A Cracking of the Heart: A Journey to Transcendence
For me, the soul of the book is expressed in (1) Sarah’s work to love herself just the way she was, as she was able to love all the rest of the world — a struggle that her rabbi, Alan Lew, called learning one’s “divine name”; (2) in the definition of suffering — again, Rabbi Lew, using a Buddhist concept: “all suffering is caused by tana, the selfish desire for something other than what is …”; and (3) in her dialogue with her father about tikkun olam, the Kabbalistic idea of a “repair of the world.”
If I understand Horowitz’s life’s work correctly since leaving the left, the liberal’s greatest fault is that its true believers direct their efforts toward changing the world when their real problem is the emptiness in their souls. What puts Horowitz at odds with his daughter is that she embraced the idea that we are all one, while he had come to reject it. As he quotes from his book The End of Time, which he sent Sarah in manuscript form for her opinion:
I feel no kinship with those who can cut short a human life without remorse; or with terrorists who target the innocent; or with adults who torment small children for the sexual thrill. I suspect no decent soul does either.
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In one of the most poignant parts of A Cracking of the Heart, Horowitz writes that he only found Sarah’s comments on The End of Time after her death, which was after the book was published. Sarah’s comments were rooted in her spiritual life, which began to flourish in her 30s.
At 33, Sarah joined the Congregation Beth Shalom, which was then under the direction of the late Rabbi Alan Lew. He had studied to be a Buddhist monk before becoming a rabbi. He also started a Zen meditation group, which he called Makor Or (“Source of Light”). She was a charter member at age 36. So in Sarah’s comment on The End of Time, “practice” refers to her Buddhist meditation and the Buddhist and Jewish principles Sarah applied in her daily life to grow spiritually:
Back to the practice: If you see someone in the fullness of their humanity, you see how they are acting out their own confusion and suffering. This does not justify hurtful or evil acts. It doesn’t even always inspire forgiveness. But if you see someone this way, you respond more in sadness than in anger. And that is simply a more excellent state of being. Even if you’ve never had this experience (and more’s the pity), respect the experience of those who have. I’m not talking about an idea either. This practice has in fact transformed all my relationships, including ours by the way.
Regarding Sarah’s relationship with her disabilities, Horowitz writes:
During the “shloshim” service which follows a funeral by thirty days, Elissa [his ex-wife, Sarah’s mother] was struck by how many people in attendance mentioned Sarah’s disabilities and praised the way she overcame them. Sitting among these mourners, Elissa thought how Sarah would have been mortified, if she were alive, to hear herself talked about as “disabled.” The thing Sarah hated most about herself, she thought, was her disabilities. At that moment, she remembered what Rabbi Lew had written in his autobiography about “divine names.” … [Rabbi Lew]: ‘This is perhaps the most profound psychological transformation it is possible to undergo: the realization that the very thing we can’t stand about ourselves is our divine name, our uniqueness, the way God has made us, the quality that gives our life its shape and meaning.”
Later, going through Sarah’s journals about her meditation practice, Horowitz discovered his daughter had learned her divine name — Disabled (although he doesn’t explicitly use the word) — and come to terms with it:
Norman prescribed a Buddhist practice … to have a “big mind” in her day-to-day life, to observe her anger and frustration. And to let it go. … Fischer’s counsel about the practice struck yet another chord [as Sarah writes in her journal]: “No one has ever said that to me. Not just that spiritual practice in general is a good idea, but that it’s a good idea for me. Not only do I feel in meditation that I am exactly who I am supposed to be, exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what I am supposed to do, but my fellow meditators see me this way too. This is truly chein [beauty], gratuitous grace.”
Sarah died suddenly on March 6, 2008, of causes that an autopsy could not determine, although Horowitz notes that Turner Syndrome can be a life-shortening condition. Ironically, the day before she died, Sarah gave an interview in which she talked about the sudden death of her favorite aunt and the advice Rabbi Lew had given her: “Pay attention to the ways in which your relationship continues.”
For Horowitz, his relationship with Sarah continues in his opening to transcendence and finding his way to see the unity of all humanity as his daughter did. It will be well worth your while to read his book and join him on this journey.
David can best serve his daughter’s memory by continuing to expose the pure evil under the socialist idea, not by chanting hari-krishnas.
A good time here in the Christmas season to muse on these things, how vain and sterile the ideologies are and how what really matters is faith and family. Merry Christmas.
Every person will have tragedy in their life, and we’re all going to die and watch our families die. None of this changes the fact that Horowitz is an insane bigot. He is not a conservative, but a fringe radical. I do feel sorry for his daughter, I think any handicap pales against the tragedy of being related to this man.
“None of this changes the fact that Horowitz is an insane bigot. He is not a conservative, but a fringe radical.”
I own more than ten of David Horowitz’s books and have read countless articles authored by him. He has never said a bigoted thing in his entire life. Please note that this slanderer offers not even one example. That is because there aren’t any! May God bless Horowitz’s daughter. Her life was unfortunately too short.
Pelaut, Guy Maupin
You seem to have lost your humanity. It’s a pity.
David Horowitz is an inspiration.
How remarkable to not only have had the ability to see the error and wrongness of what he had been dedicating his life to, but to have had the honestly to admit it and then stand against everyone he’d known — withstanding the oceans of invective, especially coming from former friends and compatriots — how incredibly heroic.
Those few that are at the forefront of exposing the left, and even more so, defending against Radical Islamist inroads into the West, are an extraordinarily heroic bunch.
David’s contribution, not only by the inroads he’s made as a result of the many battles he’s waged, but by the enormous outlay of energy he focuses on disseminating the understanding of the thinking, methods, goals and ultimate negative results of the efforts of the left and Radical Islam — has been a huge gift to those of us who would resist these abhorrent and dreadful influences, and to the world in general. He is a rare phenomenon.
No doubt, the courage of his amazing daughter is a reflection of the courage of her father.
This review of his very personal book about his loving relationship with his daughter was very well done — insightful and deeply moving. Thank you.
“What puts Horowitz at odds with his daughter is that she embraced the idea that we are all one, while he had come to reject it.”
Their differences were also quite concrete – e.g., At the end of her life, Sarah was working for the election of Obama. Horowitz published a photo of her among other Obama volunteers in the issue of Frontpagemag that also included his brief essay on her life and death. It is a wonderfully moving document, as I’m sure his book is.
I completely agree with David Thompson here. But I would also add to #1, that is not honoring his daughter’s memory. What David has shown us in writing his book is that there are personal matters that should transcend the political.
I just finished this book last night. It is a moving tribute to his daughter’s life. I did feel that in his efforts to remember and honor her, he wound up seeming to be open to certain ideas that go against conservative values. This confused me. I wished he were able to honor Sarah without having to dilute his own stance on certain issues, such as when he admits at various points learning from her when that learning included tolerance and open-mindedness toward that which may harm us (such as Islam).
I think the book has two primary threads and depending on which one you’re most focused on, the read will vary. There’s the obvious thread of writing a sort of biography of his daughter’s life, which includes aspects of their relationship. And there’s the politiical thread. It’s the second that I found a bit soft. But, that’s not the thrust of the book. Still, these days, I am sensitive to the ways in which I feel no conservative can afford to give an inch.
Horowitz life is a perfect example of what motivates many people on the right; a basic anger at the injustice of life. Horowitz brought this at first to his fervent leftism, but when these movements were revealed to be earth-bound, not magical panaceas that would re-order the universe, Horowitz turned on it like a jilted lover. His right wing writings are more about negation of the left than anything else. He has nothing to say or recommend politically, he just wants to be angry at the left. Just like a lovers quarrel, these “insights” are attacks on what is most important to the left–not because these issues are important to Horowitz but because they are important to the left. He must despite Muslisms and African Americans for that reason only. He’s a sick man with offensive views, who’s never been able to defend any of his views once challenged, as the following clips show quite well. Note, David Horowitz used a still from a fiction film which showed a woman being buried alive, apparently Muslim. He continued to use it after it was revealed that it was a from a movie, not real life:
Defending the idea of calling 9-11 widows harpies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHe7epev3Gs
Having a bigoted and paranoid meltdown at Columbia University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAFEeJoWicU
Here he is, saying “what happens to a black man in America? You slit your wife’s throat from ear to ear and you get acquitted.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-c4WMjJ87Q
If he really wants to honor the life of his daughter, he can start by being a fair-minded and sane conservative commentator, rather than a wide-eyed spewer of hatred.
Blovis,
A true paradox – what you feel motivates those on the right, I believe is exactly what motivates those on the left. This would include Obama perhaps explaining his requirement to continually attempt to “level the playing field.”
And I believe it is exactly this reason that explains a great deal of the anger that is constantly spewed from the left what to them is an unknown God and directed at God, or the statement of fact there is no God, who many from the left perceive as unjust and therefore evil and unworthy of worship.
Where you and the left believe in the goodness of man, as a Conservative and Christian I believe that man inherently evil, and that only God is good.
And those two ideas can not be reconciled as one of us must be wrong.
Merry Christmas Blovis…
Indeed, many on the left are motivated by such feelings. But those are people on the fringe left. And Horowitz was one of them. The wide-eyed paranoid delusions that appear regularly on this site, aside, the “left” tends to be a range of views from center-left to liberal. Those like Horowitz were never part of the mainstream left, just as they are not now part of the mainstream conservative movement. The only difference between someone like Horowitz and a member of the fringe left, is that they were probably not so delusional about what the left stands for and what is capable of accomplishing. People like Horowitz act like cuckolded husbands.
Is it really that unusual to be liberal when you’re younger and then become more conservative once you have to make a living, support a family, etc? Horowitz and his daughter would seem to fit the template perfectly. (I’m assuming his daughter didn’t have a family.)
I have not read this book, yet I believe I understand Horowitz’s relationship with his daughter. I have a son who has a wonderful and giving heart, who at one time thought about becoming a Priest in the Episcopal church, his freshman year at college however, we left that church. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the way those who professed liberal beliefs behaved, including the Episcopal church, I was forced to look deeply at many of my core beliefs and where they came from and where they were going. I spent a number of years doing a great deal of reading and research into the left side of the political divide and what I found was appalling, and not what we as a nation have been taught or what we allow our children to be taught.
Just as I was figuring all that out I had sent my son off to University and a kid who always had a good heart became an indoctrinated kid convinced that they only way to get to the goals he would like to get to was through the leftist way. No matter what I have tried to get across to him about the realities it has been fairly useless. I blame myself a great deal for it because I bought into the left for years as a young mother and as I became older I simply became so wrapped up in my life as a wife, mother and nurse that most of what was taking place politically I paid little attention to until 9/11.
I have had more than a few arguments with my son and a few intellectual discussions, yet I know him as an individual and understand him not only as my son but also as a young person with a young persons passions and a young persons knowledge or lack thereof.
That does not mean I’m willing to compromise my own knowledge of the truth of the left or what the right actually is, it does mean that I have learned that I can’t tackle it head on with my son, but instead with small doses of rationed and reasoned intellect, to prove much of the crap on Jon Stewart is just that. It’s like taking little baby steps though. I dislike his politics, but I love who he is and the fact that he is not as cynical as I have become.
“Note, David Horowitz used a still from a fiction film which showed a woman being buried alive, apparently Muslim. He continued to use it after it was revealed that it was a from a movie, not real life”
David Horowitz is very careful with the evidence required to support his arguments. One can take it for granted he would acknowledge that a particular picture is a fictionalized account of a woman being brutally murdered. Nonetheless, this often occurs in Muslim countries! This is not something he created out of thin air. You still need to offer specific examples of Horowitz’s alleged prejudices regarding black people and Muslims. Could you possibly provide a legitimate example? We will be eagerly waiting for your response.
Sounds like the daughter was pampered and given a comfortable living, perhaps due to her deformity or whatever, she never had to struggle for a decent home and the other necessities of life. It’s easy to be a wounded sparrow with a cause to champion other wounded sparrows, when you are taken care of financially and allowed the leisure to soul search and travel. It’s a weakness in Mr. Horowitz to make such a big deal about her.
#16Yayne – It sounds like you did not read the book. Sarah was anything but “pampered and given comfortable living.” She was fiercely independent and refused to be viewed as “disabled” and went to great lengths to live her life as her own. Ironically, it was during the very end of her life that seems things well positioned for her to finally have some breathing room in which to live with a bit less (self imposed) financial pressure. But, alas, she died. Any why you say “it’s a weakness in Mr. Horowitz to make such a big deal about her” is beyond me. Wouldn’t any parent make a big deal about their child? Your comment makes me wonder if you have jumped on the blog simply to write something provoking. If so, perhaps I shouldn’t even have bothered to respond.
I don’t see how one could not quantify Mr. Horowitz as a truly wise man, even before knowing of the trials he, like many, hath endured. Nor even for those who might not hold the same opinions. Plus, his demeanor and presence alone must seem, to even the least sincere, to be sincere. It’s not like he has too much white in his eyes or anything (<– good general reason to be skeptical).
And, ignoring his God given talent, persistence, and intellectual honesty, there is ALWAYS something to learn from a convert, of any side.
Nonetheless, this often occurs in Muslim countries! This is not something he created out of thin air. You still need to offer specific examples of Horowitz’s alleged prejudices regarding black people and Muslims.
This puts your previous comment in perspective. Yes, of course, I know
its true so why bother to actually prove my point? My god, it must burn a bit when you think.
As for the proof that he’s a disgusting bigot, I think Blovis had some answers for you which, in your role as sycophant, you conveniently ignored:
Defending the idea of calling 9-11 widows harpies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHe7epev3Gs
Having a bigoted and paranoid meltdown at Columbia University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAFEeJoWicU
Here he is, saying “what happens to a black man in America? You slit your wife’s throat from ear to ear and you get acquitted.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-c4WMjJ87Q
If he really wants to honor the life of his daughter, he can start by being a fair-minded and sane conservative commentator, rather than a wide-eyed spewer of hatred. I found the one where he went after the 9-11 widows especially appropriate in the light of the people suggesting that now isn’t the time to criticize him. He’s lived his life in public like a hateful pig.
#16 Jayne:
As #17 person notes, Sarah was not pampered or given a comfortable living. It pained her father and family that she refused their help. Sarah did not use her disabilities for pity or sympathy. But people with disabilities, especially obvious ones, have to cope with both how other people perceive and treat them AND their own relationship with their disabilities and the hassles associated with them. I was limited in the number of words allowed for my review — I chose to focus on Sarah’s own inner struggle to love herself, just as she was, and accept herself completely the way she could accept everyone else in the world. I did that because it was HER realization of transcendence, HER realization of the meaning of her life.
But, regarding her struggle with how other people perceived and treated her as a person with disabilities, I would have liked to have pointed out simultaneously that Sarah would have hated being extolled as an inspiration for managing to live independently. People who haven’t lived with severe disabilities don’t realize the pity and condescension — “wow, your life sucks, I’m glad I’m not you” — implicit in their praise, no matter how well-intended, is very toxic and it feels like hell being on the receiving end of it.
Sarah’s life was about compassion — which is practical help and kind fellow-feeling — not pity for herself or anyone else. And one of the most common, if counter-intuitive, problems that the compassionate have is an inability, and unwillingness, to have compassion for themselves. So Sarah’s realization that she was exactly who she was supposed to be was the transcendent watershed moment of her life. And that is why I emphasized it.
People who haven’t lived with severe disabilities don’t realize the pity and condescension — “wow, your life sucks, I’m glad I’m not you” — implicit in their praise, no matter how well-intended, is very toxic and it feels like hell being on the receiving end of it.
A minor point, but don’t you think disabled people feel this same way when people go out of their way to wonder how to best avoid sounding condescending to them. Live your life, the opprobrium you’re afraid of is your own. Hurt a disabled person’s feelings and you can say sorry and learn something about their point of view in the process that will actually result in honest respect. That in contrast to a false respect based on fear of social sanction.
#21 Alice Nolin
Compassionate and empathic people know how to treat others, including people with disabilities. They do not worry one little bit. And their respect and acceptance are true. My perception is that these abilities spring from their having developed a mature and whole self, which allows them to be inner-directed.
Sadly, outer-directed people — who do not have a fully mature and integrated self — rely on rules and their intellect to drive their behavior, so they are always a little afraid they aren’t doing things right. These are the people who pity and distance others and are perpetually cynical and untrusting and able only to see stereotypes, in contrast to the compassion and acceptance given by the compassionate.
people don’t say “God bless the Queen” Scotland,Wales,and Ireland
prince Charlse is a native of Scotland not England,if queen Elizabeth die a Scottish man or woman can never by head of England Monarchy,rather they will appoint a person from a village or town in England because The mother of present Queen of England may be from a clan in England or part of British Monarchy system.
Half of you are such unkind jerks you should be ashamed of yourselves. Go drool elsewhere.
# 16 Jayne:
“Sounds like the daughter was pampered and given a comfortable living, perhaps due to her deformity or whatever, she never had to struggle for a decent home and the other necessities of life. It’s easy to be a wounded sparrow with a cause to champion other wounded sparrows, when you are taken care of financially and allowed the leisure to soul search and travel. It’s a weakness in Mr. Horowitz to make such a big deal about her.”
You sound like an angry, bitter person. It’s a weakness for a parent to make “such a big deal” of a child’s life??? Especially of a disabled child??
Stay in your lousy, resentment-filled hellhole, moron.
# 16 Jayne:
A Post Scriptum:
Your post is chock full of ignorant, leftist class-division stereotypes:
“allowed the leisure to soul search…”
Over 2000 years ago, during Christ’s life and after, a lot of soul searching seems to have taken place among working men and women (you know, carpenters and fishermen and tax collectors and traders/business men, as well as one “sex worker”, a centurion, and other humble people that barely eaked a living.
As to travel, that’s another silly stereotype, unfortunately widespread among certain categories of Americans. I travel whenever I have the chance because I need to (I’m from Europe) and I love traveling though I’m not among the leisured. I save money for it, cutting other delights short or depriving myself of, say, Netflix movies. Others have different priorities or life commitments.
Sarah Horowitz travelled not because she was leisured either, but purposefully, through her activism and connections to world-wide organizations. In her condition travel must have been a chore, yet she did it.
I haven’t read the book; and don’t plan to. But from the review it is evident that Sarah was looking for Truth in the wrong places: false religion and good works (as ends in themselves).
There is only one TRUTH: “I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. NO ONE comes to the Father but by Me.” (From the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of John)
Narrow? Yes. True. Yes.
There is only one Way to peace: Jesus the Christ.
I was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome at the age of 14. It is not a disability or disease at all, but a medical condition that can sometimes cause a person to be disabled. We are not unfortunate victims, but “normal” people leading “normal” lives. The life expectancy for a woman with TS is also “normal”. I am sorry to hear of Sarah’s untimely death. She sounds like a special person. I look forward to reading this book.