From the Editor’s Desk

The seventh issue of Kaveret, published by the Department of Behavioral Sciences, is devoted to Passion. Our exploration of Passion continues the chain of concepts strung by previous issues: Love (Kaveret No. 1, January 2000), Leadership (Kaveret Nd. 2, March 2001), Freedom (Kaveret No. 3, June 2001), Justice (Kaveret No. 4, January 2002), Happiness (Kaveret No. 5, June 2002) and Beauty (Kaveret No. 6, January 2003).

Passion is commonly taken to be a very strong desire a powerful urge or, as Lacan might say, the "relationship of Being to the absent." Some differentiate between Passion and Lust, with Lust understood as a primitive biological drive and Passion as a civilized form of gratification. Western societies view Passion as a medium happiness and personal well being. In contrast, Eastern-Buddhist philosophy conceives of Passion or Desire as one of the main causes of human sufferings. In all cases, an inappropriate grasp of reality (i.e., attainment of the desired objected brings happiness whereas non-attainment only leads to pain) can cause fear and suffering. This issue explores Passion rather than Lust, the relationship of Passion to human existence, romantic love, sexual desire, sexual violence as well as culturally rooted definitions of Passion and their implications for our professional and private lives.

The articles included in this issue display a multidisciplinary approach to our subject. Aspects of psychology, sociology and philosophy dominate. The first 10 articles (1-10) take a comprehensive look at Passion and its realization, both virtues and drawbacks. The following five articles (11-15) present Passion as it is captured in the visual arts. In the two subseguent articles (16-17), the effect of Passion on intimacy and careers is examined. The concluding eight articles (18-27) describe the authors' personal encounters with Passion in poetry and prose.

Similar to our previous issues, the concept Passion is the Kaveret credo: discussed according to the four basic tenets of

1. Consideration of the concept (one per issue) is to be as comprehensive as feasible, touching on diverse points of view: philosophical, psychological, sociological, economic, legal, religious, geopolitical, literary and artistic (short stories, verse and drawing).

2. The discussion is to range from the general to the ,particular: from macro-level relations focused on society to micro-level relations focused on individual human beings, their thoughts, feelings, disappointments and hopes.

3. Contributors are to include students, graduates, teaching assistants and lecturers from the Academic Studies Division and other institutions.

4. The format is to be compact, focused, and aimed at as broad an audience as possible.

Kaveret No. 8, which goes to press in January 2004, will be dedicated to the concept Truth. As always, following their review, we will publish articles and creative works in addition to responses to previous articles, not exceeding 2000 words in length and prepared according the Kaveret credo. Submissions are to be received by 15 November 2003.

Dr. Rachel Pasternak, Editor

The Department of Behavioral Sciences

The Academic Studies Division

The College of Management