International Council of Christians and Jews

A Fourfold Song

There is one who sings the song of his own life, and in
himself he finds everything, his full spiritual satisfaction.
There is another who sings the song of his people. He
leaves the circle of his own individual self, because he finds it
without sufficient breadth, without an idealistic basis. He
aspires toward the heights, and he attaches himself with a
gentle love to the whole community of Israel. Together with
her he sings her song. He feels grieved in her afflictions and
delights in her hopes. He contemplates noble and pure
thoughts about her past and her future, and probes with love
and wisdom her inner spiritual essence.

There is another who reaches toward more distant
realms, and he goes beyond the boundary of Israel to sing the
song of man. His spirit extends to the wider vistas of the
majesty of man generally, and his noble essence. He aspires
toward man’s general goal and looks forward toward his
higher perfection. From this source of life he draws the sub-
jects of his meditation and study, his aspirations and his visions.

Then there is one who rises toward wider horizons, until
He links himself with all existence, with all God’s creatures,
With all worlds, and he sings his song with all of them. It is of
One such as this that tradition has said that whoever sings a
Portion of song each day is assured of having a share in the
world to come.

And then there is one who rises with all these songs in
one ensemble, and they all join their voices. Together they
sing their songs with beauty, each one lends vitality and life to
the other. They are sounds of joy and gladness, sounds of
jubilation and celebration, sounds of ecstasy and holiness.

The song of the self, the song of the people, the song of
man, the song of the world all merge in him at all times, in
every hour.

And this full comprehensiveness rises to become the song
of holiness, the song of God, the song of Israel, in its full
strength and beauty, in its full authenticity and greatness.
The name “Israel” stands for shir el, the song of God. It is a
simple song, a twofold song, a threefold song and a fourfold
song. It is the Song of Songs of Solomon, shlomo, which means
peace or wholeness. It is the song of the King in whom is
wholeness.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook
(1865-1935)

from Abraham Isaac Kook – The Lights of Penitence, The Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems; translation and introduction by Ben Zion Bokser – preface by Jacob Agus and Rivka Schatz (Paulist Press, New York, 1978).

Rabbi Pinchas has said in the name of Rabbi Reuven:
Five times in the Book of Psalms does King David call upon the Holy One, blessed be He [or: the Sacred, may It be blessed/acknowledged] to arise [i.e., to show Himself/Itself].
Psalm 3:8 ~ 'Arise, Oh YHVH, come to my aid!'
Psalm 7:7 ~  'Arise, You-Whose-Most-Special-Four-Letter-Name-Pronounced-But-Once-a-Year-by-the-High-Priest-in-The-Holy-of-Holies-&-Out-of-the-Most-Sacred-Preparation, in the seething of Your nostrils [i.e., upset over injustice]! Raise Your hand up in protest! Do not forget [the justice You have championed]!'
Psalm 9:20 ~ 'Arise, Oh You-Who-Is-Always-Present-Ever-Becoming, don't give strength to human acts of injustice!' And Psalm 17:13 ~ 'Arise/Take-Your-stand, Oh YHVH! Go forth to confront the unjust [before he can carry out his intended act(s) of injustice]!'

But the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: David – my son! Even though you call for Me to arise [ ~ even though you seek religious experience ~ ] many times over – I will not arise [ ~ will not give Myself to you – will not grant you religious experience ~ ]!
Then when – how then will I arise [ ~ how am I given, manifest Myself in religious experience ~ ]?! When you see the plundered poor and [hear] those in need moaning-in-distress – for this is precisely the meaning of what is written (Psalm 12:6) ~ 'Because/on-account-of the plundering of the poor and because of the distressed-moaning of those in need ~ it is then, it is now [on their account] that I will arise – take a stand – show Myself – and act on their behalf!

Midrash Genesis Rabbah
section 75, passage 1

As with all revolutionary movements – religions & all manner of newer world-outlooks that involve some kind of communitarian coalescence & identity, in their beginning stages the experiences of meaning are not really established in more set & usually-what-later-develops-as more literal understandings or rather catechismal(!?), doctrinal 'beliefs.' So, too, in some instances, the role of women & other 'sound-&-fast' gender boundary-setting may be more open. Especially regarding earlier metaphoric versus literal understandings of the key events of the Christian faith experience – an issue we raised in our guide to the 5th of our 12 Challenges - see: Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (Random House, 2003). Nearly every single page of the book is available via www.amazon.com ~ by clicking on 'Look inside this book' & beginning with 'First pages'. Then, in the box 'Search in this book' ~ enter the word 'Christianity' &, yes, all but one or two pages are made available!

And see here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_homosexuality

'On Marcus Borg, James Carroll, and Faith' see:
http://confessionsqueen.blogspot.com/2010/02/at-christmas-and-easter-mass-when.html

On James Carroll more directly – vis-à-vis the recognition of the equal dignity of Jews, women, homosexuals and a variety of other previously maligned or minority fellow members of our human family – see his argument in:
Toward a New Catholic Church: The Promise of Reform, (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2002)

~ much of which is accessible at:
http://books.google.co.il/books?id=qpJCcSMsiBkC&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=james+carroll+catholic+church+women+gays&source=bl&ots=IBaWlAf8Ex&sig=DKJtghybYCUYKr86KNX0TXsWkhA&hl=en&ei=ZHIkTInoG4ibOJ3T2PAC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

And having just recommended this book by James Carroll we certainly don't want to leave out of our guide the very significant contribution of his combination study and memoir Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews, (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001). ~ again, much of which is available via Google Books at: http://books.google.co.il/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Judaism
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_topics_and_Judaism

On humanism and the dignity and rights of every individual:
http://www.jcn.com/manifestos.html
as well as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_humanism