Daniel Lubetzky

Here is an interview about OneVoice, PeaceWorks, and "my life" (the title and theme of the show, Hayati) that aired on the Arabic TV Network Al Hurra.

It is painfully funny to watch how chubby I was…

Sometimes when baby Romy is on my lap, I can’t tell if my phone is ringing or Romy is farting.

from baby Romy…  …as we were getting him ready for his bath…

I was giving him a bunch of kisses and he started imitating me and giving me kisses and smiling! 

His kisses involve some licking – but give him some time – he is learning!

So the other day my 2 year old daughter came barging into my room saying: "quiere nacky, quiere nacky"

translation- my daughter learned the word snack a long time ago, but pronounces it nack, and when she discovered "Kind Snacks: she decided to call them "nacky"

so after asking for nacky, she starts banging on my locked office door where she knows I keep the Kind bars, with increased frustration asking for nacky.

I finally open a bar and hand her a piece, she is satisfied, but wants more, she can eat a whole kind bar quite fast. (did I mention she is 2).  once it is finished she is quite upset, wanting more nacky.

finally I pick up the phone and tell her to ask her uncle daniel for Kind, of course he doesn’t answer but she leaves him a sweet message:

"tio, quiere mas Kind" translation- uncle want more Kind

From my brother’s daughter:

His face is so calm
Full of love and tranquility
How blessed we are
to have warm shelter and peace for him.

How hard and how painful
for the millions upon millions
who lack peace, or water or heat,
who may not have bread or milk to give their children.

How hard and how painful
for the parents who’d lose a baby to a missile
or the babies who’d lose a parent to a bomb
and the nations who’d lose their innocence along the way.

That juxtaposition gives me anxiety:
the peaceful nap of our little baby
against the horrors and hatred brewing around our world,
whether a few blocks up, or 7,000 miles away.

For my baby’s peace cannot be guaranteed
his Spring cannot be counted upon
so long as babies anywhere else in our globe
are suffering, being targeted or killed.

It is for our baby here
that peace must be waged there.

If someone had told me that I would enjoy changing diapers I would have thought they have very bad judgment.

But one month into being a Dad, it is my favorite activity of the day.

My attitude all along was that I’d deal with this chore and do what is minimally necessary.  As I work very hard for PeaceWorks & KIND, and for the Foundation’s OneVoice Movement, I figured I’d get a lot of latitude and support from my wife to avoid this task as much as possible.

Then baby Roman was born and changing diapers proved to be such a delicious activity.  You get to help your son, and that goes a long way – I think – to explain why I love doing it, just to care for him and help him with something he cannot do. It also doesn’t hurt that babies’ poop doesn’t smell when they are breastfeeding. (let’s see if this love affair with changing diapers lasts once he starts eating other food)

But I think it’s also because it is truly delicious – to clean his little tushy and rub Aquaphor over his soft chubby thighs (his "pulkes" in Yiddish), to just hug him and kiss him, and clean him, and comfort him.  Nature must have figured babies’ skin should be so deliciously smooth and tender that parents will love tending for them even if they have to wipe them clean eight times a day.

Indeed, second only to changing diapers is giving him a bath and changing his clothes.  Well, maybe that is even better, but not as surprising as the joy of seeing your baby poop and wiping it with gusto.  I also never imagined that my wife and I would derive so much joy from hearing someone pass gas or poop.  It’s such a celebration for us, "yes", "wonderful", as if he just got a dual degree in Medicine and Engineering.

Here is a message I got from Mowaffaq Alami from OneVoice Palestine, who co-directs the Gaza office, and who learned of our baby’s birth amidst the beginning of the war in Gaza:

Habebi Daniel Mabrook.

Thank you Darya for lighting my dark night.

You know what Daniel; yesterday I was counting when you informed us that your wife is pregnant and I told my wife I think it’s the time for Daniel to have a baby.

Congratulation Dad. welcome to the real life.

Roman, you have a great Dad and wonderful Mama, they will take best care of you, listen to them but don’t allow your Dad to engage you in politics, live your life in peace, your Dad and me and all mothers and fathers of our team and our friend working hard for peaceful future for you and our kids.

We love you all.

Mowaffaq and the Family

Indeed, let us all work hard now so the children of those who are working in OV, and the children of the region, and the children of the world, should ideally not have to burden themselves having to fight for peace.  Let respect and moderation take reign today so that tomorrow a durable peace can be enjoyed by all.

And here is a song by John Lennon that Gil Shamy from OneVoice Israel sent to me celebrating baby Romy’s arrival…

[Read more →]

Susan Collin Marks, a dear friend and John Marks’ partner at Search for Common Ground, sent a beautiful note to baby Roman when he was born last December (which also explains why I have not gotten a chance to blog for a while – and may have less in the future also).  It is worth sharing:

Welcome dear Roman. I am so grateful to you for coming to our planet at this critical time in the development of human consciousness. I know your lineage through your mother and father so I know that you bring purpose and love. I will know of you as you grow. Meantime, you are small … this is what the great Persian poet and mystic Rumi has to say about that.

     I am so small I can barely be seen
     How can this great love be inside me?
     Look at your eyes. They are small,
     But they see enormous things.

You will soon grow into your eyes, and see this amazing world in all its beauty and difficulty. Here is what we are being called to do, and what you may want to remember when you are old enough to choose your life:

We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour
And there are things to be considered.
Where are you living?
  What are you doing?
  What are your relationships?
  Are you in the right relation?
  Where is your water?
Know your garden.
  It is time to speak your truth
  Create your community.
  Be good to each other.
  And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
  This could be a good time!
  There is a river flowing now very fast
  It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
  They will try to hold onto the shore.
  They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.
  Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river,
  Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
  See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
  At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
  Least of all ourselves.
  For the moment that we do,
Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
  Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
  All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
  And in celebration.
"We are the ones we’ve been waiting for…"
          The Elders, Hopi Nati

From an email I got from my sister:

Spirituality is a direct measure of how much joy we experience in our lives…It is not how much we pray, meditate, prostrate ourselves; it is in direct connection to how much joy we give to others that surround us, and how much joy we experience ourselves."

- Guru Baghavan

I have no idea who this Guru is, but I liked the sentiment, expounded on by my sister Ileana in her email:

I really believe that. The people that I consider the most spiritual also are the ones who had the greatest capacity to laugh, to joke, to love others, to make someone’s day better even if they were perfect strangers.

This sentiment is at the core of our work with KIND ambassadors and the KINDED campaign.