The moment the bullet tore into the calf of my leg and a nearby explosion ruptured my eardrum, I collapsed. I yelled for a fellow officer to take over my unit before the medics injected me with morphine and loaded me onto an open personnel carrier headed to the field hospital. This was 1973, when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel. I was a lieutenant, part of a paratrooper unit staffed with hundreds of highly trained young men ready to sacrifice themselves for the defense of their country. We were on the West-Egyptian side of the Suez Canal, hundreds of miles away from the border. Friendly and unfriendly gunfire was everywhere. Neither felt friendly . . . For the rest of the article on my (OZ) personal experience and reflection on sacrifice, go to http://www.zurinstitute.com/onsacrifice1.html I am pleased to introduce a timely and unusual course: Sacrifice: A Psychological Exploration at: http://www.zurinstitute.com/sacrificecourse.html This opportune course reviews the different forms, theories, sources and history of sacrifice and differentiates them from martyrdom, suicide, scapegoating and victimization. The September 11th tragedy and the daily suicide bombers in Iraq have underscored the importance of understanding the meaning and psychology of sacrifice, martyrdom, terrorism, suicide and suicide bombers. SACRIFICE Sacrifice derives from the Latin word "sacrificium." It is a combination of the words "sacer," which means something set apart from the secular or profane for the use of supernatural powers, and "facere," which means "to make." In other words, sacrifice means to make something holy or pure in worship of the divine. Humans have sacrificed the life and blood of their own species. They have also sacrificed animals and animals' blood, crops such as flowers or rice, wine and honey, and many other symbolic offerings. In the Christian tradition a sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things. Jesus made the ultimate self-sacrifice. In nature we have the archetypal example in the mother Killdeer bird that pretends to be distressed or to have a broken wing in order to decoy predators away from the nest and thus save her vulnerable young. Then there is sacrifice of children by their parents. Medea killed her children rather them let them die ignominiously at the hands of King Creon, who sought to revenge himself on her.  Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in order to prove to God his devotion through obedience. Also according to the Old Testament, Jephthah sacrificed his daughter in return for God's leading him to military victory. Agamemnon of Mycenae sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis where he slew her on the temple altar in order to turn the wind so his troops could depart after the fall of Troy. Then we have the sacrifice of millions our young sons to gods of war. The more modern, secular interpretation of sacrifice is the giving up of something valuable or important for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance. MARTYRDOM Martyrdom is different from sacrifice and suicide. The word "martyrdom" itself comes from the Greek martyrs, the earliest meaning of which was "eyewitness." Martyrdom, in modern times, is grounded in profound religious faith. Martyrs are willing to die, to sacrifice their lives in this world in order to be assured a place in the next world and a guarantee that they will not be condemned to hell. TERRORISM Terrorism is an elusive term. The goal of terrorism is always to install terror in order to achieve certain political or other goals. In the '60s there was a popular and rather accurate saying, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Beyond agreement that terrorism aims at inducing terror, no common definition has been found. Consequently, it has been used as "name calling" against any "enemy of the state." More recently, many district attorneys have used it to prosecute criminal cases that involved threats. Typically, terrorist organizations do not poses aircraft carriers, tanks and missile launchers but do posses the capacity to carry out surprise attacks at the heart of the enemy land. Terrorism is often a characterization used by powerful governments when their enemies employ means that do not assure the big power victory in war. Terrorism has been described as one out of many types of warfare (i.e., primitive-ritualistic wars, colonial wars, holy wars or liberation wars.) As with any war, it is aimed to reach a certain political goal through violent means. Terrorists, often more so than most soldiers, are prepared to make whatever sacrifice they deem necessary to achieve their goals, including their lives. This introductory level course (at http://www.zurinstitute.com/sacrificecourse.html) on sacrifice defines and differentiates between sacrifice and the related terms of martyrdom, scapegoating, terrorism and suicide. It gives an overview of the psychological work of Jung and Freud along with other theories of sacrifice. It then provides an anthropological and historical review of sacrifice and definitions, descriptions and resources on sacrifice.

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