Third Party Peacemakers In Judaism

"Third-Party Peacemakers in Judaism presents thirty-six case studies featuring third-party peacemakers found within Jewish rabbinic literature. Each case study is explored through three layers of analysis: text, theory, and practice. The textual analysis consists of close literary and historical readings of legends and historical accounts as found within classical, medieval, and early-modern rabbinic literature, many of which are critically analyzed here for the first time. The theoretical analysis consists of analyzing the models of third-party peacemaking imbedded within the various cases studies by comparing them with other cultural and religious models of third-party peacemaking and conflict resolution, in particular the Arab-Islamic sulha and contemporary Interactive Problem-Solving Workshops. The final layer of analysis, based upon the author's personal experiences in years of dong conflict resolution education, trainings, and actual third-party religious peacemaking in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, relates to the potential practical implications of these case studies to serve as indigenous models and sources of inspiration for third-party mediation and peacemaking in both interpersonal and intergroup conflicts today"--

"Third-Party Peacemakers in Judaism presents thirty-six case studies featuring third-party peacemakers found within Jewish rabbinic literature. Each case study is explored through three layers of analysis: text, theory, and practice. The textual analysis consists of close literary and historical readings of legends and historical accounts as found within classical, medieval, and early-modern rabbinic literature, many of which are critically analyzed here for the first time. The theoretical analysis consists of analyzing the models of third-party peacemaking imbedded within the various cases studies by comparing them with other cultural and religious models of third-party peacemaking and conflict resolution, in particular the Arab-Islamic sulha and contemporary Interactive Problem-Solving Workshops. The final layer of analysis, based upon the author's personal experiences in years of dong conflict resolution education, trainings, and actual third-party religious peacemaking in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, relates to the potential practical implications of these case studies to serve as indigenous models and sources of inspiration for third-party mediation and peacemaking in both interpersonal and intergroup conflicts today"--

Foreword / David Smock -- Introduction -- Religion : a blessing or a curse? -- After the collapse of Oslo -- The Alexandria Summit and its aftermath -- Grassroots interreligious dialogues -- Educating the educators -- Other Muslim voices for interreligious peacebuilding -- Symbolic ritual as a mode of peacemaking -- Active solidarity : rabbis for human rights -- From personal grief to collective compassion -- Journeys of personal transformation -- Practical recommendations -- Appendices.

Marc Gopin offers a groundbreaking exploration of Arab/Israeli peace partnerships: unlikely friendships created among people who have long been divided by bitter resentments, deep suspicions, and violent sorrows. In Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Gopin shows how the careful examination of their inner spiritual lives has enabled Jewish and Arab individuals to form peace partnerships, and that these partnerships may someday lead to peaceful coexistence.

"With focus centered on the United States' involvement in Iraq and Israel's ongoing war with terrorism, the sixteenth annual meeting of the Orthodox Forum in March 2004 took up the question of War, Peace, and the Jewish Tradition, the papers of which are published here."--BOOK JACKET.

Joyce Dalsheim explores the problem of stalled peacemaking by looking at 'spoilers' - radical groups that are counterproductive to peacemaking - not as the cause, but as a symptom of systemic malfunctions within the concept of the nation state itself, and the secular constructs of historicism that support it.

Orientations : an introduction -- Coming to terms -- A conflict of identities -- Peacemaker identities -- Dialogues for a just peace -- A platform for a just peace -- Abdelfattah Abusrour, "the arts as beautiful resistance" -- Ghassan Andoni, "the lessons of engagement" -- Arik Ascherman, "Jewish tradition and human rights" -- Hanan Ashrawi, "peacebuilding and nation building" -- Naim Ateek, "a journey for justice and peace" -- Uri Avnery, "changing public opinion in Israel" -- Sami Awad, "the power of nonviolence" -- Sam Bahour, "the business of peacemaking" -- Eitan Bronstein, "what reconciliation requires" -- Emad Burnat, "5 broken cameras: a film for peace" -- Elias Chacour, "get up, move ahead, make peace" -- Mona El-Farra, "a comprehensive solution" -- Jeff Halper, "struggles for a just peace" -- Jonathan Kuttab, "universal principles, international law" -- Gideon Levy, "telling the whole truth" -- Jessica Montell, "a mandate for human rights" -- Ilan Pappe, "the only nonviolent alternative" -- Mitri Raheb, "the infrastructure of hope" -- Estephan Salemeh, "work for the common good" -- Yonatan Shapira, "three sails for Gaza" -- Gila Svirsky, "a better world for all of us."

The first female Conservative rabbi in the U.S. reflects on ancient Jewish traditions as a guide to reconciliation and peacebuilding in our lives, our communities, and our world.