"What Israel has been doing to the people of Gaza is an outrage. It has brought neither safety nor security to the people of Israel and it has wrought nothing but misery and tragedy upon the people of Gaza”, said Rabbi Brant Rosen of Evanston, IL. Joining forces with Rosen is Rabbi Brian Walt of West Tisburry, MA. The two are calling together other rabbis, Jews, non-Jewish religious leaders and people of conscience to join Ta'anit Tzedek - Jewish Fast For Gaza. 
As prologue to this call to action, these courageous rabbis write, “Since Hamas electoral victory in January 2006, Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip to an increasingly intolerable blockade that restricts Gaza's ability to import food, fuel and other essential materials, and to export finished products. As a result, the Gazan economy has completely collapsed. Most of Gaza's industrial plants have been forced to close, further contributing to already high levels of unemployment and poverty and rising levels of childhood malnutrition…
…(but) we cannot separate our call for justice in Gaza from the painful truth of this conflict and the ongoing tragedy of war in this tortured region. We condemn Hamas’ deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians. Out of the same ethical commitments we also condemn the use of much greater violence by the Israeli government, causing many more deaths of Palestinian civilians. Since the end of Israel's recent military campaign, the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza has grown all the more dire.”
Fasting is a spiritual practice found in nearly all of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. As a Protestant Christian I had never felt sufficiently motivated to fast until the Ramadan that followed upon 9/11. I have since taken up the fast as a spiritual practice several times. Whenever I have fasted I realize that when my basic need for food is not met, my impulse is to rationalize why I should stop fasting.
Early on in the fast my personal discomfort looms large. But over time I realize that the purpose of my personal discomfort is to call me to a greater comfort. There is something miraculous and mysterious about letting go of me and connecting to the larger longing of we.
Anyone who has ever fasted knows what I am talking about.
Taking the pledge to Fast for Gaza means to make the commitment to drink only water from sunrise to sunset on the third Thursday of every month, the first being Thursday, July 16.
Whenever I have fasted I feel pretty virtuous until about two o’clock in the afternoon. Then there is a twinge in the stomach. Clearly, this is less a challenge in the winter months!
But the practice of fasting has taught me that discomfort is not my enemy. It is a part of life. Feeling uncomfortable I feel the impulse to fight it or flee. But if I stay with it, stay with what's going on for me--I am able to eventually climb out of the prison of the self.
I fully anticipate that when I begin The Fast for Gaza and feel the pangs of discomfort I will at least remember those in Gaza who are living with a suffering that I cannot possibly comprehend.
I have talked to a lot of people who seek spirituality because they think that spirituality will bring them the satisfaction they haven’t been getting. Many people assume that the purpose of spirituality is to make us generally feel good, to give us warm fuzzies—to remove the uncomfortable aspects and difficulties of our lives.
But deeply spiritual commitments have a way of doing exactly the opposite.
Whenever people say to me, “I want to develop the spiritual aspect of my life”, I always respond the same way, I ask “What in life is not spiritual? What in your life can you think of, that is not connected to something or someone else?”
Spirituality is the process of waking up to see that everything is interdependent and interrelated.
All of life is sacred. The divine presence permeates every molecule in every moment. God is the ground of being from which every being draws life and breath. Every life form derives its energy from the one Source.
In this spirit, I invite you to join me in the Fast For Gaza. If for some reason you are unable to fast but want to add your name to the fast you can skip a meal, if that's not possible, light some candles or create a ritual that will mark each third Thursday. There is no excuse to do nothing.
Make a difference. Help get the word out. Share the Fast For Gaza website with family, friends and email lists.
If ever there was a good reason to go viral, this is it.
Comments
Fine, except there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Its yet another myth meant to demonize Israel. Just last week, - 422 truckloads (9592 tons) of humanitarian aid were transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal and the Karni conveyor belt.
- 2.192 million liters of heavy duty diesel for the Gaza power station and 1275 tons of gas for domestic use were delivered via Nahal Oz fuel depot.
- 214 Gaza residents entered Israel for medical and 180 for humanitarian reasons via Erez Crossing.
There is a zoo in Gaza. There is an amusement park. There are fine hotels and restaurants. The suffering of gaza has been carefully orchestrated by Hamas, simply to be used as a tool against Israel
My mother often used the phrase “two wrongs don’t make a right,” and I think that this phrase applies in the case of Israel and Palastine. The history of this conflict is a sordid tale of two wrongs wreaking havoc in what is supposed to be a very religious part of the world. The fate of leaders on both sides who have tried to be reconcilers has often been assassination. The story reads like Gone with the Wind – neither Scarlett nor Rhett could suppress the ego long enough to save the relationship. And the Israel/Palastine situation is all about power and ego. It is “do unto others before they do unto you” taken to the extreme. It is an example of what William Sloane Coffin calls “unlimited retaliation” in his book The Heart Is a Little to the Left. Unlimited retaliation involves not taking an eye for an eye, but taking both eyes, ears, nose, and head. Thus, Israel and Pakistan have chosen unlimited retaliation. How sad and how wrong.
I apologize for misspelling Palestine in my message below.
dustyk....
Were do you get your information from? Are we suppose to believe you or should we just accept that numerous reports from the UN and humanitarian aid organization are full of lies?
Gaza has 1.4 million people. 2.192 million liters of fuel wouldn't keep La Jolla running for a week. Unless you've been in Gaza, I don't think you’re qualified to say anything on the humanitarian condition there.
Bob, this is a great idea. Thanks for spreading word of the initiative. I'll forward it to my friends.
Starvation in Gaza is a positive good. It currently suffers from unbearable overpopulation. Forced and deliberately executed starvation of the population towards its acute reduction is best for Gaza's economic prospects in the longer term. If 1 million Gazans starve to death, that will still leave a bountiful population of 500,000 --- slightly less than that of San Francisco.
Hmmm. Personally I think there is something faintly insulting about the idea of some of the wealthiest people on the planet skipping a meal in solidarity with hungry people.
There is something "Antoinettish" about it.
I'm inclide to agree with the poster Crumpet.
I wonder what a Gaza resident, living in constant fear of both Hamas and the Israeli forces, would make of your gesture Robert.
The word bourgeois comes to mind.
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