Peter Gabel was co-founder with Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun magazine, an important journal that tackles so many of today’s cultural problems with critical thinking and caring hearts.
Being prophetic and Jewish in its roots and commitment to justice, Tikkun also displays the courage to question openly the policies of Israel toward the Palestinians and much more. It has not been afraid to make enemies even of its own tribe.
It is also ecumenical and reaches out for wisdom from other faith (and no faith) peoples. I have been honored to publish in the magazine from time to time.
Peter Gabel was also a pioneer in critiquing his own profession—he was a lawyer and a teacher of law. As dean of the law school at New College, he oversaw an alternative kind of law school and as president of the University he did what I talk about doing in my book, The Reinvention of Work: He dared to reinvent his work, his profession, and risked asking questions of where the legal profession is going and whom it is truly serving and whether it is redeemable at all.
In a recent communication with me (he was a regular reader of this DM), he pointed out to me that the so-called “originalist” philosophy of the majority of today’s supreme court was never even mentioned in his legal training. Not once.
He writes that Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act “have all been manifestations of our sharing a greater collective wisdom about the moral bonds that unite us as social beings” and was not even in our collective awareness yet in 1789.
And how this moral development of our collective consciousness is leading us toward the point where we must write a new Constitution or fundamentally transform the current one to place at its center not mere individual liberty in a world of the separated, but rather a new synthesis of individual liberties with caring for each as moral partners in a sacred and socially-connect world.
Peter called for a “new emphasis on integrating spirituality, law, and social justice.”
Peter was an intellectual and an activist in his work of lawyering and educating. And he walked his talk along with Rabbi Michael Lerner with whom he shared a very long friendship, co-creating Tikkun magazine and much more.
To me Peter incarnated the best values of his Jewish tradition, values of the pursuit of Truth and Justice. He was humble and true to his prophetic vocation to interfere.
Peter died suddenly of a heart attack last week at the age of 73. I attended an on-line memorial service filmed from Rabbi Michael Lerner’s home and co-led by him and his wife.
To be continued
See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Connecting hands of restorative justice. A symbol within the Community Bridge. Photo by Jeff Kubina on Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
How rare is it for you to hear the words “spirituality and law” in the same sentence? How important is it to “care for each other as moral partners in a sacred and socially—connected world”?
Recommended Reading
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic Reporter
4 thoughts on “Peter Gabel: Pioneer & Prophet in Law & Education”
Matthew, Today you tell us about Peter Gabel who was co-founder with Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun magazine–a magazine which is prophetic and Jewish in its roots, and it is also ecumenical and reaches out for wisdom from other faith (and no faith) peoples. Peter Gabel was also a pioneer in critiquing his own profession—he was a lawyer and a teacher of law, but he dared to risk asking questions of where the legal profession is going and whom it is truly serving and whether it is redeemable at all. You say that Peter pointed out to you that the so-called “originalist” philosophy of the majority of today’s supreme court was never even mentioned in his legal training. He also said that our moral development and our collective consciousness is leading us toward the point where we must write a new Constitution or fundamentally transform the current one to place at its center not mere individual liberty in a world of the separated, but rather a new synthesis of individual liberties with caring for each as moral partners in a sacred and socially-connect world. Peter is calling for a “new emphasis on integrating spirituality, law, and social justice.” Peter incarnated the best values of his Jewish tradition, the values of Truth and Justice. He was humble and true to his prophetic vocation. Peter died suddenly of a heart attack last week at the age of 73. His memorial service was co-led by Rabbi Michael Lerner and his wife. Yes, it is rare to hear the words “spirituality and law” in the same sentence, and it is very important to “care for each other as moral partners in a sacred and socially—connected world.” Thank you Peter and thank you Matthew for sharing him with us!
It is very rare to hear spirituality and law together, and Peter Gabel was indeed another modern prophet and lightworker, so thank you, Matthew, for honoring his life. Now he’ll be another ancestor to help us in our human spiritual evolution towards a more compassionate personal and communal life with Mother Earth and All Her living creatures and graceful abundance with-in God’s Loving Diverse Oneness and Evolving Multiverse Cosmos….
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Thank you, to the DM team for bringing the rare and prophetic words of Peter Gabel to light; regarding the necessary changes within the Consitution in relationship to the evolution of consciousness within the collective of humanity VS originalism… reason rooted in the past VS intuition rooted in the present… the latter based on spiritual and moral models of evolution… disconnected monads VS the webb of interconnected beings… and the importance of breaking through the old paradigm and invoking the evolving, emerging meaning and purpose within the consciousness of humanity! I found Peter Gabel’s words to be filled with insightfull wisdom, worthy of much more open dialogue and discussion, and I hope this will continue for at least a few more days within these DM’s; but more importantly I pray that others will continue to carry forth this prophetic torch… so that these truthtelling, prophetic words of wisdom may continue to burn brightly, long after the passing of Peter Gabel. May he be welcomed home, hearing the words, well done my true and faithful servant!
Regarding the PISLAP call: Is not the legal system itself, and the state that embodies it, a connected Intermodal entity? Why have a legal system if the individual beings within it are not interconnected by way of politics, by way of social interaction, and by way of social institutions? Someone in the legal system needs to address the Supreme Court with regard to this fundamental truth. The originalist interpretation that views the constitution as a sacred immutable object casting in stone the concept that we are only individuals isolated constitutionally from one another, kills the constitution itself. The constitution has to be seen as a living document created to negotiate living social interactions. Reality is a living process. Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh each need to bring their Christian faith to bear on the legal implications of the living process of love. We are all interconnected by the Spirit of God that lives within each of us. These so-called ‘Catholic’ justices do injustice to their collective faith, and to the constitution itself, when they insist on isolated individualism as the “Founding Fathers'” ‘original intent’. This whole comment may just be a restatement of Gable’s points, but I think this argument needs to go forward broadly within our collective intermodal legal system.