Less Talk, More Walk

A Guest Post by Aliza Lipkin

If "Peace in the Middle East' sounds like an oxymoron to you, get in line.

I think I can safely state, however, that we all crave peace. Threats of war, lack of security- who wants to live that way? Since none of us do, why don’t we have peace?

What is the biggest obstacle in achieving a safe homeland for our people? Is it the Arabs? The politicians? The UN?

On television, in newspapers, blogs, Facebook discussions, tweets, and more, there has been no shortage of opinions to answer this question. However, it is disheartening when viewing, reading and discussing this and many other political or religious matters that the very tools of mature discourse, oriented toward problem-solving, have been converted into a means of destruction.

It seems to me every Tom, Dick and Harry has sharp, biting words at the ready.

Judgments are made fast and furious, with hateful words ping-ponging back and forth so quickly that it dizzies the senses. The role of critic is assumed easily and with arrogance, calling out the flaws and misdeeds perpetrated by everyone else. We live in an era when people focus on their own personal needs and desires. They claim: “We want justice! We want peace! We want, we want, we want....” When they feel anything is slightly askew or uncomfortable, that claim becomes a form of criticism: we want things to be different means we want YOU to be different. Our population is saturated with critics and negativity.

But no one lives in a bubble.

If we truly want to live a life that is good and peaceful, we need to create that environment.

Tackling issues and working together on real, tactical solutions is daunting work entailing serious time and effort.

Let the phrase “put up or shut up” enter our minds as the first step of a three-pronged initiative.

Step two should be: Think! Let us acknowledge that every human being has a heart, a mind and a purpose. No one should steal another’s dignity or rights. If what you are doing or saying does that, stop immediately. It is wrong.

The last step, and the most noble one, is that we need to band together as a people. We cannot build a strong safe country on a fractured infrastructure. If we want any hope for a secure state that is impervious to threats, we need to stand on a strong foundation, one that is rock solid. The way to begin this process is to find and focus on the common ground--that which we can all agree upon--and use it as the building blocks for a more conducive environment to work on the core issues that plague the society in which we all live.

With this in mind, I have joined together with a group of people committed to doing all we can to have a positive effect on the issues that plague contemporary Jewish society. To dispel the negativity. It is our hope that, with the help of G-d, our efforts will produce constructive results. It was Patrick Henry who said it best, “Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”

Aliza Lipkin is a founding member of

Chochmat Nashim, an initiative by Jewish women, observant of both Torah and society at large. We harness our collective strength and compassion to confront injustice and intolerance within the Jewish world. Committed to the dictates and spirit of Halakhah, we rigorously promote a platform of reason and moderation to be catalysts for practical and just solutions to contemporary challenges.

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