The Deeper the Ethics
of a Nation, the
Greater Its Responsibility
for the Common Future
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel
Anti-Semitism, the long-standing
Western disease, is burning again before it gets healed.
Christianity, no doubt, is the main address and the birthplace
of systematic ill-will and violence against the Jews.
It is only natural that from time to time such a
self-defeating emotion gets stronger in Christian societies. Muslim hatred of
Jews is often protected in a Christian
atmosphere, and the disease will persist as long as the Church-inspired nations
refuse to make a self-criticism.
They must place the ethics of life above sectarian
interests and political power-struggle. Western culture will have to undergo significant
changes before it learns to have more respect for truth, for intercultural
diversity, and for the Jewish nation. Europe and the USA have quite a few
lessons to learn in that department.
The situation is different and better outside the Western
culture.
Eastern “pagan” nations as China, Singapore and India are
loyal friends and partners with Israel at various levels. The friendship with
the East flourishes. In an April 2015 article
at “The Times of Israel”, Avi Lewis reports:
“Analysts believe geopolitical trends are leading
Israel to increasingly pivot east toward Asia, amid growing hostility toward
the Jewish state from its principal trading partners in Europe.” [1]
It is more than a political and commercial fact.
Pre-Christian wisdom traditions have many a point in
common with Jewish philosophy. Israeli partnership with non-Christian countries
has a bright future ahead for a number of reasons. And Eastern nations play an
increasingly visible role in the destiny of mankind. It’s no use trying to deny
that, and Russia, one should remember, is half-Asiatic.
Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race and War
Those who would like to prevent the appearance of uncontrolled social-psychological mechanisms
of fear and unrestrained military
ambitions around the world in the years ahead can easily understand that it is not a healthy option to have a
long, enduring nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
A threat in the air is sometimes worse than its actual
fulfilment. Yet the shadow of nuclear war is floating over the Middle East already,
in April 2015, and it should be dispelled before its fallout rains down onto outer
reality.
The health consequences for human population in the
Middle East and Europe in case of a nuclear war are rather unthinkable - not to
speak of animal and vegetable realms.
It would be a large scale genocide across national and
religious boundaries. Nuclear bombs are not local events. They are global.
Other continents would get a severe fallout too. We must remember for instance Chernobyl, which
was not even a bomb, but merely a peaceful accident.
It would be unrealistic to expect that the Jews will
necessarily keep quiet while waiting for the Iranian bomb to be completed. Time
has passed: no one is in the 1930s any longer.
Israel is not weak and it is not alone. It may have as
many true friends now as in any other time. But as the Middle East gets closer to
completing the first 70 years-cycle since 1948, Israel is paying the price for
its growing importance in the world. The old politics of hypocrisy cannot be
efficient in our planetary village any longer. Transparency is unavoidable in
the 21st century, and this circumstance paves the way to a multidimensional strengthening
of humanistic values. One should be prepared to walk a thorny path during the
transitional awakening.
The Emerging Alliance in the Middle East
Inter-cultural respect is of decisive importance in
the Middle East and around the world. Moderation in words enables one to be
firm in substance, while preserving good will.
Egyptian cooperation with Israel, for instance, is most
significant. It is not necessarily obvious, and there is no propaganda around
it. Its silent nature may only add to its effectiveness.
If Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab
countries show they have a common ground and mean business, the USA may be
forced to change course and stop appeasing the Iranian Ayatollahs.
But Washington will need to see substantial facts of a
preparatory nature, before it comes back to common sense and admits its
mistake.
In inducing Washington to change course, Israel and
moderate Arab states must avoid humiliating it. One must preserve the dignity
of one’s adversary, and lead him into an honest policy - and not force him to
radical or desperate measures.
In the Middle East and around the globe, a lasting
safety for nations must result from mutual good will and from a balanced
relationship.
There seems to be no cultural possibilities for cooperation
between Israel and Hamas’ leaders or the Palestinian Authority. There is no
point in talking to people whose main goal is to deceive and destroy you. On
the other hand, important sections of the Arab population in the region do respect
and cooperate with Israel, and are benefitted by it.
Such a grassroots
goodwill gives us a correct portrait of the future in the region. While the
policies of appeasement regarding terror or hatred-based campaigns are of no
use, a community level inter-cultural cooperation must be forcefully expanded in
the years ahead by those who want harmony in the Middle East.
Optimism and the Ultimate Source of Peace
With regard to the challenges faced by Israel in 2015,
the planetary citizens might want to consider adopting the “tragic optimism” taught
by Viktor Frankl.
Positive thinking is a duty, and it includes a severe
examination of the dangers involved in the act of living. A well-known story illustrates
that. At some point in the last two millennia, at a time that cannot be
disclosed, a group of elderly men gathered
each morning at a certain café in Tel Aviv.
They drank coffee and sat for hours discussing the
world situation. Given the state of the world, the story goes, their talks
usually were depressing. One day, however, one of the men startled the others
by suddenly announcing:
“You know what? I’m an optimist.”
His friends got shocked at such an absurd statement. One
of them, however, noticed something fishy:
“Wait a minute!”, he said. “If you’re an optimist, why
do you look so worried?
And the man answered:
“You think it’s easy to be an optimist?” [2]
Optimism may seem to be naïve and ridicule, if one
looks at external facts from the point of view of one’s vulnerabilities. A
confident look at life is unavoidable when we see outer reality from the point
of view of the harmony in our heart. The contrast between one’s inner peace and the outer facts is often sharp, and painful.
Fear-based “pacificism” only expands cruelty and
violence. The way one examines challenges must be fearless. On the other hand,
the awakening of one’s soul is nonviolent. In human heart we find the ultimate source of
peace and optimism. The Jewish literature on ethics has the following passage
by Irving M. Bunim:
“With a mitzvah,
a meritorious deed, you bring light and life to the world; with a transgression
you bring it some measure of death: by this much you defeat the purpose of
creation. And a man, we have noted, is a microcosm, a miniature replica of the
macrocosm, the world; moreover, in his tasks, his obligations, and his destiny,
man represents the essential purpose of
the world’s creation and existence. Save a man’s life, and it is as if you have
saved the world: it was created for him. Destroy man, and you destroy a world:
you eradicate creation’s aim and goal.” [3]
A few paragraphs later, Bunim adds:
“… Man is the temple of creation, so to speak, and the
human heart is the holy of the holies. If we entertain thoughts that are
immoral or emotions that are unworthy, it is as if we had defiled the Holy of
Holies itself. To do this is to call down destruction upon the entire world.
For man is the sole connecting link between heaven and earth, bearing within
him the essence of all life on earth and all the spirituality in heaven.” [4]
Knowledge is inseparable from duty.
The deeper the ethics of a nation or individual, the
greater its, or his, responsibility for the future.
Having been the object of an indescribable persecution
for almost 2,000 years, the Jewish people has with it a large part of human impulse
for redemption. Life is about ethics, duty, justice and responsibility; and not
every new springtime starts always with fine weather.
NOTES:
[1] “Israel Joins China-based Fund
Boycotted by US”, in “The Times of Israel”, April 2, 2015: http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-joins-china-based-asian-investment-bank/
.
[2] “Jewish Humor”, by Rabbi
Joseph Telushkin, Harper, copyright 1992, 237 pp., see p. 26.
[3] “Ethics From the Sinai”, An Eclectic, Wide-Ranging Commentary on the
Pirke Avoth, by Irving M. Bunim, Philipp Feldheim, Inc., New York,
copyright 1964, three-volume edition, see volume 3,
p. 7.
p. 7.
[4] “Ethics From the Sinai”, volume 3, p. 8.
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The above text was
first published in April 2015 at a theosophical blog in “The Times of Israel”: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/challenge-and-optimism-in-israel/
.
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See here the 1m30s video “The Healing Chain Reaction”, with a
fragment from “The Fire and Light”:
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