Jewish Values: Rodef Shalom – Pursue Peace.

By Rabbi Min Kantrowitz

Rodef Shalom – Pursue peace. Jewish Values #4

Each edition of NMJJ highlights one of the many Jewish values that guide our lives.  Each of these values underlies our Jewish community, regardless of any individuals’ religious observances or practices.  These values form the ethical structure of the community.  They are not presented in order of importance…all of them, together, weave a fabric of support, inspiration and hope for increased compassion and justice in our shared world.

The next basic Jewish value to examine is one that is particularly relevant now, as the deteriorating situation in the Israel/Palestine ‘negotiations’ is more painful every day.  The value is known as “Rodef Shalom". The word 'shalom' is used often to mean 'hello', 'goodbye' or 'peace'. Like almost all Hebrew words, it is based on a three consonant root, in this case, the consonants that sound like "sh", "l" and "m". That root, SH-L-M, has the core meaning of 'wholeness' or 'completion'. So, when we greet someone by saying 'shalom', we are really saying "I wish you are whole" or "I hope you are complete". The word 'rodef', which was discussed in the last issue, means 'to actively pursue'. Taken together, the phrase 'rodef shalom' means to actively pursue a state of wholeness or completion.  

This applies on many scales of our lives.  We actively pursue peace in the home—‘shalom bayit’ is the literal translation.  We work to de-escalate family conflicts or, better yet, maintain a balance of sometimes overlapping or competing demands for time, money and attention among all family members.  We pursue peace in our communities the same way, choosing to be actively involved in community issues, expressing our opinions, calling our elected representatives, writing letters, voting, and demonstrating about causes about which we feel strongly. Sometimes this public process seems anything but peaceful, as strongly held beliefs and opinions sometimes are expressed with aggressive or hostile words….but all in the pursuit of a peaceful solution which will probably not please everyone, but one which most people can accept (at least until the next public meeting). In Jewish thought, ‘peace’ does not mean the absence of war or the absence of conflict, but a state of completion, often a very dynamic state, with temporary truces and attempts at reconciliation….all leading, over time, and with significant effort, to some kind of equilibrium.  

In the public sphere, this is a messy process, often rife with hidden agendas, conflicting goals and the raw pain from old battles. Blame feeds on blame, grudges fester, pain leads to revenge which leads to more pain. On the scale of nations, where the stakes are measured in human lives, conflicts erupt in war, weapons and too many deaths. Blame leads to escalating violence. Jewish values remind us that even in war, we must remember and act with compassion. Our challenge is remember that the goal is peace..in our families, communities and nations…and that anything that is truly whole consists of many components, each fragment an essential part of the completed entity—a society able to tolerate, or even enjoy, the diversity that enlivens the whole.

Rabbi Min Kantrowitz is a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow, teaches about CryptoJews and Conversos of New Mexico for Road Scholar/Elderhostel and has private students. She directed the New Mexico Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program for 12 years, serving unaffiliated Jews throughout the state. A 2004 graduate of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, she is the author of Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide, Gaon Press. Rabbi Kantrowitz is a former psychologist, a former architect/planner, a wife, mother and the proud Bubbie of three grandsons.

Jewish Values by Rabbi Kantrowitz published here to date:
Jewish Values: Love your neighbor as yourself  #1
Jewish Values: B’Tzelem Elohim "in the image of God" #2
Jewish Values: Shmirat ha Adama to guard/protect/watch the earth #3
Jewish Values: Rodef Shalom - Pursue Peace #4

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