Liberal Jewish Thought

CAVEAT LECTOR...The Tikkun Anthology is not another bleeding-heart liberal anthology of essays that weepingly and wimpily decry the Reagan years for its racism, heterosexism, classicism and militarism. Indeed, the one thing that characterizes this anthology is the consistently well-reasoned positions of its authors.

Few books on the market today offer as many challenges to the conventional wisdom as this collection of Tikkunmagazine's essays, stories and poetry.

For those of you who don't give the alternative magazine shelves a second glance, Tikkun is a small bimonthly that fashions itself "A Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, and Society." But don't let that fashions itself" A Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, and Society." But don't let that stop you from reading it.

The name Tikkun comes from the Hebrew, meaning to heal, repair and transform the world. Given that name, it's not hard to figure out that this magazine is a liberal/progressive alternative to Commentary and its neoconservative readership.

Tikkun was founded in 1986 under the editorial rule of Michael Lerner as a response to the growing conservatism of mainstream American Jewish leadership and culture. The issues Tikkun tackles, however, are not relevant only to Jews.

Though the editorial stance of the magazine stems from a Jewish ethic of individual and communitarian concerns, it strives to alleviate the problems of the world, and not just those in the American Jewish community. This anthology, like the magazine, devotes as much space to feminism, politics, culture and philosophy as it does to the topics of Israel, Judaism and being Jewish in contemporary society.

Of particular interest to the Harvard community are those essays in the first section of the anthology, Politics and Society. Lerner opens with a powerful introductory essay called "A New Paradigm for Liberals: The Primacy of Ethics and Emotions." He's not afraid to criticize the methods and goals of the present liberal/progressive establishment, especially the Democratic Party's economic reductionism.

Forcefully presenting the desire of Americans to live in a moral universe, Lerner demonstrates that opportunities for ethical action, not pork-barrel politics, are the legislative imperatives of Congress.

Tikkun's politics, in the words, of Woody Allen, are "courageously correct." Support for a demilitarized Palestinian state comes from the recognition that Israel's long-term political, military and spiritual interests are better served by moral actions rather than oppressive domination.

Lerner calls it "an approach that is passionately committed to the survival of the Jewish state but is equally strongly committed to making Israel a society that embodies in its daily practice, including in its dealing with Palestinians, the moral imperatives of the Torah."

For those readers interested in Black-Jewish relations, the anthology contains an enlightening section that includes a dialogue between Lerner and Jesse Jackson; two essays by James Macpherson and Cornel West; and a fascinating report by Jim Sleeper, an editorial reporter at New York Newsday, on the demagogic politics of race in America.

The section's message that wounds of hatred are best healed with information, honesty, and love are especially poignant in light of the Dr. Jeffries appearance at Harvard and the recent Crown Heights riots.

The Tikkun Anthology is too rich in instructive and imaginative ideas to be missed. Five years after Tikkun's first issue, loyal readers have kept the goal of repairing, healing and transforming the world alive. You can, too, by reading this book.