The Beauty of Sanctity

I'd like to take a minute to applaud the Israelis. This is a great cultural community. One of the ironies of watching the Israelis go through this disengagement processes is that you can criticize them for their treatment of the Palestinians and for not learning the lessons that the Brits and we Americans had to learn painfully when we mistreat our minorities. Yet you have to admire how they are able to search deeply within, their broad vision, and deep appreciation for art, music and culture.

I recently went to the Israel Museum to see their 40th anniversary exhibitions, collectively called Beauty and Sanctity. There are many aspects to this: In the Beginning: Prehistory and the Origins of Myth, Vanishing Point, about infinity, Capturing the Soul of Nature, Beauty and the Book, Saints in European Art, Sacred Beauty, Ideals of Human Beauty, Lights, light in its various representations, the story of the Wandering Bible, Islamic Art and Jewish wardrobe precepts, and the one I saw, the Beauty of Sanctity.

First of all, since I live in Tel Aviv, where people are more secular, I thought the Israel Museum would be biased towards all things Jewish. Well I was wrong. The Israel Museum is dedicated to co-existence. I also had thought that ALL Israeli Jews wouldn't appreciate the values of others. Well I was wrong here too. I saw real respect for the sanctity of other religions and cultures. I came away realizing that there is a capacity in Israel which is in many ways fitting, as the center of three great religions, to offer the world space to think about common goods – like beauty, like sanctity -- to lift the human spirit in these disturbing times.

The Beauty of Sanctity looks respectfully at sanctity from all perspectives and from different cultures. I was very impressed how many different religions and cultures were represented. Africa, Asia, Islam, native American, archaeological and contemporary. I was most struck, though, when I saw the bust of Hadrian, the general who is so favored in the rest of the world but who destroyed Jerusalem. How could they see sanctity in such a man, I asked the curator. Well, she said, other people thought he was a god. Allowing him to be part of the exhibition speaks volumes to me.

What really sent chills up my spine was a video of cars on the highway stopping as they do every year to pay tribute to the victims of the holocaust. I have seen this with my own eyes and was impressed. But seeing it in the exhibit of the Beauty of Sanctity demonstrates that Israelis see themselves, and all humans, as the ones who create sanctity.
American-Israelis, Ethiopian-Israelis, Iranian-Israelis, Yemenite Israelis, etc, and all of the tourists and foreign business people and diplomats. That we can create sanctity by trying to, today, in 2005. You can. I can. A people can. I think this is something extraordinarily hopeful. For Israeli Jews and Arabs. For Palestinians. For Americans.

In these days before disengagement when everyone is working so hard, and all of our hearts and our prayers are engaged, here and around the world, for the sake of those who have given their lives and for our grandchildren. We too are creating something worthy of respect together. Creating sanctity here in this beautiful place.

Dialogue Skills:

Make sure when you are having an important conversation that you understand where the other person is coming from. Not doing so creates lots of miscommunication. A simple question like, “do you mean to say – and then restate what you thought you heard --” goes a long way towards creating good and satisfying conversations.

Etiquette:

I think one of the ways we can demonstrate our American belief in the individual and that everyone is equal is to thank the people who wait on us. So many people just ignore the hotel staff who clean our rooms or the wait staff who take away our dirty dishes. A quick thank-you always produces a smile. And since we Americans are so recognizable by the way we dress and speak, people will remember that Americans are nice people.

Good Idea:

Think about sanctity in your life. Add it to your conversations with your family and friends. See how people honor.


Please send your thoughts, questions, answers and good ideas to Stephanie Tansey at talk@aafsw.org.