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Editorial Articles Featured Artist * * *
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The Gift of a Universal Jerusalem by Uta Gabay The intention of this article is to contemplate the perpetuation of strife in the City of Peace (Jerusalem) at this time of Israel's 60th anniversary, from the perspective of the myth of the forefathers of the Jewish race as told by Alice Bailey (Esoteric Psychology, Vol. I, pp. 393-401). For those who are not familiar with this myth, it can be briefly summarized as follows: In olden days, when the testing of humanity centered around mastery of the physical world, a group of three disciples who were undergoing an initiation ceremony marking the success of that phase of learning, refused to comply with the initiatory requirement that asked them to leave behind all that they had garnered from the material world in order to enter freely into the light. Three disciples believed these fruits/material assets to be their most important offering to God. Consequently, they were sent back for another round of loss and gain until they learned the lesson of detachment from material things and earned the right to stand again before the one Initiator and enter freely into the light. This marked the very ancient beginning of the plight of the wandering Jew. The rest of the group, instead of keeping quiet about this event (as it behooves a disciple), spoke about it and began a rumor, which became the beginning of what is today known as anti-semitism. History gives us an appalling account of this pattern of loss and gain amongst the Jewish people over the last few millennia. The state of Israel is the latest chapter in this pattern. We know that the main catalyst behind the establishment of the state of Israel was the Holocaust--humanity's climaxing gesture of Jew-rejection. Alice Bailey discusses the underlying causes of this situation, the fundamental point being that Jews and non-Jews are together playing out an age-old pattern and share responsibility for it. The Jews have taken on the task of anchoring humanity in matter. And through the loss and gain of this matter aspect, the Jews now need to learn the lesson of liberation from this attachment. And the Western non-Jews, perhaps also the Muslims, need to sort out their own relationship with matter and materialism, and stop using the Jews as a scapegoat.The Jews focalize unresolved human emotions that must be solved by Humanity as a whole. The Jewish expertise with the matter aspect is their blessing and their curse. This expertise helps them to come to power very quickly after each loss. Trauma upon trauma of loss forges this asset into the fatal weapon of the self-righteous victim, each time coming back to power in a way that perpetuates difficulty with their surroundings, setting the stage for the next loss. So much of the Israeli psyche is caught up in this racial tragedy; indeed, the very foundation of the state is built upon it. After thousands of years of gain and loss, of persecution and wandering, the establishment of their own state came as a potential healing factor for the Jewish people--the hope to become a nation among nations, finally integrated within the One Humanity. Alice Bailey suggested, however, that a greater means of successfully integrating the Jews into humanity would have been through assimilation and the relinquishing of their racial separateness and claim to the "Holy Land." The Holocaust itself tragically ended the road to assimilation, which had previously begun on some levels and in some places. After the Holocaust, if the world had taken responsibility
for the situation of the Jews, a middle way might have been found,
such as the resettlement of the Jews within the different countries
of the world, rather than in the land of their forefathers. This
solution might arguably have given the Jews a better chance to
become a nation among nations, alleviating the reactivation of
ancient rights and wrongs.
However, we know that the deeper the trauma, the more powerful the instinctual undercurrents. Jews and non-Jews alike were not ready to break out of the karmic wheel at that strategic point after the holocaust, and so they returned to their ancient home, thereby unleashing the power of the unhealed patterns of the past. If the Jews would have been more aware and considerate
of the suffering that they inflicted on the Palestinians in the
course of their struggle for a homeland, perhaps by now the two
half-brothers would have somehow reached a modus vivendi together.
However, the blind force generated by the traumatized Jews running on survival instinct after the holocaust was met by the reactive patterns of the Palestinian population; the age-old rivalry between Isaac and Ishmael was re-enacted. Old wounds were opened and relived and the resulting mutual demonization set the stage for the violent perpetuation of the past. The Israelis treat the Palestinians as "Untermenschen", unconsciously projecting onto them what they were subjected to over the centuries and which culminated in Nazi Germany. And that, in turn, activates the ancient hurt pride in the Palestinians; Isaac's self-righteous presence and worldly success in Palestine makes him the archetypal enemy of Ishmael's dignity. Thus the two brothers, in their fight for the land, symbolize humanity's drama with matter.This tragic clash, involving explosive issues like race, religion, strategic power, survival fear, hurt pride, superiority, guilt, hate, etc., drew much of humanity into the drama. Anyone with a karmic share in this situation could not remain on the sidelines, which added to the complexity. A veritable vortex of human emotions has been in dynamic destructive action ever since. Young people on both sides have inherited the
residues of the human racial mind and are perpetuating it. There
really is no point in blaming any one side and, in fact, there
is a dire need for keeping a balanced point of view.
I think the only way we can ever get off this wheel of tragedy is to focus on what we have in common: the laws of the downward trauma-spiral and upward healing-spiral are the same for everyone. When human beings are subjected to trauma, they contract into survival mode, regardless of their religion, race or background and, that which began as a healthy reaction, becomes a trap if prolonged. The human body and psyche contract instinctually, but de-contraction is not instinctual and takes a conscious, concerted effort to be achieved. In order to break the chain of inflicting the violence and cruelty that was done to us on others, we need to relinquish all blaming. We must make the effort to think of the highest good of all involved and hold the universal values and the big picture in our consciousness. It is for Humanity as a whole to understand this
mechanic and to educate and assist people to de-contract. As
we begin to work in this way, we view events even-mindedly, holistically,
rather than looking for the one culprit. An effort to do
so, from an esoteric perspective, is presented in a new website
called www.methuselahproject.net
Also, Michael Lerner and his Tikkun magazine (www.tikkun.org) are voices of reason to which we can look for orientation. Search for Common Ground is another site with excellent and balanced articles on the Middle East (www.commongroundnews.org). Asking for forgiveness, such a seemingly simple and obvious act, would make all the difference in the Middle East. In South Africa, it became possible and seemed like a miracle. In Australia, it was done only recently. In the Middle East the situation is more complex and may, therefore, take longer. In the present life-threatening situation, it is not yet possible for Israel to acknowledge and take responsibility for the fact that their state is built on grave injustice to another people. Neither are the Palestinians in a position to be able to see their share of the responsibility. Yet there is no other way to heal. Since Israel is the stronger power in the area, it seems up to Israel to initiate the shift from the trauma spiral to the healing spiral.Meanwhile it is the Israeli special blend of victimization and arrogance that controls and blinds them to the fact that this pattern does nothing more than perpetuate the age-long drama of an eye for an eye, making the problem bigger and more dangerous by the day. There is irony and potential beauty and healing in the fact that the Israelis seem to have no other choice than to learn to care for their Palestinian brethren as they care for their own--if not for their common humanity, then for their common history as the sons of Abraham and for their shared destiny as scapegoats–-the Jews for the Western world and the Palestinians for the Arab world. That would mean forfeiting the right of the chosen son and sharing the heritage with his brother--correcting the ancient sin of separation by loving thy neighbor as thyself. This is an injunction for all human beings, but an especially urgent challenge and opportunity for the Israelis. If they don't seize it very soon, they may be overthrown by the sheer force of numbers, losing their possessions once again. Instead of building settlements like castles in a foreign land--memorials to illegal and forceful activity–-an act of giving is called for here. It is no wonder that Jerusalem is the hottest issue in the peace process. It is the symbol of the most sacred place for the Jews, the thing they most direly preserve. It is here that the most ancient instincts are activated, not only in the Jews, but also in the Christian and the Muslim world. Jerusalem has become the archetypal City of Peace in which everyone wants to have a share. That's why it is also the key to the solution of the problem. The Israeli hymn is a yearning to be a free people
in their own land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem. In each Jewish
wedding ceremony the husband repeats after his rabbi the vow to
lose his right hand and have his tongue glued to his gum if he should
forget Jerusalem. Thus the preservation of this treasure stays deeply
ingrained in the Jewish psyche.
This is not to legitimize the Jews' return to their ancient homeland at the expense of those who live there; but we need to recognize that it was the ancient instinctual undercurrents of humanity as a whole that created this situation. It is almost as if we have a need to retrace this old drama and reenact it. There is no point in trying to turn the wheel backwards now, what can and should be done now is formulating and holding in our consciousness a doable vision--a vision of a universal Jerusalem. For the Jews living in Israel, especially in Jerusalem, and with the constant threat to their lives, it is difficult to conceive of their altering their ingrained commitment to the land of Zion and Jerusalem. It is unclear what it will take to help the Jews recognize this, but this vision could be the point of possible transformation, for the Jews and for the whole region. The release of the material sacred treasure -- in this time and place -- may not be to leave it behind (like in the ancient myth), but to share it with others: Zion, the City of Peace -- for the whole of Humanity, instead of only for themselves. The circumstances seem to demand it; there are
a growing number of progressive Jews who are developing this idea,
but most Jews are very far from considering such an option, at
least in Israel, or relinquish their position of superiority.
The Israelis would need to feel much more secure.
The Palestinians and the other Arab states would need to demonstrate convincingly their acceptance of Israel's right to exist. Likewise, there would have to be a united world commitment to ensure that the monster of the old revenge pattern does not raise its head once the Jews agreed to let go of their control pattern. Much still remains to be done. Those at the front line of the conflict have a tougher share to tackle. However, for them to succeed, the rest of Humanity needs to rise into a recognition of shared responsibility. The act of relinquishing attachment to the material world and giving freely, is something we all are still learning. The sin of separativeness is a sin we all share. It is of great importance that each person looks into his/her own being and works on the same issue, so that eventually the Jew, as the representative of Humanity, will be able to undertake this transformative act. For now, may we hold a lighted thoughtform of solution to the Jewish problem in the form of a universal Jerusalem. This would be a gift from the Jewish heart to Humanity and a great contribution to world peace! It could be a token of our having learnt the lesson and, as a result, admitting us collectively, into the light of the One Human Heart.
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