Stepping into Cyberspace: embracing the spirit

I thought I would start this blog with several excerpts from a newsletter I write.

The Highest Peace

Fady Joudah, a Palestinian American poet, translator, and internist physician, gave a recent lecture that I attended at the Unitarian Church here in Austin. I attended out of curiosity. Being Jewish, I had no real desire to go to see a Palestinian and hear a diatribe against Israel. I did not want to hear about the Middle East situation again. However in this case, Fady was a poet, and a member of Doctors without Borders, as well as a native Austinite. He was as much part of the Middle East as I was part of Israel. If he was an award winning poet, I was willing to listen. And listen I did. Fady grew up the son of Palestinian refugee parents, and now resides and works in Houston. His father added an "O" to their last name of Judah, to distinguish himself from the Jews, and which made him feel uncomfortable. Since growing up in America, Fady has been exposed to many different peoples, including Jews. When pressed by a few questioners in the audience to his take on the Middle East situation, he was both tactful and diplomatic, which really earned high marks in my book. As we all know, this is a complex situation, and it will take years and much work for it to reach a good solution. I came to hear him read his poetry, much of which reflected what he had seen in his stays in the war zones of Africa. At the end, I made it a point to go over to him with the intent to shake his hand. My Jewish star necklace was easy to see, and I told him I was Jewish, but I wanted to shake his hand because I thought he was a good poet, a good doctor and a good person and that there was no reason why a Palestinian American and a Jewish American could not shake hands. He found this acceptable, and we discussed a recent movie called The Lemon Tree that we had both seen, a movie dealing with a Palestinian woman, and a Cabinet member in the Israeli government. Many of the people who saw this movie were shaken by the time they left the theatre. This film portrayed the humanity of the Palestinian widow, as well as the security issues of the Cabinet minister. It was a very good film. When I left the Church, I felt that this had been a memorable and worthwhile experience for me. It didn't change anything in the Middle East; it didn't make any headlines; but still in its own small way, for me it was a definite step forward. My calligraphy print features the Quote: The Highest Peace is the Peace between Opposites...from Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.