General Comments

I often wonder what mediators feel they have learned from being mediators that can be applied to their own lives. For me, the most fundamental lesson is to make every effort to understand the perspective of others, and not to assume that I can do that without checking with them; and at the same time, to make every effort to explain my own perspective in a way that does not negate the other person's perspective.

I wonder whether others agree with this as a basic lesson of mediation, and if so, whether they feel they have learned to apply it to their every day lives successfully.

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Rabbi Lerner's new book, Embracing Israel/Palestine, (to order: www.tikkun.org/embracing) has been enthusiastically praised by former Chair of the Israeli Knesset Avrum Burg, West Bank Palestinian peace activist Sami Awad, and many others. He shows how to understand the history of the conflict and how we in the West can help shape the transformation needed to provide the security, justice, and mutual compassion necessary for a lasting peace. I am in the process of reading Rabbi Lerner's book which I find fascinating and, except for a few historical points of nuance and detail, rather agreeable. It is the point of view needed for mediation in the Middle East, although of course not appealing to partisans on either side. He describes it as a "way of being both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine." I would urge the Roundtable to try to gain representatives from the organization "Network of Spiritual Progressives" to speak at one of the future monthly breakfasts Michael Lerner's social activism is conducted through this "Network of Spiritual Progressives."