to me and said, almost apologetically, "look buddy, this may sound harsh, but this is not a good week to be talking about brotherhood." I asked what he thought of the music. He told me that while he thought we sounded pretty good we should probably stop as we were insulting the dead. I thanked him and quickly gathered the band for the second set. During the second set we received even more complaints when we played our version of the klezmer standard, Ma Yofus, another piece with that distinctive Ahavah Raba scale. But by that time we were getting as many compliments as we were complaints. I knew there was a schism in the crowd, that not everyone was clinging to the same broad jingoistic sentiments. I then pulled a chart that half of the band had never seen before, the Israeli song, Shir LaShalom, "Song for Peace". A song, not incidentally, that had been sung by Yitshak Rabin only moments before he was assassinated. I read an English translation of the lyrics as loudly, slowly and clearly as I could over the PA system. Let the sun rise and give the morning light, The purest prayer will not bring us back. He whose candle was snuffed out and buried in the dust, A bitter cry won't wake him, won't bring him back. Nobody will return us from the dead dark pit. Here, neither the joy of victory nor songs of praise will help. So sing only a song for peace, don't whisper a prayer It's better to sing a song for peace with a big shout . . . We played the tune and I've never heard this band sound better. The challenge that our audience had presented us, along with the challenge of making a song that three of the seven of us had never played before really brought us to a new level. We got into this piece in a way that goes beyond description. It is why I am a performing musician. To be able to connect with other players and with at least some of the audience in this indescribable manner. But I think we still failed to connect with at least some of the audience and it hurt. From that moment on and for the remainder of our performance, I knew that there were people who were not into what they were hearing, but they knew better, they kept quiet about it. And after the concert we were well received. There was an audience who wanted to hear us and wanted us to keep going. But what occurred today was, I think, an example of that irrational fear factor that is going on all over America. There is a fear of anything that is remotely Arabic in nature and that includes anything Jewish that smacks of the Middle East. The combination of the Ahavah Raba scale and our incredible African drummer (Baba David Coleman) must have intimidated a portion of the audience in a way that none of us were expecting. Its been a long time since I'd encountered a hostile audience and this was an audience at a museum of art, the last place one would expect to find rampant jingoism. I worry about my Arab friends, and I worry about the possible return of anti-semitism and racism in America. I mean, I did explain that these were Jewish songs and I was still told it would be better to stop. If these things take place than whoever is responsible for ordering the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks has more than succeeded. These are my initial reactions to today's event. If you'd like you can pass this story along. Please keep in mind that the museum supported us, and a good chunk of the people who heard us supported us too. But there is a group of people out there who are allowing the events of this past week to give them opportunity to allow their true colors to show and it has got me worried. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> David Chevan, Bassologist for more info visit my web site located at www.chevan.addr.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 05:13:01 -0300 From: "Wally Kairuz" Subject: victor johnson!!!!!! (njc) happy birthday, victor!!!!!!!! love, w and the bf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 02:00:24 -0700 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: War/AntiWar/Church [long and NJC] Debra, Thank you for your very brilliant, incisive and thoughtful post. You wrote: >It is an ethical guide, part of the tradition of the church >and, like all ethical guides, is meant to help a person or a >group decide what the appropriate action is so that their >decisions have some grounding in thought and are not >based only on the feelings of the moment. And it, like >everything else in the Catholic Church, is argued about >passionately among Catholics themselves. For all the questions and sometimes misgivings at some of the archaic ways of the Catholic church I've had most of my life, this is what keeps me connected to it. It is a paradox, seemingly medieval on one hand and then positively open-ended on another. The long tradition of questioning and examining and the freedom to do that within the modern church without reprisal or condemnation and with, in many sectors, active encouragement is one of the things I find the greatest about it. (Before someone else jumps on me, this has been MY experience and it is the only experience I know, despite having heard some horror stories from my father of the "old days" and having been half-jokingly threatened by my non-Catholic mother at times with being sent to a particularly frightening convent school). So as to "just wars" - Vietnam - not even in the same realm, not "on point" as they would say in the legal world in realtionship to the current situation. But I never thought (or maybe wished) in my life I would have to make this real decision from the basis of everything that I had been taught. The question and decision has made me absolutely reel, but the answer is immediate and there was never a moment of doubt. May it all resolve in the way we pray for. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 04:49:31 EDT From: PMcfad@aol.com Subject: more than a couple of prophets? (sjc) now this is freaky. i had the best day yesterday since sept 10. i was travelling in philly, where i grew up but have not lived for almost 15 years. i was driving across the turnpike listening to wpen whici made me feel so good to hear live..david die etc. anyway, i turned it down to take a phone call and then forgot about the radio and then turned it back up and what was playing.....slouching. and i was so happy. it just felt exactly right and i knew there was no way in hell i'd ever hear that song on the radio in georgia or north carolina. that particular song has strong emotions attached to it for a lot of jmdlers and it made me think that when i left philly, i felt so badly about myself and the years that have past have changed all that. and that song is central to me accepting certain things and then enjoying life and i was just so happy to hear it yesterday. pat np. rt-cooksferry queen > Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 19:25:14 -0400 > From: Anne Sandstrom > Subject: more than a couple of prophets? (sjc) > > I've been listening to Night Ride Home. "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" is one > of my favorite songs of hers. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 10:51:35 +0200 From: "Mike Pritchard" Subject: Re: Desert Island Disks Re: Desert Island Disks In no particular order Hejira - JM Astral Weeks -Van Morrison Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder Caravanserai - Santana Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Blood - This Mortal Coil Hatful of Hollow - Smiths Girls, Girls, Girls -Elvis Costello (if no compilations, This Year's Model) Blue Valentine - Tom Waits Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan I had to leave out a lot (yeah, yeah, yeah) and so I'd like to propose another list of 'fusion' albums. 'Fusion' here means people doing stuff from other musical cultures, including two people doing 'crossover' stuff (see the first 4 for examples). This would NOT include Ella and Louis doing Porgy and Bess. Passages - Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar Officium - Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble Ragas and Sagas - Jan Garbarek and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan A Meeting By The River - Ry Cooder and V.M. Bhatt The Sweetest Punch / Painted From Memory - Frisell, Costello, Bacharach Secret Story - Pat Metheny LSO The Juliet Letters - Elvis Costello and The Brodski Quartet The Concert for Garcia Lorca - Ben Sidran (& Garcia Lorca) West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein Canciones de mi Padre - Linda Ronstadt (help me, I'm winging it here.) Mike in BCN ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 10:53:12 +0200 From: "Mike Pritchard" Subject: Catholic Church in Spain - NJC >>Finally, you mention the Catholic Church's inaction during World War II. This is a dark, dark blot on the history of the Church, and one that Catholics are still attempting to remedy to this day<< And let's not forget the Spanish Catholic Church's role in supporting the Franco dictatorship for almost 40 years, something they (partially) apologised for in the last couple of years, more than 20 years after his death. In fact, the Catholic Church here in Spain is in the news lately because of its involvement in (I stress involvement in, not responsibility for) a financial scandal, but also for its involvement in state educational policies. Spain is obviously a Catholic country although constitutionally it is a non-confessional state. Nevertheless the church has a legal right to decide on which teachers it sees fit to teach religion in the state school system, although the agreement does not include the obligation to pay the teachers. The Church, like any organisation, has a right to set up its private fee-paying schools wherever it wants. I have no objection to this. But we, the taxpayers (including Muslims, Hindus, atheists etcetera), pay the wages of the teachers who teach religion in the public school system (and 'religion' here means the catholic religion) but recently, especially with the coming to government of the right-wing 'Popular Party', the church has sniffed the scent of new times (or maybe it smells like the good old days) and has been flexing its muscles. It recently decided to fire a teacher of religion called Resureccion Garcia because she married a divorced man. In the middle of this matter the church also decided to fire another teacher for going out for a drink with his friends and another for skipping mass a couple of times. The church said in all cases that the teachers should live a catholic, religious life and not just teach it. I think all three teachers are taking the matter to court in order to be reinstated or if not, compensated for losing their job. In the debate around these firings it emerged that the church also takes a 'cut' of each teacher's salary. In justification, the church says the percentage is low, and that it is voluntary. The teachers say it's not so low, it's their money and that 'voluntary' means that paying it is optional but it is clear that those who decide not to pay are frequently out of a job pretty quick. The church automatically takes a cut of tax returns unless the contributor opts out. Of course I'm not saying that all Catholics are bad, or that every priest is evil, or that the work the church does is useless, or worse. NO. The missionaries especially do sterling work and in Spain itself the 'charity' aspects of the church provide much comfort for many distressed people. It's just that I distrust the influence that the Church has in so many aspects of life in Spain. Education, Divorce, Abortion, the list is endless and the influence is frequently hyper-conservative. I don't know about the rest of the world but Opus Dei here is like a secret society reproducing new generations of 'their people' in powerful positions in the church, the military, the law and the government, equivalent, I believe, to the Freemasons in the UK. I won't go on to talk about the COPE, the radio channel owned by the Episcopal Conference and which is one of the big chains here. I think you get the picture. mike in Barcelona PD Hola Ayoze ?dsnde vives? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 05:02:07 EDT From: RoseMJoy@aol.com Subject: Re: victor johnson!!!!!! (njc) Happy Fecking Birthday Victor!!! love, Rose rosemjoy@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 11:46:11 +0200 From: M.Russell@iaea.org Subject: FW: The Challenge of Terror: A Traveling Essay - NJC and very ve ry long I promise I won't send any more long things like this, but this one is so well-thought-out, so thought-povoking, I think many of you will find it worth the time it takes to read it. Marian + + + + + + + + The Challenge of Terror: A Traveling Essay John Paul Lederach So here I am, a week late arriving home, stuck between Colombia, Guatemala and Harrisonburg when our world changed. The images flash even in my sleep. The heart of America ripped. Though natural, the cry for revenge and the call for the unleashing of the first war of this century, prolonged or not, seems more connected to social and psychological processes of finding a way to release deep emotional anguish, a sense of powerlessness, and our collective loss than it does as a plan of action seeking to redress the injustice, promote change and prevent it from ever happening again. I am stuck from airport to airport as I write this, the reality of a global system that has suspended even the most basic trust. My Duracell batteries and finger nail clippers were taken from me today and it gave me pause for thought. I had a lot of pauses in the last few days. Life has not been the same. I share these thoughts as an initial reaction recognizing that it is always easy to take potshots at our leaders from the sidelines, and to have the insights they are missing when we are not in the middle of very difficult decisions. On the other hand, having worked for nearly 20 years as a mediator and proponent of nonviolent change in situations around the globe where cycles of deep violence seem hell-bent on perpetuating themselves, and having interacted with people and movements who at the core of their identity find ways of justifying their part in the cycle, I feel responsible to try to bring ideas to the search for solutions. With this in mind I should like to pen several observations about what I have learned from my experiences and what they might suggest about the current situation. I believe this starts by naming several key challenges and then asking what is the nature of a creative response that takes these seriously in the pursuit of genuine, durable, and peaceful change. Some Lessons about the Nature of our Challenge 1. Always seek to understand the root of the anger - The first and most important question to pose ourselves is relatively simple though not easy to answer: How do people reach this level of anger, hatred and frustration? By my experience explanations that they are brainwashed by a perverted leader who holds some kind of magical power over them is an escapist simplification and will inevitably lead us to very wrong-headed responses. Anger of this sort, what we could call generational, identity-based anger, is constructed over time through a combination of historical events, a deep sense of threat to identify, and direct experiences of sustained exclusion. This is very important to understand, because, as I will say again and again, our response to the immediate events have everything to do with whether we reinforce and provide the soil, seeds, and nutrients for future cycles of revenge and violence. Or whether it changes. We should be careful to pursue one and only one thing as the strategic guidepost of our response: Avoid doing what they expect. What they expect from us is the lashing out of the giant against the weak, the many against the few. This will reinforce their capacity to perpetrate the myth they carefully seek to sustain: That they are under threat, fighting an irrational and mad system that has never taken them seriously and wishes to destroy them and their people. What we need to destroy is their myth not their people. 2. Always seek to understand the nature of the organization - Over the years of working to promote durable peace in situations of deep, sustained violence I have discovered one consistent purpose about the nature of movements and organizations who use violence: Sustain thyself. This is done through a number of approaches, but generally it is through decentralization of power and structure, secrecy, autonomy of action through units, and refusal to pursue the conflict on the terms of the strength and capacities of the enemy. One of the most intriguing metaphors I have heard used in the last few days is that this enemy of the United States will be found in their holes, smoked out, and when they run and are visible, destroyed. This may well work for groundhogs, trench and maybe even guerilla warfare, but it is not a useful metaphor for this situation. And neither is the image that we will need to destroy the village to save it, by which the population that gives refuge to our enemies is guilty by association and therefore a legitimate target. In both instances the metaphor that guides our action misleads us because it is not connected to the reality. In more specific terms, this is not a struggle to be conceived of in geographic terms, in terms of physical spaces and places, that if located can be destroyed, thereby ridding us of the problem. Quite frankly our biggest and most visible weapon systems are mostly useless. We need a new metaphor, and though I generally do not like medical metaphors to describe conflict, the image of a virus comes to mind because of its ability to enter unperceived, flow with a system, and harm it from within. This is the genius of people like Osama Ben Laden. He understood the power of a free and open system, and has used it to his benefit. The enemy is not located in a territory. It has entered our system. And you do not fight this kind of enemy by shooting at it. You respond by strengthening the capacity of the system to prevent the virus and strengthen its immunity. It is an ironic fact that our greatest threat is not in Afghanistan, but in our own backyard. We surely are not going to bomb Travelocity, Hertz Rental Car, or an Airline training school in Florida. We must change metaphors and move beyond the reaction that we can duke it out with the bad guy, or we run the very serious risk of creating the environment that sustains and reproduces the virus we wish to prevent. 3. Always remember that realities are constructed - Conflict is, among other things, the process of building and sustaining very different perceptions and interpretations of reality. This means that we have at the same time multiple realities defined as such by those in conflict. In the aftermath of such horrific and unmerited violence that we have just experienced this may sound esoteric. But we must remember that this fundamental process is how we end up referring to people as fanatics, madmen, and irrational. In the process of name-calling we lose the critical capacity to understand that from within the ways they construct their views, it is not mad lunacy or fanaticism. All things fall together and make sense. When this is connected to a long string of actual experiences wherein their views of the facts are reinforced (for example, years of superpower struggle that used or excluded them, encroaching Western values of what is considered immoral by their religious interpretation, or the construction of an enemy-image who is overwhelmingly powerful and uses that power in bombing campaigns and always appears to win) then it is not a difficult process to construct a rational world view of heroic struggle against evil. Just as we do it, so do they. Listen to the words we use to justify our actions and responses. And then listen to words they use. The way to break such a process is not through a frame of reference of who will win or who is stronger. In fact the inverse is true. Whoever loses, whether tactical battles or the "war" itself, finds intrinsic in the loss the seeds that give birth to the justification for renewed battle. The way to break such a cycle of justified violence is to step outside of it. This starts with understanding that TV sound bites about madmen and evil are not good sources of policy. The most significant impact that we could make on their ability to sustain their view of us as evil is to change their perception of who we are by choosing to strategically respond in unexpected ways. This will take enormous courage and courageous leadership capable of envisioning a horizon of change. 4. Always understand the capacity for recruitment -- The greatest power that terror has is the ability to regenerate itself. What we most need to understand about the nature of this conflict and the change process toward a more peaceful world is how recruitment into these activities happens. In all my experiences in deep-rooted conflict what stands out most are the ways in which political leaders wishing to end the violence believed they could achieve it by overpowering and getting rid of the perpetrator of the violence. That may have been the lesson of multiple centuries that preceded us. But it is not the lesson from that past 30 years. The lesson is simple. When people feel a deep sense of threat, exclusion and generational experiences of direct violence, their greatest effort is placed on survival. Time and again in these movements, there has been an extraordinary capacity for the regeneration of chosen myths and renewed struggle. One aspect of current U.S. leadership that coherently matches with the lessons of the past 30 years of protracted conflict settings is the statement that this will be a long struggle. What is missed is that the emphasis should be placed on removing the channels, justifications, and sources that attract and sustain recruitment into the activities. What I find extraordinary about the recent events is that none of the perpetrators was much older than 40 and many were half that age. This is the reality we face: Recruitment happens on a sustained basis. It will not stop with the use of military force, in fact, open warfare will create the soils in which it is fed and grows. Military action to destroy terror, particularly as it affects significant and already vulnerable civilian populations will be like hitting a fully mature dandelion with a golf club. We will participate in making sure the myth of why we are evil is sustained and we will assure yet another generation of recruits. 5. Recognize complexity, but always understand the power of simplicity - Finally, we must understand the principle of simplicity. I talk a lot with my students about the need to look carefully at complexity, which is equally true (and which in the earlier points I start to explore). However, the key in our current situation that we have failed to fully comprehend is simplicity. From the standpoint of the perpetrators, the effectiveness of their actions was in finding simple ways to use the system to undo it. I believe our greatest task is to find equally creative and simple tools on the other side. Suggestions In keeping with the last point, let me try to be simple. I believe three things are possible to do and will have a much greater impact on these challenges than seeking accountability through revenge. 1. Energetically pursue a sustainable peace process to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Do it now. The United States has much it can do to support and make this process work. It can bring the weight of persuasion, the weight of nudging people on all sides to move toward mutual recognition and stopping the recent and devastating pattern of violent escalation, and the weight of including and balancing the process to address historic fears and basic needs of those involved. If we would bring the same energy to building an international coalition for peace in this conflict that we have pursued in building international coalitions for war, particularly in the Middle East, if we lent significant financial, moral, and balanced support to all sides that we gave to the Irish conflict in earlier years, I believe the moment is right and the stage is set to take a new and qualitative step forward. Sound like an odd diversion to our current situation of terror? I believe the opposite is true. This type of action is precisely the kind of thing needed to create whole new views of who we are and what we stand for as a nation. Rather than fighting terror with force, we enter their system and take away one of their most coveted elements: The soils of generational conflict perceived as injustice used to perpetrate hatred and recruitment. I believe that monumental times like these create conditions for monumental change. This approach would solidify our relationships with a broad array of Middle Easterners and Central Asians, allies and enemies alike, and would be a blow to the rank and file of terror. The biggest blow we can serve terror is to make it irrelevant. The worst thing we could do is to feed it unintentionally by making it and its leaders the center stage of what we do. Let's choose democracy and reconciliation over revenge and destruction. Let's to do exactly what they do not expect, and show them it can work. 2. Invest financially in development, education, and a broad social agenda in the countries surrounding Afghanistan rather than attempting to destroy the Taliban in a search for Ben Laden. The single greatest pressure that could ever be put on Ben Laden is to remove the source of his justifications and alliances. Countries like Pakistan, Tajikistan, and yes, Iran and Syria should be put on the radar of the West and the United States with a question of strategic importance: How can we help you meet the fundamental needs of your people? The strategic approach to changing the nature of how terror of the kind we have witnessed this week reproduces itself lies in the quality of relationships we develop with whole regions, peoples, and world views. If we strengthen the web of those relationships, we weaken and eventually eliminate the soil where terror is born. A vigorous investment, taking advantage of the current opening given the horror of this week shared by even those who we traditionally claimed as state enemies, is immediately available, possible and pregnant with historic possibilities. Let's do the unexpected. Let's create a new set of strategic alliances never before thought possible. 3. Pursue a quiet diplomatic but dynamic and vital support of the Arab League to begin an internal exploration of how to address the root causes of discontent in numerous regions. This should be coupled with energetic ecumenical engagement, not just of key symbolic leaders, but of a practical and direct exploration of how to create a web of ethics for a new millennium that builds from the heart and soul of all traditions but that creates a capacity for each to engage the roots of violence that are found within their own traditions. Our challenge, as I see it, is not that of convincing others that our way of life, our religion, or our structure of governance is better or closer to Truth and human dignity. It is to be honest about the sources of violence in our own house and invite others to do the same. Our global challenge is how to generate and sustain genuine engagement that encourages people from within their traditions to seek that which assures the preciousness and respect for life that every religion sees as an inherent right and gift from the Divine, and how to build organized political and social life that is responsive to fundamental human needs. Such a web cannot be created except through genuine and sustained dialogue and the building of authentic relationships, at religious and political spheres of interaction, and at all levels of society. Why not do the unexpected and show that life-giving ethics are rooted in the core of all peoples by engaging a strategy of genuine dialogue and relationship? Such a web of ethics, political and religious, will have an impact on the roots of terror far greater in the generation of our children's children than any amount of military action can possibly muster. The current situation poses an unprecedented opportunity for this to happen, more so than we have seen at any time before in our global community. A Call for the Unexpected Let me conclude with simple ideas. To face the reality of well organized, decentralized, self-perpetuating sources of terror, we need to think differently about the challenges. If indeed this is a new war it will not be won with a traditional military plan. The key does not lie in finding and destroying territories, camps, and certainly not the civilian populations that supposedly house them. Paradoxically that will only feed the phenomenon and assure that it lives into a new generation. The key is to think about how a small virus in a system affects the whole and how to improve the immunity of the system. We should take extreme care not to provide the movements we deplore with gratuitous fuel for self-regeneration. Let us not fulfill their prophecy by providing them with martyrs and justifications. The power of their action is the simplicity with which they pursue the fight with global power. They have understood the power of the powerless. They have understood that melding and meshing with the enemy creates a base from within. They have not faced down the enemy with a bigger stick. They did the more powerful thing: They changed the game. They entered our lives, our homes and turned our own tools into our demise. We will not win this struggle for justice, peace and human dignity with the traditional weapons of war. We need to change the game again. Let us take up the practical challenges of this reality perhaps best described in the Cure of Troy an epic poem by Seamus Heaney no foreigner to grip of the cycles of terror. Let us give birth to the unexpected. So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that a farther shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracles And cures and healing wells. John Paul Lederach September 16, 2001 + + + + + + + + ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 11:59:17 +0200 From: M.Russell@iaea.org Subject: astrological analysis of 11 Sept. - NJC http://www.astro.com/h/wtc_e.htm#top Marian Vienna ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 06:31:15 EDT From: TimandMaryPowers@aol.com Subject: Re: NJC - First post and 10 desert island discs In a message dated 9/25/01 7:35:39 PM, anima_rising@yahoo.ca writes: >Also, the practical >side of me suggests there would be no way to play >these discs anyway, yes there would! with a portable CD player with headphones (like I use at work) and a really good supply of batteries...you'd have to be rescued before the batteries run out, of course. Mary ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 23:07:23 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: Re: VLJC - First post and 10 desert island discs Ayoze wrote: > I enjoy a lot reading the list and hope to participate more in the > future, even if my English isn't very good. After all, SIQUOMB. Welcome to the list - and your English seems fine to me! Hell (aka Helen in NZ) ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman hell@ihug.co.nz Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 23:17:33 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: Re: Musical tidbits (njc) Walt wrote: > (2) I assume most of you have seen the Gap ad with Carole King and her > daughter Louise Goffin, CK at the pinao while LG sings So Far Away, and then > CK slips into a song I don't know -- something about "I can't help > believing..." -- I understand CK has a new album out, or coming out, but I > was wondering if anyone was familiar with Louise's oeuvre? Her voice reminds > me of her mothers, and I can't imagine, given her parentage, but that she > must be a killer singer/songwriter... I used to own Louise Goffin's first self-titled album, but it's disappeared somewhere along the line. From memory, her voice is "nice" but nothing out of the ordinary. The same could be said for her own compositions - OK, but nothing startling. The best song on the album (but I'm biased) was a Stevie Nicks song called "If You Ever Did Believe" (with Stevie on back-up vocals) which I believe Stevie re-released herself as a duet with Sheryl Crow for the movie Practical Magic. Of course, Louise may have improved as a song-writer over the years, and this was her first album. Just MHO. Hell ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman hell@ihug.co.nz Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 13:28:26 +0200 From: "Mike Pritchard" Subject: Re: Ireland NJC Debra wrote: >>More Brits were killed in the attack on the WTC than have been killed in the entire history of terrorism in England; hearing that shocked me considering the number of incidents that have occurred there.<< This needs a little clarification, given the propensity that exists in many places to use 'England' to refer to Great Britain or the United Kingdom (i.e. including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as if they were mere regions). I would not dispute Debra's comment if England here means 'England only' but if we include Northern Ireland then the figure for mortalities is well over 3,000 people killed since the 1960s. Killed by ALL sides that is, including 'catholic republicans', 'protestant loyalists' and the 'peace-keeping british army'. I use quotes here because all these expressions are simplistic and problematic. I am aware of this. Mrs Thatcher frequently blamed every single death in the 'troubles' on the IRA. Very few attacks (comparatively speaking) against the British governments' role in the island of Ireland have taken place on the 'mainland', although these attacks were horrific too. The majority of deaths have occurred in The Six Counties (or 'Northern Ireland' or 'Ulster', the terms vary according to political viewpoint but represent, more or less, the same geographical area). A clarification, nothing more. mike in Barcelona np Steely Dan 'two against nature' ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 23:59:35 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: Re: My Top 10 Desert Island Discs- Tougher Version Les wrote: > I really love this idea....but it should be songs and not albums...cruel > huh?! And then you should declare if you had to lose all but one, which one. Oh, this should be easy.....NOT! But I'm always up for a challenge. I would like to point out that this is my list at 23:59 on Wednesday 26th September, and it will have changed in 5 minutes time! So, in no particular order: 1. Joni - Hejira (or Two Grey Rooms - I can't decide, but Hejira's longer so we'll stick with that!) 2. CSNY - Carry On 3. Stevie Nicks - Silver Spring 4. Shona Laing - Thief To Silver 5. Indigo Girls - Nashville 6. Carole King - Come Down Easy 7. Santana - Samba Pa Ti 8. Bonnie Raitt - You 9. Stephen Stills - Haven't We Lost Enough 10. James Taylor - Only One Hell ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman hell@ihug.co.nz Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 13:15:06 +0100 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: John Martyn, NJC I agree wholeheartedly with John Van Tiel, John Martyn is fantastic and so underrated in the U.S.. Almost put Solid Air on my desert island list. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 13:56:54 +0100 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: Straight Dope for the High Holidays, NJC As Yom Kipour nears (tonight), we Jews reflect on our souls. Here is a rabbi's speech that I feel is food for thought for everyone. A little long but worth reading. Laurent > > > > "WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW" > > > > I speak to you today as your rabbi and I'm not sure I know what to say. I > > wish I was articulate enough to be able to put into words the empty > feeling that has enveloped all of us. I wish I was wise enough to be able to make > > some sense out of all that has unfolded before our very eyes. And if it > is difficult for me, just think of my colleague who writes in an email: "I > have been running back and forth to two families whose children are missing and > > presumed dead in the World Trade Center. One was a new bride I married > > seven months ago. Halachik question: when do I do the funerals? After a > > body is found? Or, as I suggested, after all hope of recovery is lost, > even with no body. Any advice is appreciated." > > > > Who knows what to say? Indeed, even before the horror of last week it was > > difficult to prepare my words for this day. Israel has been on my mind > > every day this year and the situation there has caused me sleepless > nights. > > What should a rabbi say in looking at a world where there are children in > > Israel who have to go to school wearing bullet proof vests. And there are > > children in America who have to go to school worrying whether their > parents will come home at night from the office buildings they work in. > > > > So today I speak to you about here and there - America, this week > > and Israel, this year. I want to show you how the two are connected - and > > yet so different. To do so I don't depend upon my own thoughts, rather, I > > base my thoughts on those of three other rabbis - all of whom are gone, > all of whose words live on: a rabbi in Jerusalem, my father, and a "giant" of > > our people. > > > > There was a famous rabbi and preacher who lived in Israel by the > > name of Rabbi Sholomo Schwadron, known throughout the Jewish world as the > > Maggid of Jerusalem, the "speaker, the preacher of Jerusalem." He was a > > speaker from the old school. The fire and brimstone . . . the tears, the > > laughter . . . but mostly the stories. The one story with which he is > most associated, his classic, is the story of Meirka. One day Rabbi Schwadron > > was sitting in his home in Jerusalem when he suddenly heard a passing > scream from the alleyway outside his window. In a moment, his wife ran into the > > house yelling that little Meir, the grandson of the Gabbai of their shul, > > had fallen and was bleeding profusely from a gash over his eye. The rabbi > > and his wife ran outside, the rabbi picking up the child while his wife > held a wet towel over the child's cut, trying to control the bleeding. Rabbi > > Schwadron began running through the alleyway to the main street, rushing > as fast as his legs would carry him, to get the child to a doctor. But as > they rushed up the hill, a pious, elderly woman was walking toward them and she > > called out in Yiddish: "Reb Sholomo - Reb Sholomo - ess is nit daw vos tzu > > daigen. Ess is nit daw vos tzu daigen. There's nothing to worry about. > > You don't have to rush. Der Ebeshter vet helfen. God will take care of > > him." But, as the rabbi and his wife passed directly in front of this > > elderly woman, she looked down and realized that the bleeding child was > her own grandson. She began to shriek uncontrollably, "Gevalt! Meirka! > Meirka! Gevalt!" And she passed out. Rabbi Schwadron transformed that scream of > > "Meirka" into a catchword lesson. He would say, "If it's not my Meirka, > > it's easy to say, 'Don't worry, nothing is wrong, God will surely help.' > > But when it's my Meirka, it's a different story!" > > > > What America confronted one day last week, the State of Israel confronted > > every day for the past year. Israelis have been living in a state of > > terror. But outside of Israel, few seemed to care, few seemed to > > understand. So much of what happened last week in America brought to mind > > so much that happens every day in Israel. After the planes crashed into > the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it was hard to use your cell phones > > because everybody was calling somebody to make sure everything was okay. > > That happens every time a car bomb or suicide bomber or drive-by shooting > > takes place in Israel. The only difference is, Israel is such a small > > country that when you get through on your phone you discover if you didn't > > know the person killed, your next door neighbor most certainly did! Last > > Tuesday night I got a phone call in the middle of the night. It was our > > friends in Israel making sure that my kids hadn't been in New York. > They're the friends in Israel I call every time a bomb goes off there to make sure > > their kids weren't hurt! > > > > Tragically, last Tuesday night Americans went to sleep for the first > > time understanding what life in Israel is like. Because suddenly it was > our Meirka! Suddenly we understood what it's like being transfixed in front > of your television watching scenes of horror and destruction and senseless > > bloodshed being brought right into your living room. Israelis live with > > this every day! There's no country in the world that is being forced to > > confront what Israel confronts. You're afraid to go into a store, or get > on a bus. You have your wife call you when she gets home from work. Every > > package you carry has to be searched, every school guarded, every face to > be watched. There's constant news coming across the radio of another > shooting, another murder of an innocent Israeli. > > > > We, as Americans, have been devastated by the horrifying images that > > have been brought into our lives from the crash scenes in New York and > > Washington. In Israel there are heart wrenching, gut wrenching scenes > like these taking place every day. > > > > Scenes like those of Shalevet Pass. Shalevet was all of 10 months old > when her mother took her out in stroller for a walk in Hebron. A Palestinian > > sniper put Shalevet in the crosshairs of his gun and killed her. 10 > months old! They targeted a 10 month old baby! It's hard to believe someone can > > hate so much to kill an innocent 10 month old . . . but now as Americans > we know it's possible. It's happened . . . to our Meirkas. > > > > Or there's the story of Moti and Tzira Schiyveschuurder. One summer day > > they went to eat at Jerusalem's popular Sbarro pizzeria when the suicide > > bomber attacked. He killed Moti and Tzirah and three of their children. > > The other two children were injured. One of them attended the funeral of > > her parents and siblings in a wheelchair while getting an intravenous > drip. > > You know how upsetting the horrifying scenes of carnage and destruction in > > New York and Washington were. Well, forgive me for upsetting you, but I > > have to describe to you the scene in the Sbarro pizzeria when the suicide > > bomber struck. Jack Kelly, a reporter from USA Today, was sitting right > > across the street when that bomb in Sbarro went off. Here's how he > > described it on the front page of USA Today: "The explosion was deafening > > and sent out a burst of heat that could be felt far down the street. It > > blew out windows and threw tables and chairs into the air. Victims' arms > > and legs rained down onto the street. Three men, who had been eating > pizza inside, were catapulted out of the chairs they had been sitting on. When > > they hit the ground, their heads separated from their bodies and rolled > down the street. Dozens of men, women and children, their bodies punctured by > > nails from the bomb, began dropping in pain. One woman had six nails in > her neck. Another had a nail in her left eye. > > > > "Two men, one with a six inch piece of glass in his right temple, the > other with glass shards in his calf, fell to the ground bleeding. A passerby > > tried to comfort them but broke down crying. As he walked away, he > tripped on a decapitated body and fell. Next to them, a man groaned in pain, > "Help me, I'm dying," he said. His legs had been blown off and blood poured > from where his torso had been. > > > > "Meanwhile, yards away, a little girl about three years old, her face > > covered with glass, walked among the bodies calling her mother's name. > > Seconds later, she found her. The girl told her mother to get up. But > the mother, apparently already dead, didn't respond. The girl, still unaware > of what had happened, was led away in hysterics by an Israeli policewoman. > > > > "Dozens of ambulances arrived over the next thirty minutes to cart > > off the dead and injured as relatives began arriving. Rabbis, with white > > gloves, raced around the street picking up pieces of flesh. One rabbi > found a small hand splattered against a white Subaru parked outside the > > restaurant. "It's of a girl," Rabbi Moshe Aaron said. "She was probably > 5 or 6, the same age as my daughter." He gently put it into a bag. "I wish > I could say there won't be anything like this tragedy again," Rabbi Aaron > > said. "But it's just a matter of time until another bomber kills more of > > us. It will be like this until the end of time." > > > > It was right there on the front page of USA Today but nobody around the > > world wanted to believe these scenes were really happening. Nobody could > > comprehend that there could be such hatred. Nobody wanted to accept that > > there are people in this world capable of such cruelty and barbarism. > Well, now we know! Our Meirka has been hit. And in response you didn't hear > > anyone in America calling for "negotiations" with Osama bin-Laden. No one > > said he should still be considered a "partner-for-peace." No one called > for American concessions. No one urged "restraint." Instead the Washington > > Post op-ed page last Wednesday contained articles with headlines, "We must > > fight this war," "Destroy the network," "Hidden hand of horror," > "American holy war," "To war, not to court," "End of illusion." That's how Americans rightfully responded when our Meirka was hurt. But when the people of > > Israel have fallen victim to terrorism, there are always those around the > > world who will say: "you've got to sit down and negotiate, you've got to > > stop the settlements, you've got to pull back the borders, you've got to > > give up the land, you've got to accept their "right of return" - then > > they'll be satisfied! Then they'll make peace!" Well, maybe now the > world knows . . . maybe now it will see things differently. > > > > Did you see those Palestinians dancing in the streets in celebration of > the Pentagon and Twin Towers being blown up? Well, that's how they dance > every time they kill an Israeli. You tell me, bad enough that the Palestinians > > killed two Israeli soldiers who made a wrong turn into Ramallah. Did they > > have also have to lynch them and tear them apart limb by limb, and then > > throw them out of a second floor window, with a crowd cheering them on? > Did they have to hold up their blood stained hands in glee? Bad enough that > > Palestinians killed 14 year old Koby Mandell and his friend, Yosef Ishran, > > in Tekoa. But why did the murderers have to mutilate the bodies so badly > > that they could only be identified through their dental records? And in > > Egypt, a country with which we're supposed to be at peace and have normal > > relations, why is the number one hit song entitled, "I Hate Israel." And > > did the Egyptian press syndicate really have to give its highest honor to > > Ahmed Ragab, who published a column in the government newspaper Al Akhbar > > entitled, "Thanks to Hitler," praising the Nazi extermination of the Jews. > > How come there is so much unmitigated hatred? This is because of > > "settlements?" Because we don't give them enough? Forget it! Maybe now > > the world understands that after Israel exited from Lebanon, after it > signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt, after it offered to return 99% of > the Golan Heights to Syria, after having offered a Palestinian State under the > > leadership of Yassir Arafat which would rule 98% of the Palestinian > > population, after being willing to share parts of Jerusalem . . . after > all > > this, perhaps now the world understands: THEY STILL HATE OUR GUTS! Rabbi > > Schwardron was right: when it's your Meirka, you suddenly see things > > differently. Last week America came to the realization that its fight > > against terrorism is a battle that Israel has been fighting for a long > time now. > > > > But having said all this, I am saddened to say the two situations are > > different. And here I turn to the wisdom of my father, of blessed memory. > > There's a famous verse in the Book of Lamentations describing the city of > > Jerusalem after its destruction: "Bochaw sivkah balailah v'dimoso al > > lechewah ein law menachem m'kol ohavehaw - she weepeth sore in the night > and > > her tears are on her cheeks. She hath none to comfort her among all her > > lovers." And my father beautifully described what the real tragedy here > > was. It wasn't simply that the temple had been destroyed. It wasn't > simply > > its "cries" at night. The real tragedy, the real source of anguish, was > > that the "tears were left on her cheeks, she had none to comfort her." > Bad > > enough the temple was destroyed, Jerusalem in ruins. Bad enough that the > > Jewish people were suffering. Even worse was the fact that there was no > one > > who even came to offer a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. No one who > > came to offer any comfort or consolation. > > > > As bad as what the people of Israel have experienced this year, the worst > > part of it was the worlds reaction to it. Look at what happened last week > > when terrorism hit us here in America. World leaders called with support. > > NATO offered to go to war. The European Union rallied around us. The > U.N. > > Security Council immediately, unanimously, sided with us. Yasir Arafat > gave blood . . . (who would want his blood!) From all over the world there > came expressions of sympathy, support, compassion and understanding. But this > > whole year, when Israel was under attack by terrorists, what did it get > from the world community? You know how many terrorist attacks took place in > > Israel this year? 6000. Since last Rosh Hashana, 167 Israelis have been > > killed by snipers, bus bombings and at the hands of suicide bombers. 600 > > Israeli children have become orphans. Thousands of Jews, many of them > > children, permanently disabled. And the world couldn't care less. And I > > want to know - WHY? > > > > I prayed so hard for a peace agreement to come out of the Camp David > Summit. > > I was prepared to accept most any and every Israeli concession in order to > > attain peace. And Israel did, in fact, make just about every concession > > possible, offering the Palestinians a Palestinian State, the return of > over > > 90% of the territories including parts of the Old City of Jerusalem, and > > partial control of the Temple Mount. But the Palestinians turned it down, > > and made no counter-offer. It was sad, it was terrible. But the one > > consolation I had was in being able to say to myself: at least now the > world > > knows who is at fault in the Arab/Israeli crisis. President Clinton and > all his advisors went publicly on record as saying it was Arafat's fault. At > > least now, I felt, no matter what happens, the world will stand with > Israel, > > recognizing the difficulty - if not impossibility - of negotiating with > the Palestinian Authority. I was wrong! Terribly wrong! The world turned > > against us once again. The Palestinians revert to terror and everything > > Israel does to protect itself is condemned by the Western governments. > > Blockade their cities? No good! Rubber bullets? No good! Shoot at > their > > snipers? No good! Withhold their taxes? No good! Target their suicide > > bombers? No good! Seize their properties? No good! Every time Israel > > responded to a Palestinian attack, Western governments accused Israel's > > response of being "reprehensible," "excessive," "disproportionate," > > "provocative," "an escalation," etc. etc. On the same day that there > were > > two car bombings in Jerusalem, Russia criticized Israel for the escalation > > of Palestinian/Israel violence. Russia annihilates countless Chechnyans, > > but it criticizes Israel. Britain sent hit-teams to Gibraltar to wipe out > > members of the IRA, but it criticizes Israel. America bombed Qadafi. By > > mistake, we killed his daughter - that didn't stop us from crimethodically > > to eliminate this universal inconvenience. So let all the Arabs and > > Palestinians remember, "That people smarter, more efficient, better > equipped > > and more dedicated than them failed to destroy the Jewish people. And if > > the Germans couldn't do it, then the Palestinians are never going to be > able > > to do it. Let the Palestinians see where the Jews were five short decades > > ago and think about where we are today. Let it sink into their heads - > and > > into the head of every other Palestinian and Arab and Ayatollah and Hamas > > leader and neo-Nazi. They ripped the gold from our teeth and yet we've > > built a world leading high-tech country. They can say we went like lambs > to > > the slaughter, but now we have a country of our own that is a nuclear > > superpower. If Auschwitz couldn't destroy us, they never will. And the > > sooner they, and others, realize it the better off the whole world will > be." > > > > > > Similarly, here in America, let the word go out to all those who hate us > and > > seek to see us fall. We've been down before. Remember when Russia put up > > Sputnik? Remember when we used helicopters to flee from Saigon? Remember > > when Japan and Germany wee producing the most advanced cars and cameras? > > Remember? Remember what people said? "America has lost it!" "America is > > not what it used to be! Others will soon surpass it." Remember what we > > did? We did what Americans do best. We picked ourselves up by our > > boot-straps and put American ingenuity to work. And now we are the only > > super-power in the world. You can bend us but you'll never break us! You > > can call us the "Great Satan," but we know that we are the greatest > country > > on the face of the globe. Nobody has done what we - the American people - > > have done. As a Canadian television commentator, Gordon Sinclair, once > put > > it: " . . . it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous > > and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, > Japan > > and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris > of > > war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other > > billions in debts . . . When France was in danger of collapse in 1956, it > > was Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and > > swindled on the streets of Paris . . . When earthquakes hit distant > cities, > > it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring 59 American > > communities were flattened by tornadoes - nobody helped. The Marshall > Plan > > and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged > countries > > . . . I can name you 500 times when the Americans raced to the help of > other > > people in trouble. Can you name even one time when someone else raced to > > the Americans in trouble . . . Stand proud, America. Wear it proudly." > > > > We can stand proud as Americans! The day after the bombing of the > Pentagon > > and World Trade Center, the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem was reopened. > > Israel rebuilt from its ashes and America will do the same. But for now, > > where do we - as Americans and as Jews - go from here? We go to the > wisdom > > of Rabbi Akiva, the great sage of the Mishna and Talmud. What Rabbi Akiva > > taught more than anything else was hope and love. Rabbi Akiva was an > > eternal optimist. When others cried when they saw wolves prowling the > ruins > > of the second temple, Akiva was able to find in this scene a message of > > hope. When everybody else saw nothing but destruction and gloom, only > Rabbi > > Akiva saw the arrival of the Messiah in Bar-Kochba, despite the iron hand > of > > the Romans. Only Rabbi Akiva could begin to study Torah at 40 and become > a > > Torah giant, because he believed. And it was, of course, Rabbi Akiva who > > taught that you must love your neighbor as yourself, because hope and > > optimism have their roots in love. We are a loving people. Even when we > > struggle against a horrible enemy, we do not bomb their pizzerias, nor do > we > > spray gunfire into their nursery schools. We do not preach hatred nor > teach > > that heavenly rewards await the suicide bomber who kills as many Jews as > > possible. We are, thank God, a people of love. > > > > Yes, we Jews are a people of love. And so are we Americans. The last few > > days there have been so many heartbreaking stories in newspapers and on > > television of people who lost relatives and friends last week. One of the > > many that brought me to tears was the story of Howard Lutnick, the > Chairman > > and Chief Executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a little known firm but one of > the > > more important ones in America's financial community. Cantor Fitzgerald > has > > 2300 employees world wide. About 1000 worked at the company's > headquarters > > on the 101st, 103rd, 104th and 105th floors of One World Trade Center, the > > first tower hit in Tuesday's attack. Of the 1000 workers, everyone who > was > > at work that morning, nearly 700 are still unaccounted for. Howard > Lutnick, > > the Chairman of the company, has lost nearly 700 of his employees; one of > > whom was his brother. > > > > I watched this powerful executive crying his heart out on television, and > I > > cried with him. I love my brothers so much that I could so feel his pain. > > He went on to tell how over 200 of his employees who hadn't been in their > > offices on that fateful day, came to work on Thursday morning at a hotel > > where they met. That's the spirit of America! Mr. Lutnick addressed > them. > > He didn't call for vengeance. He didn't cry out in anger. Rather, he > said > > he would do everything humanly possible to make sure that the families of > > those who had died would always be provided for. That's the love of > > America. And then, he told them to go home. He said, "In the scheme of > > things, your jobs are not what's important. What's important is what you > > have at home. Go home and hug your children and your loved ones." That's > > the love of America. And that's what we, as Americans and as Jews, must > do. > > We may never be able to change those "out there" who hate us, but we can > > most certainly draw closer to those closer to home who love us. Hug your > > children and spouses. Say thanks next time you see a policeman or > fireman. > > In a world filled with so much hatred, we as individuals must show that we > > live by the words of the song, "What the world needs now is love, sweet > > love." > > > > Stand proud with America, and purchase a bond to let the people of Israel > > know that you stand with them as well. These are historic times we are > > living through. These are challenging times . . . but we will rise to the > > challenge; as Americans and as Jews, here and there. And we, American > Jews, > > are doubly blessed. Blessed to be a part of a great country, blessed to > be > > a part of a great people. As this New Year begins: "May each of us find > the > > way to cleanse our souls of despair . . . to raise our spirits to > Godliness > > . . . to open our hearts to righteousness." Reach out and touch the ones > > you love . . . hear the shofar's voice . . .taste the apples and honey . . > . > > and try to make this a sweeter year." > > > > By holding firm, by staying true to our democratic principles and values, > by > > exhibiting "love, sweet love," . . . both America and Israel will continue > > to be a blessing for all mankind. Amen. > > > > ) copyright 2001 by Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg. All rights reserved. ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2001 #441 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she?