Sharon Brous: It's time to reclaim religion
שרון בראוז: הגיעה השעה לנכס מחדש את הדת
Rabbi Sharon Brous is a leading voice in reanimating religious life in America, working to develop a spiritual roadmap for soulful, multi-faith justice work. Full bio
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from the war in Iraq.
rolling across the globe.
was spinning out of control.
coursing through my body.
of tectonic shifts in ideologies,
בתפיסות עולם ואידיאולוגיות,
did we bring this child into?
את הבת שלנו?"
and a religious leader
a principle battlefield
part of the problem.
also be part of the solution?
horrible crimes and atrocities
was once again on the rise.
נמצאת פעם נוספת בעליה
of the past 15, 20 years,
all over the world.
the studies to prove it,
בכדי להוכיח זאת,
how many of us are surprised today
כמה מאיתנו מופתעים היום
of a bombing or a shooting,
על פיגועי תופת או ירי
that the last word that was uttered
or the bomb is detonated
או לפני שהפצצה התפוצצה
antiabortion Christian extremist
המתנגד להפלות
in Colorado Springs
בקולורדו ספרינגס
in San Bernardino and killing 14.
ורוצח 14 בני-אדם.
does not lead to violence,
אינה מובילה לאלימות,
as a political wedge issue,
to justify the subordination of women,
about the future of religion
challenge that religion faces today.
מולו מתמודדת הדת כיום.
to be a strong force against extremism,
תהווה כוח מגן מפני קיצוניות,
from a second pernicious trend,
and our leaders
that is rote and perfunctory,
שהיא מחזורית ושטחית,
of being a rabbi
under the wedding canopy, with a couple,
that they found for one another.
between the intensity of the experience
of the sixth or seventh anniversary.
to make it 16 or 17 years,
לשרוד יחד 16 או 17 שנים,
you probably wake up in the morning
אתם ככל הנראה מתעוררים בבוקר
a reservation at your favorite restaurant
במסעדה האהובה עליכם
that your partner also forgot.
שבן-הזוג שלכם גם שכח.
to serve the function of the anniversary,
את מטרתו של יום הנישואין,
we would hold on to the remnants
להיאחז בשרידים
in the first place.
in endless, mindless repetitions
חוזרים שוב ושוב
because someone has asked us to,
כי מישהו ביקש מאיתנו,
with our contemporary reality,
את המציאות של ימינו,
things have always been done.
בה דברים נעשו מאז ומעולם.
churches and synagogues and mosques
who seem completely uninterested,
that stand at the heart of our traditions
a generation of people
of religious extremism
of religious routine-ism.
a bright spot to this story.
concurrent trends in religious life,
בחיים הדתיים,
I set out to try to determine
of my own Jewish tradition,
המסורת היהודית שלי
and purposeful again
some of the great minds of our generation
מהמוחות המבריקים ביותר בדורנו
and imaginative way again
מלאות חיים ודימיון
of religious life would look like?
no space, no game plan,
מקום או תכנית פעולה,
sat down and we wrote an email
התיישבנו וכתבנו אימייל
to a few friends and colleagues.
this Friday night
of our own Jewish inheritance?"
that it was the first time
שזו היתה הפעם הראשונה
experience in their entire lives.
rational thing
in such a circumstance:
this audacious dream,
להגשים את החלום הנועז הזה
or "the heart of the matter."
landscape today.
and Muslim and Catholic religious leaders,
מוסלמים וקתוליים,
the heart of our traditions,
for religion to be part of the solution.
שהדת תהיה חלק מהפתרון.
into our sacred traditions
to justify violence and extremism,
המצדיק אלימות וקיצוניות,
to justify compassion,
as directives for hate and vengeance,
כהנחיות לשנאה ונקמנות
and for forgiveness.
as Jewish indie start-ups on the coasts
של סטארט-אפים בחוף המזרחי והמערבי
in New York and in North Carolina,
with a message of justice and peace,
of revitalized religion in this country.
בעלי חיוניות חדשה בארץ הזאת.
and the practices vary very much
consistent threads between them.
משותפים קבועים ביניהן.
four of those commitments now.
of this Earth.
of Aylan Kurdi's little body
of a five-year-old child
of his building in Aleppo.
of a traveler who is walking down a road
that something so beautiful would burn,
שדבר כל כך יפה נשרף,
עולה בלהבות,
and our eyes open,
ועיניים פקוחות,
that it's our responsibility
we learn about what's broken in our world,
על מה ששבור בעולם,
our religious leaders forgot
המנהיגים הדתיים שלנו שכחו
to make people uncomfortable.
what we don't want to do
שאנחנו לא רוצים לעשות
that social change only happens --
יתרחש רק --
to see that the house is on fire.
שהבית עולה באש.
על התקווה.
greatest act of defiance
מעשה ההתנגדות הגדול מכולם
from the outside,
and think expansively again.
באופן בלתי מוגבל שוב,
in an African-American church
בכנסיה אפרו-אמריקאית
3,000 people shot
and heard Rev. Moss preach,
100 women strong,
is supposed to be about.
giving people back a sense of purpose,
fundamentally matter in this world
חשובים באופן מהותי בעולם הזה
that they don't matter at all.
is the principle of mightiness.
that we are to walk around
and I cannot do this on my own.
ואני לא יכול לעשות זאת לבדי.
"For my sake the world was created."
that I can't do everything,
between powerlessness and power.
that we prostrate fully to the ground
when we get up off the ground,
raised to the heavens,
I am mighty, and I am worthy.
אני אדיר ואני ראוי.
but I can do something."
אבל אני יכול לעשות משהו".
to make us believe that we are invisible
amount of time we have here on this Earth,
יש לנו כאן בעולם
we were given,
a little bit more just
is interconnectedness.
walking on the beach in Alaska,
הלך על החוף באלסקה,
letters written on it.
and posted it up on social media,
ברשתות החברתיות,
that devastated his country,
שהחריב את המדינה שלו,
to retrieve that soccer ball
all the way across the Pacific.
how interconnected we all are
אנחנו קשורים זה לזה.
from the lie of radical individualism.
אינדיבידואליזם קיצוני.
for the crime of driving while black.
מעצר על בסיס צבע עורם
this is also my problem.
Transphobia and Islamophobia
טרנספוביהואיסלמפוביה
those are also all of our problems.
הם גם חלק מהבעיות שלנו.
all of our problems.
when she said until all of us are free,
שעד שכולנו לא נהיה חופשיים
of these four trends,
and mightiness and interconnectedness,
justice movement in this country
במדינה הזאת.
a force for good in the world.
מקור לטוב בעולם.
the failed religion of extremism,
than the failed religion of routine-ism.
and religious communities
and cultural shift
so desperately needs --
and toward dignity for all.
deserve no less than that.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sharon Brous - RabbiRabbi Sharon Brous is a leading voice in reanimating religious life in America, working to develop a spiritual roadmap for soulful, multi-faith justice work.
Why you should listen
Based in Los Angeles, Rabbi Sharon Brous is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a community built in 2004 that has become a model for Jewish revitalization in the US and beyond. IKAR’s goal is to reinvigorate Jewish religious and spiritual practice, inspiring people of faith to reclaim a moral and prophetic voice in counter-testimony to the small-minded extremism now prevalent in so many religious communities. IKAR quickly became one of the fastest growing and most influential Jewish congregations in the country, and it's widely credited with sparking a rethinking of religious life in a time of unprecedented disaffection and declining affiliation.
In 2008, Brous was the youngest person on the Newsweek/Daily Beast list of the most influential Rabbis in America, and in 2013 she was named the list’s most influential rabbi. In 2013, Brous blessed President Obama and Vice President Biden at the Inaugural National Prayer Service.
Sharon Brous | Speaker | TED.com