BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

The Lessons of Yom Kippur I n the Jewish tradition of midrash, there is the expression "davar akheyr," which means "another thing," a story. Rabbis have always told stories as a central part of their teaching. So today, I will tell you a story. It's not my story. But I can relate. Instead, it's a true story from one of my very favorite storytellers, Anne Lamott. This one comes from her book Traveling Mercies. I've abridged it just a little, but it's called "Forgiveness." **** The fruit of forgiveness. Annie says that God was trying to tell her, trying to point out that if she could just step back and allow a little forgiveness into her way of seeing, things would change. It's like that, though, forgiveness. Usually, we have to be forced to give it a try. But whenever we do, for whatever reason we might do it, things change. They always change. Oh, other people might not change. But we change. Our experience of the world changes...

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by Gil Hoffman Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's nemesis, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, continued his recent shift to the Right on Monday when he visited the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Shalom was received warmly in Hebron, where Netanyahu withdrew IDF forces from most of the city when he was prime minister in 1997. In what was interpreted as an attack on Netanyahu, Shalom said he believed the settlements around Hebron were a bloc that must permanently remain under Israeli control. He also criticized the government's handling of the ongoing Arab violence in Jerusalem. He said it was intolerable that even though the Temple Mount was under Israeli control, Israeli forces had to constantly work to protect Jews in the area. "I have gone up to the Temple Mount in the past, and Jews have a right to go there," Shalom told a large crowd at the Cave of the Patriarchs. "The events at the Temple Mount today must serve as a wake-up call for everyone. We are the soverei...

What the concept of peace or shalom really means The Concept of "Shalom" in Traditional Jewish Sources Along with truth and justice, peace is among the most hallowed Jewish values. By Aviezer Ravitzky The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness, and its frame of reference throughout Jewish literature is bound up with the notion of shelemut, perfection. Its significance is thus not limited to the political domain--to the absence of war and enmity--or to the social--to the absence of quarrel and strife. It ranges over several spheres and can refer in different contexts to bounteous physical conditions, to a moral value, and, ultimately, to a cosmic principle and divine attribute. Biblical Usages In the Bible, the word shalom is most commonly used to refer to a state of affairs, one of well-being, tranquility, prosperity, and security, circumstances unblemished by any sort of defect. Shalom is a blessing, a manifestation of divine...