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There's no place on earth like Israel: The history, the diversity, the tension of a culture divided by religion and regional culture while simultaneously unified by common ancestry and the threat of violence from a host of inimical neighbors.
This past Sabbath morning, I attended services held by a group of Chassidim who trace their traditions back to the Polish town of Bobov. I don't look like them, dress like them or speak their preferred language of Yiddish. Even so, they welcomed me warmly into their congregation. The majesty of their music and intensity of their prayers infused my own Sabbath experience with a feeling of spiritual transcendence.
All of which evaporated the moment I returned to my apartment.
A group of religious zealots, most of them teenagers, instigated a furious protest against a local cafe doing business on the Sabbath in violation of Torah law. Considering that half of Israelis claim little or no religious affiliation, most observant Jews quietly lament their brothers' and sisters' lack of spiritual awareness while directing their attention elsewhere.
But not these self-appointed guardians of the faith. They amassed in the adjacent courtyard, relentlessly spewing vitriol, accosting passersby and disturbing both the residents of the surrounding apartments and the peace of the Sabbath day.
The police — some religious, some secular — showed exemplary restraint trying to disperse the miscreants. After more than an hour of abuse, they finally got aggressive (although never violent) and dragged the ringleaders out of the area, only to have them regroup to continue their mindless remonstrations a few yards farther away.
A few people, including some deeply religious, tried to dissuade the protestors, explaining that they were accomplishing exactly the opposite of what they intended. Harassing the irreligious produces nothing but animosity toward the entire religious community.
Unsurprisingly, these arguments went unheeded. After all, what is a fanatic but someone doing what G od would want done if only G od understood as well as they do?
All the rationale in the universe is wasted on such people. Their favored response when confronted with facts and logic is this week's entry into the Ethical Lexicon:
Obscurantism (ob*scu*ran*tism/ ob-skyoo-RAN-tiz-uhm) | noun
The practice of deliberately employing vague and unintelligible arguments as a conscious strategy to obscure what is true.
The ill-intentioned and ill-informed build their lies on a foundation of truth. Obscurants seize upon a verse, principle or syllogism, then distort it into a parody of itself. By doing so, they not only corrupt the ideals they espouse; they also undermine their own cause while tarring all legitimate adherents of their movement with the brush of their own hypocrisy.
The large majority of Charedi (fervently-Orthodox) Jews are not violent ideologues, just as most Moslems are not jihadists, most Christians are not Christian nationalists, most Democrats are not socialists and most Republicans are not ardent Trumpists. But the small percentage of radicals within any group typically makes 90% of the noise and the normalization of extremist behavior marginalizes moderation while pushing moderates toward the extremes.
That's why moderates have an ethical duty to speak out passionately, if respectfully, to repudiate the radicalism within their own house. Silence is consent, empowering the vocal minority to usurp the narrative and thereby promoting militant tribalism.
Even worse is when moderates accept the radical fringe as the lesser of two evils. It is not. The enemy within is almost always more dangerous than the enemy without.
Above all, we need to understand our own positions, not adhere to them because political slogans validate our feelings. It's a short step from intellectual laziness to obscurantism. Muddying the waters is far easier than confronting questions we aren't prepared to answer.
The one-time Chief Rabbi of Boston, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, said: "All extremism, fanaticism and obscurantism come from a lack of security. A person who is secure cannot be an extremist."
Why do the willfully ignorant mutate into the most intransigent ideologues? Because their ignorance makes them insecure and their insecurity drives them to lash out at any ideas that threaten to puncture the superficiality of their worldview.
Know what you believe, what you should believe and why it is worthy of belief. The confidence that comes from embracing well-founded core values is the surest defense against malignant ideology.
Rabbi Yonason Goldson graduated from the University of California at Davis with a degree in English, which he put to good use by setting off hitchhiking cross-country and backpacking across Europe. He eventually arrived in Israel where he connected with his Jewish roots and spent the next nine years studying Torah, completing his rabbinic training as part of Ohr Somayach's first ordination program. After teaching yeshiva high school for 23 years in Budapest, Hungary, Atlanta, Georgia, and St. Louis, Missouri, Rabbi Goldson established himself as a professional speaker and advisor, working with business leaders to create a company culture built on ethics and trust. He has published seven books and given two TEDx Talks, is an award-winning host of two podcasts, and writes a weekly column for Fast Company Magazine. He also serves as scholar-in-residence for congregations around the country.
Previously:
• More Dangerous than FOMO: The Fear of Not Being Missed
• Eyes wide shut
• Increase performance by turning into the wind
• Balancing the Equation of Intentions vs. Outcomes
• To be Human is to be Exceptional
• If You Get Where You're Going, You've Taken the Wrong Road
• Think Twice Before You Take Advice
• Taking intellectual humility seriously
• What are we?
• Are we Pillaging our own Moral Depository?
• Why Sharp Tongues Lose the War of Words
• Good Intentions Never Prevail Over Cold Reality
• Sarcastic Wit Carries Too High a Cost
• Character, not as a bank account. Rather, an investment portfolio
• Are We Programming Ourselves Out of Existence?
• The bigger they come, the harder we try to make them fall
• How to Transform Fallacies Into Actionable Reality
• How to make life worth living --- no, REALLY!
• What Do Opposites Attract? Truth and Wisdom
• Groucho Marx and Embracing Tension
• Toward a more civil civilization
• Break Down Barriers of Thought to Build Towers of Innovation
• 'Tis the Season for Reflecting Beyond your Reflection
• Why Antisemitism Is Not Just a Jewish Problem
• The rank stupidity of 'Just let it go'
• To create a functioning, biblically-based civilization
• The difference between optimism and hope
• The Next Piece of the Puzzle Might Fill the Hole in Your Heart
• Self-Esteem Isn't Given -- It's Earned
• Remember the Past to Promote a Successful Future
• Are We Making Failure the Price of Success?
• Demoralization Is More About Culture than Feelings
• The Lesson We're Missing From the Death of Charlie Kirk
• Invest in Your Own Success by Building Up Others
• The Most Valiant Heroes Fight on a Different Battlefield
• How Pundits Came to Give Punditry a Bad Name
• The Wisdom of Knowing What You Don't Know
• Success Thrives in the Light of Purpose and Passion
• When Seeking Peace, Don't Release the Dogs of War
• Greta Thunberg Sails Toward Moral Hypocrisy
• Checking More Boxes Is Not the Solution
• Why Sometimes NOT Seeing Is MORE Believing
• A Healthy Diet for the Brain Promotes Ethical Clarity for the Mind
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