A friend emailed me to recommend the book, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain. I hadn’t read it, but I knew of eras in the past where people of very different religious persuasions lived in peace together. Not so much in Europe but certainly in medieval Spain, before the Inquisition and Jewish expulsion, and in various countries in the Middle East, including Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and others. It’s an important reminder that cultures of co-existence and mutual respect have been there since long ago (little of which, ironically enough, happened in the West).

Another irony is that I plan to leave tomorrow early morning to Madrid. I’ve never been anywhere in the Iberian Peninsula and am excited to take advantage of a friend’s invite to be a pseudo tourist, traveling by train and bus, going down byways not frequented much by tourists, with no agenda, no must-sees, just experiencing a little of how others live.

This reminder of old Spain and how people lived together is no accident. At dinner on Saturday evening with people talking about the matzav (situation) and how to make changes, someone asked: “What’s the basic question here?” We grew thoughtful, and then he posed his version: “What is worth dying for?”

I said little, but reflected that the basic question is more like: What is worth living for? Again and again, I go back to Peter Drucker’s maxim for business management, that culture eats strategy for breakfast. When you’re in the US, you’re surrounded by strategy discussions: How to protect immigrants; how to protect members of minority groups; how to fight the Trump government.

Here, in Jerusalem, as I wrote previously, all the discussion seems to be about strategy: First handle the hostages, then go after Hamas; no, first handle Hamas, then go for the hostages; forget the West Bank; don’t forget the West Bank; we need more female energy; no, we need more male energy. The radio and TV media run crazy, and I can barely read any newspaper without coming across (and mostly gliding over) one column after another, that all deal with strategy.

But Drucker, in advising businesses, reminded them that strategy doesn’t come first, culture comes first. The basic question is: What kind of culture do I want to live in? Once I answer that question, I can talk about and compare strategies, but first thing first: What kind of society do I want to live in? With what values?

I remind myself and others that we have enjoyed cultures and eras when differences were honored, where people found their respective places. They were probably not honored equally, there was usually a dominant religion or ethnic group, there was always work to do to create more justice, but day-to-day life made room for almost everybody, accompanied by a basic respect and even appreciation for the various ways people lived, loved, worshipped, and celebrated their connection to the land.

In other words, what at times feels like some spiritual fantasy isn’t that at all, it’s happened. And I believe it will happen again. I want to revisit that question and be as explicit as possible. Don’t say I want it to be liberal, because liberal means many different things. The same for conservative, progressive, even MAGA. How do I want to live, in detail.

Once we agree on that, then we strategize on how best to achieve it. On that level there will be arguments for sure, which is fine, but what is our basic goal? To return to “normal,” which usually translates to how things were? Isn’t that the big mistake the Democratic Party made in the 4 years it led the government?

Gandhi wanted to build a culture of nonviolence and economic self-sufficiency for India. The Rule of the Zen Peacemakers includes commitments to a culture of nonviolence, of a just economic order, inclusivity, the honoring of differences, and sustainability of the earth. We may need to review these.

Today, in Jerusalem, I’m also thinking of some very specific items to include, such as: no violence aimed at civilian populations. That would go for any country embroiled in war, be it Russia, the US, Ukraine, here and everywhere.

This is the question for people with a spiritual practice of any kind. Talks of strategies are usually dualistic and two-dimensional. Defining more and more the culture I want to live in will also involve discussions. Some will shake their heads with a cynical sneer at spiritual types who invoke unrealistic tropes and fantasies that have little to do with real life.

I see spiritual types as the most realistic people in the world, who say: This didn’t work, so why do more of it? Rather than killing more and more in an effort that hasn’t proved itself, why not change course?

It’s worked in the past—not equally, not as fairly or as wisely as I’d have wished—but the ingredients were there. And we can do this again.

In several hours I will be in a taxi to the Tel Aviv airport to board a flight to Spain. I’d like to forget about the Middle East for a week or so, forget about Donald Trump and the greed and narcissism he feeds all of us, hear a different language, eat different food, listen to different music. But if the past is any sign, thoughts and plans will continue to bubble up and subside, submerge, then resurface at the proper time.

Zen master and poet Ikkyu said:

When I tried to remember I always forgot.

But once I forgot, I never forget.