healing hatred in the holy land

Second Sunday of Easter ● April 7, 2024

Dr. Sarah Bernstein, Guest Preacher © 2024

You can view the full worship video recording at:

https://youtu.be/U8E0S8Kf-YA?si=58Yhq50K3jVE1R-3

Scripture Readings: 

Psalm 85:8-13  (The Inclusive Bible)

The reading text is provided at the end of this sermon.

I am honored to have been invited to address you this morning. Honored and humbled by the task of offering a reflection on a situation that is on the one hand so simple, and on the other hand so complex.

20 years ago I was working on a dialogue project for religious leaders. It was at the height of the second intifada. Palestinian suicide bombers were part of our everyday lives. I sat with a psychologist we were working with, who was himself injured in a bomb attack in Jerusalem, and we were discussing the deteriorating relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel and Palestine. We talked about our growing concern over the hatred that was beginning to rear its head even then. The psychologist commented on the fact that victims of terror attacks in Israel receive counselling in order to help them return to normal functioning. Normal, meaning that they can go to work and run their homes and look after their children – a basic level of functioning in the world. But hatred was not considered to be something that merited counselling – it was seen as a normal response to being attacked. That conversation struck a deep chord. If hatred is seen as normal, how are we going to overcome our trauma and learn to live together? Who is going to heal the hatred?

20 years on, things have only gotten worse. The appalling events of October 7th, and the horrendous attack on Gaza, leave us with a very real sense that we are staring into the abyss. A moral abyss as well as the terrible death and suffering unleashed, seemingly with no end in sight. So the first step is to stop the war and release the hostages, in the hope that from there we can begin to look for other more productive paths to resolve the conflict.

John Paul Lederach, a Mennonite peacemaker, uses a verse from Psalm 85 to talk about reconciliation.

חֶ סֶ ד -וֶאֱמֶ ת נִפְ גָּׁשּו; צֶ דֶ ק וְׁשָּ לֹום נָּׁשָּ קּו.

Mercy and truth will meet;

justice and peace will kiss.

Mercy – in Hebrew Hesed – which could also be translated as compassion, grace, loving-kindness. Mercy paired with Truth. We are lacking in both truth and mercy in Israel-Palestine. Each side is mired in its own narrative, unable to truly see the other. Literally – Palestinian and Arab media showed almost nothing about the terrible atrocities of October 7th – and an overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank do not believe that such events took place. The Israeli media show almost no footage of the disaster unleashed upon Gaza – and many Israeli Jews believe that the casualty figures and the famine are greatly exaggerated and are part of the Hamas propaganda. And even people who do see what is going on, often fail to bring mercy – compassion – empathy to the truth. To understand that both peoples are deeply traumatized, consumed by fear and anger, and that we must temper the truth with the understanding of both suffering and human failings, and our core belief that all human beings are worthy of life and love.

Justice and Peace. In the past, it has usually been said that Palestinians struggle for justice, whilst Israelis seek peace. Maybe this is always the situation where there is an extreme power imbalance. It is perhaps too soon to know how this dynamic has changed in the current reality – both Palestinians and Israelis are deeply embedded in a dynamic of competitive victimhood, which is only strengthened by the reactions around the world. So now both sides seek justice – and no-one is even talking about peace. But surely it is time to wake up and realise that I can only have peace and justice when John, my Palestinian friend and colleague, has peace and justice – and he can only have peace and justice when I have peace and justice. We are all interconnected, including all of you - and therefore we all need to fight for peace and justice for everyone together. With mercy and truth.

So at the Rossing Center, this is what we do. We try to bring together truth with mercy, justice with peace. Acknowledging the Truth of the Other, whilst practicing loving-kindness and compassion, is something that I think is at the essence of healing in a situation of conflict. It can of course be immensely challenging, as sometimes that Truth will challenge my very world-view, but listen we must, and listen with compassion and love. And the truth we seek is less the factual truth, and more the emotional and spiritual truth. Where traditional dialogue often places the emphasis on factual events and life stories, in our Healing Hatred work we concentrate on the emotional stories and ask ourselves the meaning of those stories and events in our lives. Thus, when adopting a healing approach to the events of the last 6 months, we must ask ourselves not only “What Happened?” but “What did you feel?”, “What was your experience?” and “How do you understand the meaning of what has happened, for your life today?” We do this using the Healing Hatred methodology we eventually developed in response to the question I was asking all those years ago. It is a methodology based in tools of spiritual counselling, applied to the conflict. If we acknowledge the pain and the spiritual significance of these events in our lives, across the borders of nation and religion, I believe we can find the path to shared healing and redemption.

At the Rossing Center we are working particularly within the school system, to make schools educate children to live in a shared society with equal rights for all. We will work with the principals, using our special Healing Hatred methodology, and train the teachers, and provide curricula for the students. We work with university and college students, both in Jerusalem and in the mixed city of Ramle in the center of Israel. Since October 7th, much of our work is uni-national, allowing Jews and Palestinians the space to process their pain separately, and work on the different issues that confront the different sides. Fear is rampant; distrust is all pervasive. Many relationships across the divide have broken down – both in Israel and here. Here, too, many people find it impossible to talk about the situation – and interfaith relationships are suffering as a result. Everyone is hurting. Here too there is a great need for dialogue between the different faith groups, and indeed across many other divides affecting this country. Here too there is a need for people to learn to listen with compassion and understanding, seeking to understand the other person’s point of view rather than to prove them wrong.

Our staff team of 18 Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Christians and Muslims, religious and secular, from all across Israel, continues to work together, using their expertise in education and dialogue, to help support both communities. We too are hurting – but after years of dialogue, we know how to listen with compassion, and we know that we all believe in a future in which everyone will have equal rights, everyone with have justice and peace, everyone will finally choose life over death, and learn to live together.

Only then will the words of the Psalmist come about:

חֶ סֶ ד -וֶאֱמֶ ת נִפְ גָּׁשּו; צֶ דֶ ק וְׁשָּ לֹום נָּׁשָּ קּו.

Mercy and truth will meet;

justice and peace will kiss.

May God bless us with the humility and strength to reach that meeting place, together.

Thank you.

Psalm 85:8-13  (The Inclusive Bible)

I will listen to what you have to say, YHWH—

a voice that speaks of peace, peace

for your people and your friends

so long as they don’t return to their folly.

Your salvation is near for those who revere you 

and your glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met;

justice and peace have embraced. 

Fidelity will sprout from the earth

and justice will lean down from heaven. 

YHWH will give us what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.

Justice will march before you, YHWH,

and peace will prepare the way for your steps.

The Word of Life and Salvation.

Thanks be to God.