Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

I recently read an article in The Atlantic, “A Guide for the Politically Homeless,” by Eliot A. Cohen. While I did not agree with every assertion made in the article (and maybe that is part of the point, that we can find points of agreement even when we have areas of disagreement), I found resonance with the overarching point of the piece. Cohen sees a way forward through what he describes as a coarse and brutal politics within an uncrossable partisan divide, not through a particular course of policy but rather through the practice of values (“values” is my word, not Cohen’s).

Cohen begins with the value of freedom. He describes a form of freedom that lifts up our highest human characteristics. It is a freedom that, in order to preserve itself for all of us, requires not only legal protection (what I would see as our Constitution) but also internal restraints. These internal restraints, how we relegate our own personal behavior, begin with the ability to empathize with the plight of others — the desire to avoid unnecessary hurt, prudent good judgment, and a large measure of tolerance for disagreement that goes with an awareness that error awaits all of us.

As to the latter value of tolerance for disagreement, it is another way of stating the Jewish value of machloket l’shem shamayim, argument for the sake of heaven. It is through respectful disagreement that we learn from each other. It is the basis for Jewish learning.

According to Cohen, it is the need to place deeper values over the urgency of any specific political program. For us as Jews, it is looking at our long-term vision for a better world, holding on to the values that have sustained us throughout our existence (e.g., to not oppress and to love the stranger). Moreover, Cohen aptly points out that adhering to our values may not be the stuff that will capture the imagination of the American people or, more to the point, win elections in the short term. It is a long-term project because, as history has shown us, making real change never happens with immediacy.

This may be a lonely space when it comes to partisan politics, but, as Cohen says, “those who travel with us [on this journey] will be good company — and may be more numerous than we now think.” As I have often said, finding space with other people doing good in the world is how I keep my sanity during insane times.