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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Fast for Gaza--it's time to go viral for peace in the Middle East

"What Israel has been doing to the people of Gaza is an outrage. It has brought neither safety nor security to the people of Israel and it has wrought nothing but misery and tragedy upon the people of Gaza”, said Rabbi Brant Rosen of Evanston, IL. Joining forces with Rosen is Rabbi Brian Walt of West Tisburry, MA. The two are calling together other rabbis, Jews, non-Jewish religious leaders and people of conscience to join Ta'anit Tzedek - Jewish Fast For Gaza.

As prologue to this call to action, these courageous rabbis write, “Since Hamas electoral victory in January 2006, Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip to an increasingly intolerable blockade that restricts Gaza's ability to import food, fuel and other essential materials, and to export finished products. As a result, the Gazan economy has completely collapsed. Most of Gaza's industrial plants have been forced to close, further contributing to already high levels of unemployment and poverty and rising levels of childhood malnutrition…
…(but) we cannot separate our call for justice in Gaza from the painful truth of this conflict and the ongoing tragedy of war in this tortured region. We condemn Hamas’ deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians. Out of the same ethical commitments we also condemn the use of much greater violence by the Israeli government, causing many more deaths of Palestinian civilians. Since the end of Israel's recent military campaign, the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza has grown all the more dire.”
I have signed on to the Fast For Gaza and I hope you will too.
Fasting is a spiritual practice found in nearly all of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. As a Protestant Christian I had never felt sufficiently motivated to fast until the Ramadan that followed upon 9/11. I have since taken up the fast as a spiritual practice several times. Whenever I have fasted I realize that when my basic need for food is not met, my impulse is to rationalize why I should stop fasting.
Early on in the fast my personal discomfort looms large. But over time I realize that the purpose of my personal discomfort is to call me to a greater comfort. There is something miraculous and mysterious about letting go of me and connecting to the larger longing of we.
Anyone who has ever fasted knows what I am talking about.
Taking the pledge to Fast for Gaza means to make the commitment to drink only water from sunrise to sunset on the third Thursday of every month, the first being Thursday, July 16.
Whenever I have fasted I feel pretty virtuous until about two o’clock in the afternoon. Then there is a twinge in the stomach. Clearly, this is less a challenge in the winter months!
But the practice of fasting has taught me that discomfort is not my enemy. It is a part of life. Feeling uncomfortable I feel the impulse to fight it or flee. But if I stay with it, stay with what's going on for me--I am able to eventually climb out of the prison of the self.
I fully anticipate that when I begin The Fast for Gaza and feel the pangs of discomfort I will at least remember those in Gaza who are living with a suffering that I cannot possibly comprehend.
I have talked to a lot of people who seek spirituality because they think that spirituality will bring them the satisfaction they haven’t been getting. Many people assume that the purpose of spirituality is to make us generally feel good, to give us warm fuzzies—to remove the uncomfortable aspects and difficulties of our lives.
But deeply spiritual commitments have a way of doing exactly the opposite.
Whenever people say to me, “I want to develop the spiritual aspect of my life”, I always respond the same way, I ask “What in life is not spiritual? What in your life can you think of, that is not connected to something or someone else?”
Spirituality is the process of waking up to see that everything is interdependent and interrelated.
All of life is sacred. The divine presence permeates every molecule in every moment. God is the ground of being from which every being draws life and breath. Every life form derives its energy from the one Source.
In this spirit, I invite you to join me in the Fast For Gaza. If for some reason you are unable to fast but want to add your name to the fast you can skip a meal, if that's not possible, light some candles or create a ritual that will mark each third Thursday. There is no excuse to do nothing.
Make a difference. Help get the word out. Share the Fast For Gaza website with family, friends and email lists.

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