I was only recently introduced to Wabi Sabi. At first I thought it was a kind of Japanese dish, best eaten with sushi or served with miso soup. It is, however, not a gastronomic offering but rather a philosophic one; but every bit as piquant and appetising as a tantalising Japanese offering!
Wabi Sabi is Japanese and ZenBuddhist in its origins, but it is global in its implications, relevant and resonant. It speaks to my Jewish heart and is especially interesting at this time of polarisation and extremism.
It is defined as: Accepting the world as imperfect, unfinished and transient, and then going deeper and celebrating that reality. We sometimes get locked into thinking that everything has to be perfect, that we need to be happy 100% of the time. This can have the opposite effect and lead to dissatisfaction, distress and depression. Instead, we should acknowledge that there will be obstacles and failures, disagreements and difficulties, times of pain and perplexity.
The next step is to use these points of pain as springboards for growth. In religious terms, they are gifts of growth from God or to use the exquisite phrase of the American poet, Walt Whitman, they are the ‘handkerchiefs of God‘. He has dropped them in our way so that we can pick them up and recognise just how beautiful they are. Ultimately, we can come out stronger and more beautiful than before. We will never be perfect humans, but we can be perfectly human. As the great songster, Leonard Cohen, put it so powerfully and poignantly in his song Anthem: ‘There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’. For those familiar with Kabbalistic or Jewish mysticism, at Creation our world was like a perfect vessel filled with light, but it was shattered by the intensity of its own perfectly unadulterated goodness. Now, all we have are broken vessels. Our task is to gather together all those shattered pieces of light, those scattered sparks. Judaism has always recognised and taught that this world is full of failure and frustration.
Putting it differently and more simply – it’s a reminder that life is not one sided but multi faceted, and that its complexity should be embraced and not avoided.
In our age of extremism we are often distracted by the loud voices on either side declaring that there is only one truth, one way. These are harsh and militant voices filled with sound and fury. They don’t allow for subtlety and thoughtfulness, or seeking genuine communication and peacefulness. They prefer dislocation to dialogue, disjunction to balance.
This is not the way of wisdom.
I am intensely disturbed by the furious fractionalisation of the population of Israel. I am not a lawyer and don’t pretend to understand the subtleties of judicial reform being proposed or the purported failures of the Supreme Court. I do, however, understand that this is a country tearing itself apart, that my people are rupturing themselves. I shudder to think how this is reminiscent of what precipitated the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The Temple, say our Sages, was already destroyed when the Romans set it on fire. It had imploded by the senseless hatred of Jews for other Jews. They were literally killing each other; a group of them set alight the food storage of the city of Jerusalem .
We have enemies from without. We spend a lot of energy on combating the reprehensible BDS (boycotting of Israel) movement. We need to expend as much energy within the BDC, on seeking Balance and moderation, on protecting Democracy, and on seeking Compromise and Compassion.
Even if change is necessary, it should be careful and considered, not hastily imposed. President Hertzog’s well researched and thoughtful proposals deserves more attention than it has been given.
We are a people of considerable talent and ability – not for nothing, did Israel become the Start-Up nation – and a beacon of democracy in a perverse Middle East. We are a people of hope and light, energy and initiative. As we approach the festival of liberation, Pesach, we need to be sure to free ourselves from the imprisonment of parochialism and the cage of extremism. We need to replace senseless hatred with sensational love. Embrace the brokenness, embody the healing! Recognise that “On earth, we’re briefly gorgeous“ (Ocean Vuong). Have a helping of Wabi Sabi…
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Ralph
Shavuot – A Festival of Love and Hope