When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.” – Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize-winning chemist
A few weeks ago I saw an article hanging on a community bulletin board titled: “Creating an Island of Sanity in this Crazy World1.” I’ve been holding fast to that idea ever since – sharing it with anyone who will listen; planting seeds for community and collaboration in the field of chaos we find ourselves in.
I first heard the term islands of sanity from Jo delAmor, my mentor in The Work that Reconnects and a guest leader for Kehilat Sukkat Shalom (KSS) back in 2021. Over the past 5 years–beginning with a workshop series I attended with Jo through a KSS lay leadership grant from JewishColumbus in 2020–I’ve been building my capacities to raise young people and engage with other adults in the midst of global/climate crisis. One of the biggest lessons I learn over and over is: we can’t do it alone. We need to build “islands of sanity” populated by others who share our values. In the case of parenting, those dedicated to raising thoughtful, compassionate, gracious, generous young ones who will be resilient, creative, and courageous enough to not just survive whatever comes next, but help lead the way. In the case of Judaism, people we can be in relation with, working together to build a sacred mishkan, a shelter of peace in the wilderness, as in the Torah readings this month.
Yeah. It’s hard. It’s heavy. And with each passing day it seems all the more necessary. Not only for the next generation, but for us.
“I am interested in being able to stay in the midst of this terrible travesty that degrades the human spirit or denies we have one—caught on the balance beam of meaningful work and terrifying times. I want to walk steady in the world, learning what balance feels like, blessed by the active presence of companions in sacred work.” – Margaret Wheatley: author, educator, coach
Sukkat Shalom is one of my islands of sanity. A space where I practice creating the possibility of peace.
Some of our members have been holding up the four corners of our sukkah and maintaining our communally-driven space for transformative Jewish experiences and experiments for many years. Others have found us more recently, attracted to our interest in God-optional ways of honoring Jewish tradition while raising up new interpretations. For some it’s been our embrace of anyone who feels like part of the Jewish community, regardless of their upbringing. And for others it’s been our willingness to have hard conversations about what it means to be “Jewish after the destruction of Gaza” (to borrow the title from Peter Beinart) and at the dawn of a new war involving Israel.
Once they find us, people feel compelled to come back again. That’s the pull of an island of sanity. We are buoyed and re-sourced for the work that’s required of us to face the literal insanity of our political, environmental, and social landscape by coming together with people who share our values and visions to bless the changing of the seasons as we raise our voices in song, share meals we prepare for one another, discuss challenging texts, and teach the next generation.
It’s an understatement to say that our current times feel turbulent and disordered. When, amidst the chaos of The Great Unraveling you find a a group of people who help you stay true to your beliefs and live into your power, hold fast to it. That is your tree of life.
1. Leinen ,T. (2024, November 11). “Creating Islands of Sanity in a Crazy World,” resilience: insight and inspiration in turbulent times