Peace.? It’s not just the absence of war. ?And security, whether it is military, economic, or emotional, is about much more than the absence of an active battle.
“The U.S. economy dodged a bullet today. But the reprieve will be short,” Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight, said Wednesday in an analysis. ?Scary stuff, because dodging bullets is not the same as making peace — just ask any soldier who has gone to war.
We need more than bullet dodging. ?We need to address an imperiled economy, persistent unemployment, and the deep sense of uncertainty and insecurity that continues keep millions of Americans up at night.
In the most immediate sense, it’s certainly good that we did not default on our national debt. ?The solution we got however is like the condition of a man falling off a 40 story building and shouting, “so far, so good”, as he hurtles past the 17th floor. ? Congress, and anyone else feeling a deep sense of peace as a result of agreement reached, are very much like that man.
I don’t want to simply enjoy the pre-crash moment, I want a parachute, and it need not be of gold. ?It just needs to provide a softer landing. ?We have, as it happens far more power to make that happen than we may realize. ?Why? ?Because we select the men and women who are making and packing the parachutes!
We need to stop electing ideologues who fan the flames political warfare — even when we think that they are right! ?We need to elect people whose primary commitment is to changing our political culture, not any one policy. ?We should trust the politicians who know that real security is never simply about winning the battle, or even the war. ?It’s about building trust and nurturing hope.
Trust and hope — that’s what real security of any kind is about, and we should settle for nothing less in any part of our lives, nationally or personally.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”
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