Which one is preferable?

Excellent question.

A few weeks ago I read Michael Lerner's new book "Embracing Israel/Palestine" and found it to be excellent. He shows a way how this lingering problem can be solved. Here's what Rep. Keith Ellison ( D-Minn.), the first elected Muslim to the U.S. Congress and chair of the seventy-member Progressive Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives has to say about it:

"Rabbi Michael Lerner provides us with a brilliant and hopeful vision of how to transform the Middle East from a cauldron of violence to a vanguard of peace. I hope every American will read this book and apply its lessons to change how we deal with the Middle East. For several decades Lerner has been a remarkably courageous rabbi, defying the orthodoxies of some in his own community to insist that Biblical teachings require recognizing the equal value to God of both Israelis and Palestinians. Challenging the extremists on all sides, Lerner insists on the practical and ethical necessity to embrace both Israel and Palestine with compassion and love. Lerner presents us with a path to peace that will require our replacing the strategy of domination and war with what Lerner appropriately describes as the far more effective path to homeland security: the strategy of generosity and genuine caring for the well-being of everyone involved. This is practical and effective advice for the world. I hope every American will read this book and apply its lessons in change how we deal with the Middle East."

http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/eip



Edited by Matt Browne - 31 July 2012 at 10:24am

@nothing

"ijtihad of Judaism" ?

I can find nowhere where Judaism ever refers to the term ijtihad... only in Islam...
however it is a good thing, and good to know about, so I am sharing...

Islam's tradition of critical thinking, known as ijtihad (pronounced ij-tee-had). I realize that this word sounds frighteningly like "jihad" to many non-Arab ears. In fact it comes from the same root--to struggle. But unlike any notion of violent struggle, ijtihad is all about struggling to reason. In the early centuries of Islam, thanks to the spirit of ijtihad, 135 schools of thought thrived.

Toward the end of the 11th century, the gates of ijtihad closed for political reasons. The fragile Muslim empire--from Iraq in the East to Spain in the West--was experiencing a series of internal convulsions. Dissident denominations were popping up and declaring their own runaway governments. So the main Muslim leader, known as the caliph, cracked down politically. Within a few generations, Islam saw the closing of something else--the gates of ijtihad. The 135 schools of thought were whittled down to only four, in which conservative Sunni teachings reigned. This in turn produced a rigid reading of the Quran as well as a series of legal opinions known as fatwas that scholars could no longer overturn or even question, but only imitate. With some glorious exceptions, that's what Muslim scholars have been doing to this day--imitating each other's medieval prejudices, without much introspection. In fact, after the gates of ijtihad were closed, innovation was deemed a crime. Tolerance took a severe beating as result. One of the enduring lessons of history is that whenever an empire becomes insular to "protect" itself, intellectual decline and cultural intolerance are sure to follow.

(citation: http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1052)


I encourage those on this forum to research the term
'ijtihad of Judaism'
you will find enlightening, mind opening things.


Edited by Caringheart - 01 August 2012 at 2:29pm

Great work, thanks for sharing.