"Make Peace, Don't Frack" 

 On September 21 (International Day of Peace) the Gandhi Institute, several members of the Rochester Group of the Sierra Club and close to 100 concerned citizens met at Cobbs Hill to voice their opposition to the gas drilling method  known as "hydrofracking."  

Cobbs Hill rally against fracking

Given the scale of some of the problems facing us (like global warming), how do you see one person being able to make a difference?

Each of us can leverage our influence, no matter how small our circle, for creating change. This means using every interaction, with every person and institution in our lives, to maximize the possible benefit to all. Each of us can also join with others to increase our sphere of influence. When we take care to transform our anger into a passionate vision and experiment with ways of living and organizing that are consistent with that vision, I have more faith that whatever we create with others will take us ever closer to our vision instead of recreating the very structures and models we are trying to transform.

Can you give an example of how this work has made a difference in your life?

My own path with this work, in both my personal life and public life, has taken three routes. The core of it has been embracing vulnerability as a spiritual path of strength to face whatever comes my way with full integrity, authenticity, and care. This allows me to remain present and in choice when encountering obstacles, people who act in ways that don't work for me, and the world at large which continues in patterns that break my heart. It has also opened up possibilities for community and increasing influence in the world despite being at odds with the norms of mainstream culture.

Speaking as an Israeli, what would you like to see happen to avoid a war that would involve Israel, the United States and Iran?

Assuming I am given the magic wand, I would want to see both leaders and citizens from all three countries coming together for deep dialogue. Since I see violence as an attempt to create justice when other paths seem blocked, and since all three parties are not finding ways of making the world align with what they most need, I would want to see a dialogue in which the deepest human wounds and national pride issues can be addressed and lovingly heard by all. I know magic emerges when people are fully heard. In the absence of the possibility of such dialogue, I would dearly love to see hundreds of thousands of citizens from around the world coming together to place their bodies on the line to prevent war in a massive, global, nonviolent resistance movement to end all war wherever such danger exists.