Tikun Atzmi/Tikun Olam (repair of oneself/repair of the world)

Submitted by Dr. Hagitte Gal-Ed (United States), Mar 22, 2013 at 20:48

Shalom Prof. Pipes,

Observing the entire Mavi Marmara incident from the perspective of a trauma psychotherapist is truly 'fascinating', for lack of a better word. The psycho-dynamics it projects, including the actions and responses from the international community, make this episode a classic tale of a family with a long history of multi-generational addiction un-resolved.

The mental constitution at the core of this condition is as ineffable as that of any one of the tragic characters of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, or the comic ones of Aristophanes. When it comes to this level of mental dysfunction, the difference between tragedy and comedy is merely of style.

It is precisely for that astute spiritual enlightenment that, we -- people of the Zionist presence who consciously choose to NOT fall prey to this madness -- have only one option: the integrity of Tikun Atzmi/Tikun Olam.

My deep respect goes to the Israeli government for taking every possible step to investigate, draw conclusions and assume responsibility for operational errors during the Mavi Marmara charade. The courage to have done so stems from our deepest Jewish values. That is our identity.

However, we are not doing so out of naivete. We are aware of the fact that, as you pointed out so clearly, doing the right thing in and of itself does NOT prevent unresolved old diseases from being reactivated.

For any change to happen, they - whoever they may be - have to be who they are, until they choose to change. Similarly, we have to be who we are. Open to change. It is only within this dialogue of truths at their core, that any hope for change has any chance at all.

Thank you for your intellectual courage!

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Hagitte Gal-Ed

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