Arthur Waskow
Rabbi, founder and director of The Shalom Center

Arthur Waskow

Waskow, one of the creators and leaders of Jewish renewal, founded The Shalom Center and was named him one of America's fifty most influential rabbis by Newsweek in 2001.

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The Election: Dancing in God's Earthquake

How come the real energy-centers on our present national tickets are two passionate Christians --- one oriented to renewal and one to restoration? Not since William Jennings Bryan ("You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!" and William McKinley ("I knelt to pray for guidance on what to do about the Philippines, and heard a voice: Annex them, educate them, Christianize them!") have we had such a choice.

Then, as now, Americans were facing a stark uncertainty. More than an election was at stake:

Was the whole future of America to be dominated by corporations and a race into empire, or to be shaped by strengthening new populist organizations of farmers and workers? The choices were so deep that they were not only political and economic, but spiritual -- and it was to the Spirit, in quite different guises, that the leaders turned.

And now, again.

What do I mean by "Christian renewal" and "Christian restoration"?

We are living in God's earthquake. "Modern" civilization is devouring itself, turning its towering control of the world, of the earth itself, into self-destruction. The certainties of Modern life are quaking, and our country as a whole does not know what to do.

Some of us seek to hang on to certainties from the past: Women in their place, happily birthing, no choice about it, even if it takes a woman in power to enforce it. The earth in its place, subject to corporate subjugation, drilled by Towers of Babel that go underground to rape and gush for oil. Other countries in their place, doing God's bidding - the bidding, that is, of a new American empire.

To restore the old verities takes even more coercion, more violence, than enforcing them did in the first place. For once a genie is out of the bottle, it takes far more coercion to stuff it back in than it took to keep in the bottle in the first place. Women, out of the bottle. Vietnam, Iraq, Iran - out of the bottle. The earth and its allies, these "wimpy" environmentalists - out of the bottle. Only force of arms can stuff them back. Maybe only the Lord of Hosts can do it.

To renew the ancient bubblings of Truth and Transformation takes even more courage than in the past. For it means jumping off into a world we cannot remember. It means shaping new communities we have to imagine, not repeat. Women have moral agency of their own, must be free to decide even the harsh ethical questions of sharing one body with two beings. The earth is part of us and we of it, and even entities like the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere become life-forms, part of our new community. Other nations, other peoples, must be heard, must be listened to, must be negotiated with. They too are bearers of truth, justice, and God's way, even when their path is different from our own. They are not always right, their needs are not always God's will - but nor are ours.

To shape these new communities, broader and deeper than we have known, will take not force of arms but hearing of the heart. Maybe only "YHWH," the Interbreathing of all life that appears in every human language and in the lives of every life-form, can do it.

God's Great Dance is between Control and Community, A great leap forward in Control must be followed by a great deep warming of Community. That is what happened when the West-Semitic tribes faced the power of Imperial Egypt and Imperial Sumeria: They went deep into the Spirit, and arose with Torah, a new form of community. That is what happened when the conquered Jews faced Imperial Rome: they went deep into the Spirit, and arose with Talmud and New Testament, two new forms of community.

And that is where we are: caught in God's great dance, which in our lives is embodied in an earthquake; the Breath of Life become the winds of change, a hurricane of change.

One way "out" is to take a death-grip (and I do mean death-grip) on the old certainties. The other way is to learn to dance in God's earthquake. Dance our way into new forms of community.

That is what this election is about, and the choices will not end when the election does.

More to come, more about what we can do to join the dance, to shape the choices.
'
Shalom, salaam, peace - Arthur

By Arthur Waskow  |  September 10, 2008; 10:36 AM ET
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and i iove god.im only 8 years old.

and i here the gospol.god is my father.

Posted by: my name is brianna | September 20, 2008 7:51 AM
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Oh God, Harold, the idiot, is at it again. What a waste of space!

Posted by: Gaby | September 15, 2008 3:35 PM
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“HE HATH MADE HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL UTTERLY TO ABHOR HIM”
“THEREFORE HE SHALL BE MY SERVANT FOR EVER.”

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

“Behold my servant, whom I have chosen”
“my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased”
“I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.”
“He shall not strive, nor cry; NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.”
“And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”

What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

“My beloved is white and ruddy”
“the chiefest among ten thousand”
“His head is as the most fine gold”
“his locks are bushy, and black as a raven”
“His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters”
“washed with milk, and fitly set”
“His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl”
“his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.”
“His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold”
“his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.”
“His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely”
“This is my beloved, and this is my friend”
“O daughters of Jerusalem”

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

“David his ten thousands”

And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

“and David his ten thousands”
“And David laid up these words in his heart”
“was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.”

And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

“And David saved neither man nor woman alive”
“to bring tidings to Gath”
“And Achish believed David”
“He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him”
“therefore he shall be my servant for ever.”

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

“In those days came John the Baptist”
“And saying, Repent ye”
“for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”

That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

“That which is crooked cannot be made straight”
“that which is wanting cannot be numbered.”

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

“And the Lord said unto him”
“That which is crooked cannot be made straight”
“that which is wanting cannot be numbered.”
“Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight”
“and inquire in the house of Judas”
“for one called Saul, of Tarsus”
“for, behold, he prayeth”

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

“love unto all the saints”
“Cease not to give thanks for you”
“making mention of you in my prayers”

Posted by: harold | September 14, 2008 11:54 AM
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THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE ARK SAVE THE TWO TABLES OF STONE

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

“had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach”

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

“There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone”
“which Moses put there at Horeb”
“when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel”
“that the cloud filled the house of the Lord”
“for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord”
“The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness”

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, Ten Commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

“And he declared unto you his covenant”
“which he commanded you to perform”
“Ten Commandments”
“he wrote them upon two tables of stone”

“Lest ye corrupt yourselves”
“make you a graven image”
“the similitude of any figure”
“the likeness of male or female”
“The likeness of any beast that is on the earth”
“the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air”
“The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground”
“the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth”
“And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven”
“when thou seest the sun”
“the moon”
“even all the host of heaven”

“LEST YE CORRUPT YOURSELVES”
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

“WHEN THOU SEEST THE SUN”
“THE MOON”
“AND THE STARS”
“God made two great lights”
“the greater light to rule the day”
“the lesser light to rule the night”
“God called the light Day”
”the darkness he called Night
”he made the stars also”

“THE LIKENESS OF ANY FISH THAT IS IN THE WATERS BENEATH THE EARTH”
“Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life”
“God created great whales”
“and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind”

“THE LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT CREEPETH ON THE GROUND”
“God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing”

“THE LIKENESS OF ANY WINGED FOWL THAT FLIETH IN THE AIR”
“and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven”
“every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

““THE LIKENESS OF ANY BEAST THAT IS ON THE EARTH”
“and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

“THE LIKENESS OF MALE OR FEMALE”
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

“MAKE YOU A GRAVEN IMAGE”
“THE SIMILITUDE OF ANY FIGURE”
“God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”

“LEST YE CORRUPT YOURSELVES”
“AND LEST THOU LIFT UP THINE EYES UNTO HEAVEN”
“EVEN ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN”
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”

“LEST YE CORRUPT YOURSELVES”
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Posted by: harold | September 14, 2008 1:51 AM
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If you hear My voice obey Me. Keep My Commandments. I have shown you mercy. If you are a sinner gentile seek a Rabbi in the House of Judah for conversion. Forsake your churches, they are not Mine; forsake your pastors, I never chose them; forsake them that are in it, I did not form them. If you do not obey Me, I will show you no mercy.

It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?
Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

“That Moses commanded the Levites”
“which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord”
“Take this book of the law”
“and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God”
“that it may be there for a witness against thee”

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

“had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach”

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

“There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone”
“which Moses put there at Horeb”
“when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel”
“that the cloud filled the house of the Lord”
“for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord”
“The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness”

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, Ten Commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you”

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

“God created the heaven and the earth”

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord”
“Satan came also among them”

“I call heaven to record this day against you”
“God created the heaven” Satan
“and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God”
“that it may be there for a witness against thee”

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord”
“Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord”
“Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou”
“From going to and fro in the earth”
“walking up and down in it”

“I call earth to record this day against you”
“God created the earth” Satan
“and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God”
“that it may be there for a witness against thee”


Posted by: harold | September 14, 2008 1:48 AM
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I love the image of "Dancing in God's Earthquake" but have to point out that it's not a Obama vs Palin election but Obama vs McCain no matter what the media uproar makes it seem like.

One of my favorite buttons is "if you're going to walk on thin ice you might as well dance".

And I think you're making a very important point - that this is a transitional time, a time of the death of the old and the birth of something new. And a time of death and rebirth is also a time of pain. So should we do except to dance to God's drama. An Rumi has some words of wisdom to guide us:

"Where will the dancing take you?
Let go and trust."

Posted by: fern | September 13, 2008 12:58 PM
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