One of the nicest duties of my position is meeting regularly with our Board presidents. Whether we’re talking about the state of the congregation or the state of the world, it’s always a learning opportunity for me.
One of the more memorable conversations I had about both was over coffee with Steve Blum a few years ago. During a time when the congregation was especially active in a variety of causes, we got to talking about the range of opinions we have in our community. Lately, and due in no small part to differences in our community over Israel’s wars, I’ve been thinking about this a great deal. On Rosh Hashanah, my presentation emphasized the idea that as Humanistic Jews we may be like-minded in many ways, but we are not same-minded on every issue. As Jews, we participate in an ancient tradition of debate and disagreement. As humanists, we are committed to freethought—the belief that our convictions shouldn’t rest on authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, but on logic, reason, and empirical observation. Both of these require open minds.
Steve and I talked about the news we consume. Unsurprisingly, we read a lot of the same things. But he also mentioned a few that I didn’t regularly follow, notably The Wall Street Journal. After that coffee, I started reading it daily.
What I found was a broader spectrum of takes on the hot topics of the day, a few of them that even made sense to me. Since then, and especially over the past year, I’ve expanded my reading quite a bit. What I’ve learned is that neither real debate nor freethought are possible without understanding the opposing side. Whether it’s to bolster my own commitments or to open my mind to critiques of ideas I support, hearing from the “other side” has made me more informed.
It has not been without challenges.
Much of what I’ve read—and I’ll note here that I gave up on cable news a long time ago, mostly for my own peace of mind—has been patently ridiculous. But the absurdity of some more right-leaning claims has also made me more attuned to equally absurd left-leaning positions. Overreach and exaggeration exist on both sides, and they’re often easier to spot when you know what to look for.
Recently, I’ve spoken critically about "woke ideology," especially the aspects that conflict with our commitment to freethought and erase the Jewish experience of antisemitism.* Just this week, however, I encountered a misuse of the term in a context that has nothing to do with my critique.
In response to lawsuits challenging his blatantly unconstitutional Bible study mandate, the Oklahoma schools' superintendent vowed not to "back down to the woke mob."
Does my critique of woke ideology have anything to do with this man's use of the term? Absolutely not. But now, thanks to the deep dive I’ve taken into woke ideology, I’m far better equipped to explain why. And even if I had come out in favor of it, I’d be better equipped to see through his cynical, exploitative language regarding a principle that is not even mentioned in woke ideology.
At a time when our nation seems permanently polarized, we humanists have a responsibility to be among the most well-informed citizens. This means listening to both sides. It helps us better understand and articulate our own positions, dismiss inaccurate or absurd claims (no matter where they come from), and, every now and then, even see some truth in the other side. I certainly have. And that could lead to (gasp!) compromise.
Or not.
Whether or not anything we encounter from opposing viewpoints changes our minds, the goal isn’t to abandon our commitments. What’s important is that if we’re serious about being freethinkers in the Jewish tradition of debate, we have to expose ourselves to other points of view.
I’m grateful that Steve’s influence pushed me to start reading the Journal every day. Lately, I’ve also become devoted to The Free Press, Bari Weiss’s newer, decidedly non-partisan online publication. I highly recommend it, though it helps if you’re good at seeing all angles—and you’ve got a healthy appreciation for snark. You can find it at thefp.com.
*If you’re curious about how I came to some of my conclusions about woke ideology, you might want to check out these two books: John McWhorter's Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America and Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews by David L. Bernstein.