Making amends is the difference between saying “I’m sorry, I must do better” and actual repair—mending—of the harm done. That is where reparations and Land Back come in. Putting our own money where our mouths are is not reparations, which remain due and owing, but it is a concrete manifestation of solidarity—and the more solidarity, the merrier. We can do both at the same time: work in every way we can for systemic reparations and systemic mending while putting the energy of what we can give right now right where it’s most needed. And not only for the other people, but also for the joy and contentment of our own souls.
Political activism has been an important part of my life since the early 1960s; I was never a hippie or a flower child. In fact, a companion on the Sufi path once teased me about being a “Zen warrior” and suggested that maybe I should get the Zen part down first, which turned out to be excellent advice. Spiritual discipline has made me more effective in all kinds of struggles—usually at the same time that the struggles made the need for spiritual discipline ever more clear, as it continues to become ever more clear.
Remember that long-drawn-out struggle with an institutional landlord that wanted to evict many of my neighbors, most of whom were Black? That institution was a Jewish theological seminary. As news of the struggle spread, and because antisemitism is always looking for an excuse, because there is no excuse, antisemites came out of the woodwork, wanting to make common cause with us tenants. It was then that I learned a great lesson: the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend; the enemy of my enemy may be a much worse enemy. However fervently we may feel about our causes, anyone who brings hate to them is not our friend. This is where a clear head comes in handy: without clarity, we can soon forget that the real enemy is not people, it’s hate. And sometimes we just have to accept that we’re going to be in a two-front struggle.
79